Title Protection

Reserved Titles

Reserved titles, prescribed under section 12 of the Health Professions Act as being for the exclusive use of registrants of regulatory colleges, are a central and critical public protection element of British Columbia’s health professions regulatory framework.

Section 12.1 of the Health Professions Act expressly prohibits a person other than a registrant of a health professions regulatory college from using a reserved title, an abbreviation of the title or an equivalent of the title in another language to describe the person’s work or to imply that the person is a registrant or associated with the regulatory college. Contravention of this prohibition is punishable by a fine of not more than $2000 or imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or both.

Current Reserved Titles

Profession	Regulatory College	Reserved Title(s)
Acupuncture	College of Complementary Health Professionals of BC	acupuncturist
Audiology	College of  Health and Care Professionals of BC	audiologist
Chiropractic	College of Complementary Health Professionals of BC	chiropractor doctor
Dental Hygiene	BC College of Oral Health Professionals	dental hygienist
Dental Technology	BC College of Oral Health Professionals	dental technician
Dentistry	BC College of Oral Health Professionals	dentist dental surgeon surgeon doctor dental therapist
Denturism	BC College of Oral Health Professionals	denturist
Dietetics	College of Health and Care Professionals of BC	dietitian
Emergency Medical Assisting	Emergency Medical Assistants Licensing Board	emergency medical assistant
Hearing Instrument Dispensing	College of Health and Care Professionals of BC	hearing instrument practitioner
Massage Therapy	College of Complementary Health Professionals of BC	massage therapist registered massage therapist massage practitioner registered massage practitioner
Medicine	College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC	medical practitioner physician surgeon doctor osteopath osteopathic physician
Midwifery	BC College of Nurses and Midwives	midwife
Naturopathic medicine	College of Complementary Health Professionals of BC	naturopath naturopathic physician naturopathic doctor physician doctor
Nursing (Licensed Practical)	BC College of Nurses and Midwives	nurse licensed practical nurse practical nurse
Nursing (Registered)	BC College of Nurses and Midwives	nurse registered nurse licensed graduate nurse nurse practitioner registered nurse practitioner
Nursing (Registered Psychiatric)	BC College of Nurses and Midwives	nurse registered psychiatric nurse psychiatric nurse
Occupational Therapy	College of Health and Care Professionals of BC	occupational therapist
Opticianry	College of Health and Care Professionals of BC	optician dispensing optician contact lens fitter
Optometry	College of  Health and Care Professionals of BC	optometrist doctor
Pharmacy	College of Pharmacists of BC	apothecary druggist pharmacist pharmaceutical chemist pharmacy technician
Physical Therapy	College of Health and Care Professionals of BC	physical therapist registered physical therapist physiotherapist registered physiotherapist remedial gymnast registered remedial gymnast
Podiatric Medicine	College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC	podiatrist podiatric surgeon surgeon doctor
Psychology	College of Health and Care Professionals of BC	psychologist school psychologist
Speech-Language Pathology	College of Health and Care Professionals of BC	speech-language pathologist speech therapist
Traditional Chinese Medicine	College of Complementary Health Professionals of BC	traditional Chinese medicine practitioner traditional Chinese medicine herbalist doctor of traditional Chinese medicine doctor