This message was sent to all oral health professionals regulated by BCCOHP via email.
Message from Chris Hacker, CEO and Registrar
As the year comes to a close, I wanted to recognize the contributions and the support provided by all oral health professionals, across the province, towards the progress we’ve made together in 2025 to advance regulatory modernization.
Your continued commitment and dedication to providing safe and effective oral health care ensures that practices and facilities run smoothly every day, and plays an essential role in enabling BCCOHP to protect the public. Your professionalism and engagement are critical to our ongoing growth as a regulator.
As you head into the break, please accept my heartfelt thanks for all you do. It means the world. Here are some reminders to help you close out the year and start 2026 on the right foot.
Upcoming office closures
BCCOHP will be closed from noon on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, through 8:30 am PT on Monday, January 5, 2026.
Throughout the upcoming office closures and altered schedules that come with winter holidays, it is important to ensure there is a line of communication available for emergencies involving patient safety or practitioner wellness.
- In the event of a critical incident, an emergency involving patient safety, or for registrants with health concerns during a BCCOHP office closure, please call 672-202-0448 and press 9 to reach the Registrar’s Office. BCCOHP’s Critical Incident Report Form is here.
- For non-urgent matters, please leave a message with the appropriate department, and we’ll respond promptly upon our return in January.
Quality Assurance Program cycles and credit submissions
Reminder: To support the transition to the modernized Quality Assurance Program in April 2026, all pre-existing QA program requirements and assessments are being retired on December 31, 2025. Learn more >>
Oral health professionals whose Quality Assurance Program cycles end on December 31, 2025, are the final cohorts required to complete the pre-existing program requirements. Rest assured that all valid credits submitted before December 31 will be applied to your cycle, even if they do not show up in the system yet as approved/complete.
Looking ahead to 2026
We have a full slate of initiatives lined up for the new year, and want to share a few things to look out for as we head into a new year:
- Rolling out a modernized Quality Assurance Program:
Development of the program components is in progress as we prepare for implementation in April 2026 and we look forward to sharing more details about the modernized program design with you in January.
Read the latest >>
- Annual Renewal: The 2026/27 renewal period opens in February 2026. We will be sending out targeted messages to individuals holding a registration or certification status that may be impacted by the transition to the new BCCOHP bylaws that have been drafted to align with the Health Professions and Occupations Act, and, as always, detailed information for renewal will be shared with you in the new year.
- Practice Standards for the Oral Health Team: Building on the Professional Standards for the Oral Health Team released earlier this year, work continues to update BCCOHP practice standards in higher-risk areas of oral health care. We look forward to sharing more in the new year as this work progresses. Existing practice standards remain in effect and are available on our website.
- X-ray equipment inspections: A clarification regarding x-ray equipment inspections was posted on December 19, 2025. Read it now >>
- BCCOHP Forum at the Pacific Dental Conference: we look forward to an opportunity to connect with oral health professionals from all over the province in person in March to share more about our progress and priorities. Search “forum” in the online program for our session details. Please join us.
I hope you can find time to rest, recharge and rejuvenate, and that the holidays are everything you need them to be.
Warmest wishes,
Chris
