Health Professions Act 

CSHBC is one of 15 health regulatory colleges in BC governed by the Health Professions Act (HPA). As outlined in section 16 (1), the Act mandates that colleges govern their registrants in the public interest:

Duty and objects of a college

16 (1) It is the duty of a college at all times

(a) to serve and protect the public, and

(b) to exercise its powers and discharge its responsibilities under all enactments in the public interest.

The Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA) will replace the HPA as the governing legislation for regulated health professionals and health profession regulatory colleges in BC.

The HPOA received Royal Assent on November 24, 2022. The BC Government has not yet released a date for when the HPOA will come into force. The HPA will continue to be the governing legislation for regulated health professionals and health profession regulatory colleges until the HPOA is in force.

For more information on the HPOA, read the Health Professions and Occupations Act page.

Health Professions General Regulation

The Health Professions General Regulation provides further clarification of the Health Professions Act, including:

• The prescribed periods for disposing of complaints
• The standard form Oath of Office for Board members
• The reasons for refusing to disclose information contained in the register.

Speech and Hearing Health Professionals Regulation

The Speech and Hearing Health Professionals Regulation defines what constitutes audiology, hearing instrument dispensing, and speech-language pathology, and prescribes:

• The name of the College.
• The scope of practice of CSHBC registrants.
• The professional titles reserved for the exclusive use of CSHBC registrants. See Reserved Titles for more information.
• Restrictions, limits, or conditions on the practice of audiology, hearing instrument dispensing, and speech-language pathology.