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Full / Non-Practising Registration Renewal

All Full /Non-Practising registrations expire on March 31st of each year.  In order to ensure your continuous registration, you are required to renew your registration every year.  Current Full / Non-Practising registrants may renew online* through the Registrant Portal during the Renewal Period – from February 24 to March 31. 

In order to receive your wallet-size card and a valid seal BEFORE your current one expires, please submit your completed renewal application online by the first Monday of March.

*  If you have any other outstanding fee, debt or levy owed to the college (if applicable), please contact the College FIRST before renewing and paying registration renewal fee online.

Registration Renewal Fees and Receipt

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

Annual Full Registration Renewal Fees (non-refundable)$850
Annual Non-Practising Registration Renewal Fees (non-refundable)$425

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.

Registration Renewal and Conditions of Full Registration Renewal

Section 56 of the CTCMA Bylaws states the requirements and conditions for registration renewal.

Section 56 of the CTCMA Bylaws contains three conditions of renewal for practising registrants:

Continuing Education (CE)

  • Section 56.1(1): 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 Quality Assurance Program (QAP).

Currency of Practice (CP)

  • Section 56.2 (1):  A full registrant must complete a cumulative total of 600 hours of professional service and/or practice during the 3 years immediately preceding registration renewal in order to maintain currency of practice.
  • “Professional service” means the provision of professional expertise in traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture as defined in the Regulation in a health care delivery, education, research, and/or policy and regulation role that requires the knowledge and skills outlined in the Entry-Level Occupational Competency Profiles for TCM Practitioners, Acupuncturists, or Doctors of TCM.
  • Registrants are expected to meet this requirement by March 31, 2026.

 

Standard First Aid and CPR-C Certifications

  • Section 56(2) (vii): A full registrant is required to provide proof of current certification in standard first aid and Level C cardiopulmonary resuscitation or equivalent certification satisfactory to the registration committee.
  • The Standard First Aid and CPR-C certificate must be issued by one of the five national organizations: Canadian Red Cross, Canadian Ski Patrol, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Lifesaving Society, and St. John Ambulance.
  • Registrants are expected to meet this requirement by March 31, 2024.

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 Currency of Practice (CP) records.  Each year the College randomly selects a number of renewing registrants to audit the individual records of CE/CP.  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 site 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.

Maintaining a Registrant File

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 from the beginning of a registration year on April 1 till March 31 at the end of the registration year 2 years later;

Professional Service / Practice Hour Record

Full registrants should be ready to report that they meet the “Currency of Practice (CP)” continuation of registration requirement by March 31, 2026.

Acceptable Professional Service Hours can include:

  1. Practicing the profession with clients / patients by providing TCM / Acupuncture treatments;
  2. Providing in-person or virtual education and training to other registrants, students, and other health professionals;
  3. Supervising limited registrants or students;
  4. Providing profession-specific consulting, advisory, educational, or profession-specific counselling services to clients, families, and caregivers;
  5. Managing or administering profession-specific programs or services;
  6. Leading or participating in profession-specific research or academic writing;
  7. Leading or participating in professional activities that impact the practice of the profession (e.g., committee work);
  8. Performing regulatory, professional association, or policy development related to practising the profession;
  9. Teaching profession-specific courses;
  10. Professional activities that contribute and impact the practice of the profession.

The following are some examples of activities that are not acceptable:

  1. Providing undocumented services to friends and family or oneself;
  2. Clinical activities, educational activities, research work related to course assignments and assessments in a TCM training program;
  3. Hours during time as a limited registrant or a student registrant;
  4. Time spent to complete required courses and examinations (e.g., Jurisprudence Exam, Interactive Safety course, registration examinations).

*Dual registrants (i.e., registrants who are currently registered in full and student registrations simultaneously) can submit a request with explanation to the Registration Committee to extend meeting the Professional Service / Practice Hours requirement when enrolled in full time study.

**Limited registrants may have specific conditions to meet for the Registration Committee during their limited registration, and hence the same hours under their supervised practice cannot be used to meet another requirement.

Proof of hours may take a variety of forms including, but not limited to:

  • record of employment
  • business records
  • billing information; or
  • a log of professional service / practice activities

Registrants may be audited for their professional service / practice hours. Please provide proof of hours upon request.

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.
Change of Registration Class (From Full Registration to Non-Practising Registration Class)

Registration renewal is a process for current registrants to renew their current status and title. 

If a current full registrant would like to apply to change to the Non-Practising Class, please follow the application process for “Change Registration Class”.  

This application can be submitted any time during the registration year as it is separate from the registration renewal process.

Change of Registration Title

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

Failure to Renew Your Full / Non-Practising Registration on or before March 31st

Registration will be cancelled on April 1 when renewal process (i.e., completion of the renewal form and payment of registration fee) has not been completed by the deadline. When a former registrant’s registration is cancelled, the former registrant is no longer permitted (by law) to practice TCM and acupuncture in British Columbia, Canada or to represent oneself 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.

“Late renewals” applications are accepted on or by June 30 as a Reinstatement Application.  The Reinstatement Application fee is $300.  Registrants must renew on time before the March 31 deadline every year to avoid interruption to their continuing registration.  Please refer to the “Reinstate My Registration”  for detailed information.

Former Registrants Are Not Eligible for Registration Renewal.

A former registrant may apply for reinstatement to full registrant.  Please refer to the “Reinstate My Registration” for detailed information.