Occupational Therapists

2025-2026 Registration year

Registration renewal for the 2025/2026 registration year opens for occupational therapists in the Registrant Portal May 23, 2025. Occupational therapists who wish to renew their registration must do so by the June 30, 2025 registration renewal deadline.

Occupational Therapists who renew for the 2025/2026 registration year will do so with a prorated fee for a truncated (or “stub”) year, which runs from July 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026. (To align the registration year across all nine professions regulated by CHCPBC, the 2026/2027 registration year will run from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027.)

Important: Make sure your email address is updated in your registrant profile so you don’t miss critical information and deadlines.

Registration renewal requirements to prepare in advance of renewal

• Professional liability insurance: the name of your insurance provider and the policy number (if applicable).
• Professional registration in another jurisdiction: if you are currently registered in another jurisdiction, you will be asked in the Registrant Portal to provide the name of the regulatory body, licence number, and expiry date.
• Name change: if updating your name, prepare a PDF to upload to the Registrant Portal with a marriage certificate or certificate of change of name document.
• ACCR: complete the Annual Continuing Competence Review (ACCR). The ACCR is available before registration renewal. All registered occupational therapists intending to renew their 2025/2026 registration with the College must complete the ACCR. Please refer to the emails from the Quality Assurance team.

Registration Renewal Steps

Step One: Log in to the Registrant Portal

Step Two: Review and update your Profile/Contact Information

• CHCPBC is required under the Health Professions Act (HPA) to maintain a public register. CHCPBC bylaws state that registrants must notify the College as soon as possible of changes to name, address, email, place of employment, or other contact information.

Why is this important?

• Your name, registration status, and business contact information is available to the general public through the public register (Licence Verification).
• Your email address is the primary channel for receiving important information from the College such as deadlines for renewing your registration or Quality Assurance Program requirements.

Step Three: Registration Renewal

As an occupational therapist, each year at renewal you must answer the following:

• Good Standing Declarations for the previous registration year
• Confirmation of Currency (practice) Hours
• Consent to Criminal Record Check
• Declarations for Liability Insurance, Ethics and Standards, and Registration

Step Four: Registration Fees & Payment

Your last step is to pay the annual fee for registration in the full, provisional, and provisional re-entry categories, or the non-practising registration fee. We accept VISA and MasterCard.

See the Fee Schedule for Occupational Therapy (PDF) in the CHCPBC Bylaws.

Questions? Refer to the Registration Renewal FAQ (PDF).

Leaving the profession, retiring, taking a parental leave, or moving to another province?

If you will not be working or using the title occupational therapist in British Columbia, you may choose to cancel (renew as inactive) your registration.

Becoming inactive means you will not be able to work as an occupational therapist, use the occupational therapist title, abbreviation, or designation “OT Reg. (BC)”, in British Columbia, until you are reinstated with the College.

If you decide to resign, you will be required to apply for reinstatement prior to returning to practice in BC. See Return to Practice for more information about reinstatement.

Please note that applicants are subject to the registration requirements and regulations in place at the time of application.

Please review the Registration Renewal FAQ (PDF) regarding a leave of absence to reflect on registration options. Even if you intend to not practice July 1 onwards, you must log in to the Registrant Portal to update any information outlined in Step Two above and submit the declaration outlined in Step Three.

Suggestions for success

• It takes time to complete the renewal process, and your renewal form may be subject to review. Give yourself plenty of time and avoid doing it last minute.
• Complete your 2025 Annual Continuing Competence Review (ACCR) first if you are renewing as a full or provisional registrant. You won’t be able to complete your renewal until you complete your ACCR. The email you use to login to the ACCR is the same as the one you use to log in for renewal, but the password is likely different.
• Check the email address you are using to log in, especially if you have more than one email address or recently changed your email address.
• If you are asked to “verify your browser for Alinity,” wait for the code to arrive in your email; if you click the “send new code” button, a new code will be generated and you will need to wait for that new code.
• Do not use Internet Explorer (instead, use Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.).
• Credit cards (Visa and MasterCard) are accepted for payment; debit cards are not accepted.
• Problems? Try clearing your browser history or switching to another browser or device.
• Questions? Refer to the Registration Renewal FAQ (PDF).
• If you have ongoing difficulty, contact the College for assistance at registration@chcpbc.org and write “Occupational Therapist renewal” in the subject line. Where possible, include a screenshot or photo of the problem so that we may better assist you.

There are two ways to return to practice, that depend on your currency status at the time of application. The College of Health and Care Professionals of British Columbia (CHCPBC) bylaw requires that occupational therapists have 600 practice hours in the three years immediately preceding the date of application for reinstatement.

To confirm your status, please see Currency Hour Requirements to determine whether you meet the currency requirement.

Reinstatement

If you have previously been on the College register, and meet the currency hour requirement, you can reinstate online through the registrant portal.

Provisional Re-entry

If you have previously been on the College register, and you do not have 600 practice hours within the last 3 years, you are required to complete a re-entry program.

Do You Meet the Currency Requirement?

You can reinstate to Full registration with the College of Health and Care Professionals of British Columbia (CHCPBC) through the online registration portal if you are a Former registrant or hold nonpractising registration status and meet the Currency Hour Requirements (600 practice hours in the three years immediately preceding the date of your application for reinstatement).

If you do not meet the currency hour requirements, see Provisional Re-entry.

Prepare for Your Registration

Before logging into the registrant portal to complete your application, ensure you have the documents ready for upload. Note the maximum upload size for PDF documents is 1.5 MB (1500 KB).

A copy of your professional liability insurance: Occupational therapists must maintain professional liability insurance with a limit of liability of not less than five million dollars ($5,000,000) per occurrence. If your insurance is provided through your employer, such as a Health Authority, contact your human resources department or team lead for a copy.

Proof of eligibility to work in Canada: If you are not a Canadian citizen, you must include a copy of your work permit or permanent residency card.

Criminal Record Check: CHCPBC initiates criminal record checks on behalf of occupational therapists. Follow the instructions on the reinstatement form to give CHCPBC consent to initiate the criminal record re-check on your behalf if required.

• If you are moving from the Inactive-Former registration category to Practising registration, an updated criminal record check is mandatory.
• If you are moving from the nonpractising category to Practising registration, a new criminal record check may be required. If you are currently in the nonpractising category CHCPBC will check if a new criminal record check is required upon your submitted form.
• If a criminal record check is required, you will be invoiced for the $28 fee.

Regulatory History Form(s) / Letter of Good Standing: If you have worked as an Occupational Therapist in any other jurisdiction since your registration status changed to nonpractising or Former Registrant, complete the top half of the Regulatory History Form and forward to the regulatory authority in each of the jurisdiction(s) where you are/or were registered to practice. Ensure you complete the other jurisdictions section in the online form.

To get started on reinstating your registration, log in to the CHCPBC registration portal.

Apply Online

All applicants need to meet the College Bylaw regarding currency hour requirements (600 hours within the last three years). Applicants who do not meet the requirement must complete a re-entry program. These programs differ with each individual and must be approved by the Registration Committee, which checks that safeguards are in place to ensure no significant risk to public health and safety.

All re-entry programs include a competence confirmation practicum (CCP) where applicants have the opportunity to demonstrate that they meet the professional standards as outlined in the Competencies for Occupational Therapists in Canada.

The CCP requires applicants to work under the supervision of an occupational therapist with Full registration with the College. The required hours of supervised practice are based on the number of years they have been out of practice, as follows:

• Out of practice less than three years, with less than 600 hours of practice = 150 hours in 90 days
• Out of practice between three and five years = 300 hours in 180 days
• Out of practice between five and 10 years = 600 hours in one year
• Out of practice for over 10 years = 600 hours in one year

Applicants, especially those out of practice for more than 10 years, may also be required to participate in additional educational activities and pass the National Occupational Therapy Certification Exam (NOTCE).

Applying for Provisional Re-entry: If you are a first-time applicant to CHCPBC, you will apply online as a new applicant for Provisional Re-Entry. To begin the application, sign up for an account within the Registrant Portal.

Prepare for Your Re-Entry Application

Note: All forms related to the Provisional Re-Entry application can be found within Registration Documents.

Before initiating the application, ensure you have the following documents ready:

Notarized Identification: All applicants must provide two (2) pieces of notarized ID as part of their application. Both copies must be verified by a notary public or lawyer with a stamp and / or seal. Photocopies not notarized will not be accepted. Have your notarized ID ready before starting your application as it is required in Step 1.

CCP Proposal and Letter of Undertaking: Complete the supervision plan and letter of undertaking and upload them in the appropriate section within the online application or email them to the College once completed. As a reference, you can view a filled-out CCP Proposal Example.

Employer Acknowledgment: Complete the CCP Employer Acknowledgement Form with your CCP proposal. Once completed upload them in the appropriate section within the Registrant Portal.

Criminal Record Check: CHCPBC initiates criminal record checks on behalf of registrants. Follow the instructions on the reinstatement form to give CHCPBC consent to begin the criminal record re-check on your behalf if required.

• If you are moving from the Inactive-Former registration category to Practising registration, an updated criminal record check is mandatory.
• If you are moving from the nonpractising category to Practising registration, a new criminal record check may be required. If you are currently in the nonpractising category CHCPBC will check if a new criminal record check is required upon your submitted form.

If a criminal record check is required, you will be invoiced for the $28 fee.

Professional Liability Insurance: Upload your current liability insurance if available. If not available, email a copy to the College one you receive it.

Regulatory History Form: If you have ever been registered in another province/state or country, complete the first section of the Regulatory History Form and send it to all the regulatory organizations you have been licensed with.

After Your Re-entry Program is Complete

Once you have completed your Re-Entry program, fill out these two documents and submit them to CHCPBC.

• CCP Evaluation
• CCP Declaration of Successful Completion

Apply Online

CHCPBC signed and adopted the Memorandum of Understanding on Cross-Jurisdictional Remote Practice in Occupational Therapy in Canada (PDF) in May 2025. Under this agreement, occupational therapists registered in British Columbia who wish to provide remote services to clients located in:

• Ontario, Alberta*, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon
  are permitted to do so under their BC registration. Occupational therapists are encouraged to confirm any local requirements with the provincial regulator. *Occupational therapists must register in Alberta to provide any restricted activities to clients located in Alberta.
• Quebec and Saskatchewan
  must contact the regulators in these provinces to obtain special authorization before providing remote services.

These requirements apply whether clients are temporarily or permanently located outside of British Columbia.

Client Concerns

Occupational therapists must understand and adhere to the regulations, standards, and guidelines of the jurisdiction in which they are registered and the jurisdiction where the client is located.
If a client has concerns about the services received, they may file a complaint with the regulatory organization where the occupational therapist is registered.

Please refer to the Practice Across Jurisdictions for Occupational Therapists (PDF) resource for additional guidance on providing virtual care within Canada.