BC Health Regulators (BCHR) brings together all six of British Columbia’s health profession regulatory colleges and the regulatory college that oversees social workers. Collectively, the seven colleges oversee 30 practitioner groups, consisting of approximately 120,000 registered health care and social work providers practising throughout BC.
BC’s health profession regulatory colleges are legally responsible for ensuring that regulated health professionals provide health services in a qualified, safe, and ethical manner. A regulatory college’s legal obligation is to protect the public through the regulation of its registrants. Learn more about health regulation in BC.
There are six regulatory colleges in BC currently operating under the Health Professions Act:
- BC College of Nurses and Midwives
- BC College of Oral Health Professionals
- College of Complementary Health Professionals of BC
- College of Health and Care Professionals of BC
- College of Pharmacists of BC
- College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC
There is one regulatory college in BC operating under the Social Workers Act:
On August 27, 2020, the BC Ministry of Health announced a plan to modernize and strengthen the province’s health regulatory system. This will include replacing the current Health Professions Act with new legislation (the Health Professions and Occupations Act). Find out more about regulatory modernization in BC, and read the latest news on how health profession regulators are evolving.