Key updates

Notification of upcoming registration bylaw amendments

On May 30, 2025, the CPSBC Board approved amendments to the Bylaws under the Health Professions Act, specifically, the below sections related to registration. The bylaw amendments are set to take effect on July 7, 2025.

USA-trained physicians

The bylaw amendments will allow physicians who have completed certain USA-based training and board certification to be eligible for licensure in the full class.

To be eligible for the full – specialty class of licensure, applicants must have

  1. completed ACGME-accredited training, and
  2. certification with an American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) member board.

To be eligible for the full – family class of licensure, applicants must have

  1. completed family medicine training accredited by either the ACGME or the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), and
  2. certification with either the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians (AOBFP) or the American Board of Family Medicine.

Registrants currently in the USA certified class and eligible registrants currently in the provisional class will be transferred to the full class once the amended bylaws are in effect.

LMCC requirement

The current bylaws require an applicant for independent practice in the full and provisional classes to have obtained the Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada (LMCC) or alternatively, completed acceptable licensing examinations in the USA, prior to being granted registration and licensure. The bylaws also require an applicant to the assessment, associate physician, and clinical observership classes to obtain either the LMCC or MCCQE Part I.

Under the amended bylaws, physicians who completed their postgraduate training outside Canada and are applying for registration and licensure in the full and provisional classes will not be required to hold the LMCC. Further, physicians applying for registration and licensure in the assessment, associate physician, and clinical observership classes will not be required to hold the LMCC.

Canadian medical graduates will still be required to obtain the LMCC prior to registration and licensure in the full or provisional classes.

Re-entry to or change in focus or scope of practice

The current bylaws allow:

  1. A registrant who is not current for clinical practice within the scope of their certified training and recent experience to regain currency or change the focus or scope of their clinical practice, and
  2. An applicant who has previously practised medicine in British Columbia or another jurisdiction, and who has been absent from practice for a period of time, to regain currency or change the focus or scope of their clinical practice.

Under the amended bylaws, a registrant or applicant will be required to submit a proposed retraining plan, satisfactory to CPSBC, in order to regain currency in practice. Where a registrant or applicant wishes to change their scope of practice to an area in which they have not previously practised, the registrant or applicant would continue to be required to meet the postgraduate training requirements in the area in which they wish to practise as well as submit a retraining plan and complete such retraining, satisfactory to CPSBC.

Associate physician class

The current bylaws provide a pathway for international medical graduates, with medical training acceptable to CPSBC, and who are not eligible for a full or provisional licence in BC to provide services as an associate physician while under the direction and supervision of an attending physician. Currently, there are three associate physician classes: associate physician – acute care, associate physician – community primary care, and associate physician – surgical assistant.

Under the amended bylaws, the three classes will be combined into one class in order to streamline the bylaws and address the issues noted below. The amendments will continue to require associate physicians to practise under the direction and supervision of an attending physician and have sponsorship, in addition to the following proposed changes:

  • Establishing a consistent one-year accredited training requirement in connection with the role of the associate physician,
  • An exemption from the requirement to meet the currency requirements under the bylaws subject to completing a period of retraining with their sponsorship, and
  • The requirement to comply with the continuing professional development requirements of the associate physician program.
Educational – postgraduate (fellow)

Under the current bylaws, a physician may be granted registration in the educational - postgraduate (fellow) class for the purposes of pursuing further clinical or research training in their specialty. Currently, registration in this class is for a limited duration not to exceed three years. 

To account for postgraduate training programs which are four years in duration, the amendments allow a time period of four years to enable physicians to fulfill their postgraduate training program.