Full / Non-Practising Registration Renewal

Please refer to Schedule F of the CTCMA Bylaws for the registration renewal fees. 

After your payment is successfully processed, a receipt will be sent to you by email.  Please keep the receipt as a confirmation of payment in a safe place.  Additional cost may apply for requesting duplicate receipts.

Sections 56 and 57 of the CTCMA Bylaws state the requirements and conditions for registration renewal.

Section 57.1 of the CTCMA Bylaws contains two conditions of renewal for practising registrants:

Continuing Education (CE)

• Section 57(1)(a): A registrant (under full and grand-parenting registration) renewing a registration is required to complete 50 hours of continuing education every 2 calendar years.
• For details of how to meet the Continuing Education (CE) Requirement in the College’s Quality Assurance Program, please refer the the Quality Assurance Program (QAP).

Proof of Practice Exceeding the Minimum Level: Patient Visit (PV)

• Section 57(1)(b): A registrant renewing a registration must have practiced acupuncture or traditional Chinese herbology or traditional Chinese medicine at a minimum level of 200 patient visits during any consecutive 24-month period within the last 4 years.
• Please see below for the “Maintaining a Registrant File” section for information how to maintain a record of patient visits to support practising above the minimum practice level.

The renewal form includes declarations. By making The Declaration for Practising Registrants Only, practising registrants affirm that they are compliant with the requirements of these bylaws.

Please keep your own “Registrant File” which includes your Continuing Education (CE) and Patient Visit (PV) records.  Each year the College randomly selects a number of renewing registrants to audit the individual records of CE/PV.  If you are selected for the audit, you will receive a written request via e-mail/mail to

1. send in specific documents, or

2. make an appointment for a sit visit

The Registrant File is helpful to maintain and readily provide documents to support meeting these college requirements when requested by the College. Please refer to the “Maintain a Registrant File” section for details.

Content of Registrant File

It is each registrant’s responsibility to maintain a record in their own Registrant File to demonstrate meeting the Conditions of Registration Renewal.

The Registrant File should include but not limited to the following documents:

Continuing Education

• Continuing Competency Activity Log and other details of Continuing Education (CE) and Professional Development (PD) activities

• (e., CE/PD Certificate, Official Confirmation with all CE /PD details, receipts, course brochures/descriptions, handouts and notes) to support completing a minimum of 50 continuing education hours per reporting period; The current reporting period is 2 years in length;

Patient Visit Record

• Patient Visit Record – documents showing the number of patients visits per month or year meeting the minimum practice level;

Registrants may consider the following systems on minimum patient visits used by other registrants:

1. Listing visits by date

   • March 30: list the name of each patient seen on this day

   • March 29: list the name of each patient seen on this day

   • etc until you reach 200 visits

2. Listing visits by patient name

   • Patient ONE – seen on the following dates (25 visits)

   • Patient TWO – seen on the following dates (50 visits)

   • Patient THREE – seen on the following dates (80 visits)

   • etc until you reach 200 visits

3. Copy pages from your appointment book – clearly showing patient names for each date.

Professional Liability Insurance

• Insurance policy or certificate

Criminal Record Check

• Record of the expiry date of your current CRC by CRRP

• Registrants may refer to their CTCMA account online via Registrant Portal on the College’s website.

Other Documents

• Copies of all submitted application forms for initial registration, renewal, etc., payment receipts and correspondences to/from the College.

Registration renewal is a process for current registrants to renew their current status and title.  If you wish to have your status or title changed, please submit a separate application in respect to the status or title of registration applying for with all the required documents & fees.   (Other types of registration applications during registration renewal period may take longer to process; for example, transferring from non-practising to practising status for a former registrant who has been out of practice for more than 4 years can take potentially 12 or more weeks.  Anyone requiring such registration change is encouraged to ensure that submissions are received by our office before or after the Renewal Period)

If you wish to have your status changed before the renewal, please ensure you have the status change process fully completed before renewing your registration.  Please allow sufficient time for both applications to be processed before your registration expires.

IMPORTANT NOTE for registrants transferring from non-practising to practising registration status:

• The processing time for applications may vary. Transferring from non-practising to practising registration status usually takes a longer time to process depending on the length of time you have been non-practising.
• The requirements for your registration status change will be provided to you by mail after your completed application is reviewed by the College.
• The process cannot be completed until you fulfil all the requirements set by the College.
• In order to ensure your continuous registration, you may consider renewing in non-practising status and then applying for registration status change.  Please be reminded all registrations expire on March 31.

 Please see Section 58 of the CTCMA Bylaws regarding to the requirements for Change of Registration Status.

 Click here for details of Change of Registration Status

Full / Non-Practicing registration renewal is a process for current registrants to renew their current title(s) and status.  If you are holding Full Registration and wish to have your title changed, please submit a separate application in respect to the title of registration applying for with all the required documents and fees.

Please note that during registration renewal period, additional application processing time is required for the change of registration title. Please apply early.  To ensure your continuous registration, you are required to renew your registration by March 31. 

Click here for details of Change of Registration Title

Your registration will be cancelled on April 1^st. When your registration is cancelled, you are no longer permitted (by law) to practice TCM and acupuncture in British Columbia, Canada or to represent yourself as a practitioner, or to use the titles granted by the College including full titles and abbreviations for R.Ac., R.TCM.H., R.TCM.P., Dr.TCM.

Once a registration is cancelled due to failure to pay an annual registration renewal fee on or before March 31, you may apply for reinstatement within 3 months (no later than June 30th) by paying an annual registration renewal fee plus a reinstatement fee in an amount equal to 35% of annual registration renewal fee and satisfying all requirements for renewal. (Section 59 of the CTCMA Bylaws).

For late renewal between April 1^st to June 30^th, you may use the paper application form below:

• 2023 Full / Non-Practising Registration Renewal Form (available between April 1st to June 30th)

After June 30^th, you will need to make a separate application for reinstatement according to the provisions of section 58 of the CTCMA Bylaws. In this case, you must apply to be restored to the CTCMA registry as a non-practicing registrant before applying to become a practicing registrant.