Menu
In accordance with the Health Professions Act, all BC health professions must establish a Quality Assurance Program (QAP).
The British Columbia College of Oral Health Professionals meets this HPA requirement through Continuing Education. Registered Dental Technicians are required to continue their learning throughout their career by accumulating a number of education credits for each three-year cycle.
Your QAP cycle is assigned at the date of registration and runs on a three-year calendar cycle. These cycles remain constant despite the registration classification a dental technician holds (i.e., practising, non-practising, former). Please contact us for further information specific to your cycle if you plan to move between registration classifications.
Registrants who do not meet Quality Assurance Program requirements will be unable to renew their registration.
The QAP cycle for dental technicians typically follows a three-year cycle and was previously in progress from March 1, 2023, to February 28, 2026. To comply with the BCCOHP bylaws that came into place upon amalgamation of oral health regulatory colleges, QAP cycles must align with the calendar year. To adjust for this, the QAP cycle has been temporarily changed as follows:
As of January 1, 2027, the QAP cycle will revert to its standard three-year period, running from January 1, 2027, to December 31, 2029, and will return to the previous 30 CE credit requirement.
Please note, QAP requirements still include engaging in a minimum of 675 hours of dental technician practice for every three years of active registration.
Updates to CE submission processThe processing of continuing education (CE) submissions has changed, and an audit process has been implemented. Previously, every submission entered into the portal required manual approval by staff. The new audit process will randomly select a small sample of CE submissions entered into the online portal each day. These samples will be reviewed, and further information may be required to verify compliance. This process will help streamline submissions and reduce turnaround time for registrants. |
BCCOHP has, as one of its objects under the Health Professions Act, an obligation to establish a continuing education program.
Dental Technicians must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours of continuing education in each three-year cycle. At least 24 credits must be technical – that is, directly related to the scope of practice. Technicians may also claim a maximum of 6 non-technical credits, which are indirectly related to the scope of practice. Please note that registrants can claim up to a maximum of 10 credits per day. For more information, please refer to the Continuing Education Guide (PDF) here.
The current CE cycle began on March 1, 2023, and ends on December 31, 2026. Registrants are reminded that according to the Bylaws, the College cannot renew the registration of a registrant who has not met the Continuing Education Requirements.
General Information
BCCOHP no longer requires pre-approval of courses in order for them to be eligible for continuing education credits. Credit may be claimed on an hour-per-hour basis for courses or other eligible activities that you complete. It is your responsibility to provide the College with the information about the course or activity that you are requesting credit for along with supporting evidence of your participation as noted below, when required.
Registrants can also download the following continuing education related forms:
Make sure you keep copies of all documents related to your attendance at a continuing education course, e.g:
Do not rely on the course sponsor or BCCOHP to do this for you.
Contact the BCCOHP office if you have any questions about your continuing education record.
A Registrant who does not complete the continuing education requirements cannot renew registration.
When viewing your CE transcript, submission statuses will appear as one of the following:
For further information and/or assistance, please contact us.