B.C.’s six health regulatory colleges oversee 29 practitioner groups:

Additionally, Registered Social Workers are overseen by the BC College of Social Workers.

 

Regulated health professionals’ requirements

Regulated health professionals are required to:

  • Pass national and/or provincial entry-to-practice exam(s) and be familiar with the legal, professional, and ethical practice of their profession;
  • Be licensed by their regulatory college and renew their licence annually;
  • Be a college licensee in order to use certain “protected” professional titles;
  • Comply with college bylaws;
  • Comply with a code of ethics;
  • Adhere to the scope of practice they can undertake within their professional limits;
  • Meet quality assurance requirements;
  • Meet professional standards of practice;
  • Be subject to a complaints and discipline process if standards are not met; and
  • Undertake a criminal record check every five years.

The Province of British Columbia passed new legislation to modernize the provincial framework for health profession regulation. The Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA) came into force on April 1, 2026. It replaced the Health Professions Act (HPA). The HPOA was informed by recommendations outlined in the 2020 report Recommendations to modernize the provincial health profession regulatory framework, which included a recommendation to reduce the number of regulatory colleges through amalgamation.