Understanding the teacher certification application process

Application submitted

What to expect

• After you submit your application form, we place it in a queue in date order to be assigned to an evaluator

When to contact us

• If you discover that you did not include information on the form or if information needs to be corrected, email us
• After a month, if you have not received an email with your file number (for example, L199999), email us

Application received

What to expect

• Your evaluator has created your file (for example, L199999) and is in the process of reviewing your application form

When to contact us

• Check the status of your application by logging in to Your Account
• Delays may occur if you did not provide all required information on your application form. If you discover that you did not include information on the form or if information needs to be corrected, please email us

Application in process

What to expect

• Your evaluator has reviewed your file and has sent you an email with your specific list of required documents
• Intake staff receive and review your documents and process them in a date order queue to maintain fairness to all applicants
• If there are any issues with the documents that have been submitted, staff will update Your Account with details as documents are processed
• Submit your identification documents and signed Consent to a Criminal Record Check Form as soon as possible. Once we receive and process them, your criminal record check authorization will be forwarded to the Criminal Records Review Program (CRRP) for review

Applicant’s responsibilities

• Access your list of required documents through Your Account and read it carefully. Certain documents must contain specific information and may need to be sent to us in a particular format or way
• Submit your documents as requested as soon as possible. Documents that are not submitted according to the requirements will delay your application process. You may be required to resubmit documents or provide further information
• Regularly check the status of your application through Your Account. Your Account is updated in real time as documents are received and processed by Intake staff

When to contact us

• If a document has been sent over two months ago but does not show as having been received through Your Account, email us with details about who sent the document, when it was sent, and how it was sent. If the document was emailed, please provide the email address
• If you are experiencing difficulty obtaining a document, email your explanation to us and provide documented evidence of your attempts to obtain the document
• Please only email us once about the same information. If you send follow-up emails with repeated questions, we are delayed in processing your documents

Application complete

What to expect

• Your application is complete when we have received and processed all your required documents. We then place your application in a queue for evaluation
• An evaluator reviews all submitted documents to assess your credentials and determines whether you have met the requirements for certification.
• If the evaluator determines that documents are missing or have been submitted incorrectly, you may be required to resubmit documents or provide further information.

When to contact us

• Continue to monitor your status regularly through Your Account for the most up-to-date information
• The wait time for an evaluation depends on how many files are in an evaluator’s caseload and the complexity of each evaluation

What to know about evaluation wait times

• There are service standards for the time the evaluation will take starting from the date that an application becomes complete.
• For a Certificate of Qualification application:
  • Canadian teacher education program graduates – 20 business days (1 month)
  • International teacher education program graduates – 60 business days (3 months)
• For an Independent School Teaching Certificate application:
  • School and Subject Restricted (SSR) – 20 business days (1 months)
  • Subject Restricted (SR) and System Restricted (SYR) – 60 business days (3 months)
• For a Letter of Permission application:
  • 10 business days (2 weeks)

Application evaluated

What to expect

• After an evaluator has evaluated your application, we will email you
• The email will include an attached letter that indicates whether you are eligible for certification and gives instructions for any actions that you will need to take
• Before you receive the eligibility outcome, please do not start taking courses towards your certification. We don't know which courses you will need to take until we complete the evaluation of your application.

Eligibility

• If the outcome of your evaluation is Eligible, the letter will include instructions about how to:  
  • log in to Your Account and pay the annual practice fee so that we can issue your teaching certificate
  • complete required coursework to upgrade your certification
  • request reconsideration of the decision if you are not satisfied with the outcome

• If the outcome of your evaluation is Ineligible, the letter will include:
  • reasons why you were denied certification
  • the coursework required to be eligible certification
  • information about requesting a reconsideration of the decision if you are not satisfied with the outcome

Tutorials

View the following short videos to learn how to:

• Create a BCeID and link it to Your Account
• Check your application status and submit your documents

If you are a graduate of a B.C. teacher education program, view the following videos to learn more about B.C. teacher regulation and to find out how to apply for a Certificate of Qualification.

• Learn about B.C. teacher regulation
• Register for a BCeID and create Your Account 
• Submit an application for a Certificate of Qualification (COQ)
• Maintain your Certificate of Qualification (COQ)