Registered Massage Therapists – Registrants

If you are a registrant who wants to maintain your professional registration as a practising RMT in 2025, you must renew your practising registration. Registrants not currently practising may renew as non-practising if they wish to maintain their registration.
Renewal is done online, on the Registrant Portal.

Your renewal period opens on November 1, 2024. The deadline for renewal without a late fee is December 16. (A one-day grace period has been added this year due to the usual deadline of December 15 falling on a weekend).

Registration renewal fees

The renewal fees are staying the same: $750 for Practising or $375 for Non-practising. There are no fee increases this year.

If you renew between December 17 and December 31, you will be required to pay a late fee of $100. You will still be able to access renewal in the Registrant Portal until December 31, 2024.

If you do not renew by December 31, 2024, your registration will be cancelled and, if you want to continue practising in 2025, you will be required to reinstate under Schedule 3, paragraph 7.0 of the CCHPBC bylaws. You will be required to pay a $75 application fee and $850 registration reinstatement fee.

Quality assurance requirements

You must meet Quality Assurance Program (QAP) requirements by October 31, 2024.

• These requirements include completing the mandatory Indigenous Cultural Safety, Humility, and Anti-Racism online course and the Practice Development Program.
• You will not be able to renew your registration until you have completed these QAP requirements.

Confirm your renewal requirements

Before renewing, registrants are asked to ensure the following registration renewal requirements have been met:

• You have completed the QAP requirements.
• You hold valid professional liability insurance. Have your certificate of insurance available for uploading in the Registrant Portal.
• You hold valid certification in Standard First Aid and CPR-C. If you have recently re-certified, have your certificate available for uploading in the Registrant Portal.
• Outstanding fees and fines (if any) are paid. (In the Registrant Portal, click “Invoices” in the menu at the left to pay outstanding fees and fines before beginning the registration renewal process.)

How to renew your registration

CCHPBC has prepared a video that outlines the registration renewal process. Download the registration renewal video script.

How to pay

• Pay by credit card (Visa or Mastercard) in the registrant portal, or by cheque, bank draft or money order mailed to CCHPBC. If you pay by cheque, bank draft or money order, your registration renewal is not complete until payment has been received by the College.
• Please note that the College does not accept payment by debit card, e-transfer, wire transfer or Interac.

Click “Invoices” in the menu at the left in the registrant portal to review paid invoices or print a receipt.

Health Profession Corporation Permit renewal

The HPC permit renewal fee is $100. The HPC permit fee is not increasing this year.

If you have a Health Profession Corporation (HPC) permit, you must renew it online, through the Registrant Portal, during the registration renewal period (November 1 to December 16, 2024. If you renew your HPC permit between December 17 and December 31, you will be required to pay a late fee of $100. You will be able to access HPC renewal in the Registrant Portal until December 31, 2024.

Payment for HPC permits can be made in the same manner as registration renewal.

Registration Status Change: Non-practising to Practising

If you hold Non-practising status and wish to return to Practising registration, you must complete the fillable Application for Return to Practising Registration form(PDF) and return it to College staff by mail, fax or email to ac.cbphcc@ofni. College staff will guide you through the next steps, which are summarized below.

If you have been Non-practising for less than two years, the requirements for a return to Practising status are:

• Valid professional liability insurance
• Current certification in Standard First Aid (SFA) and CPR-C
• Payment of any applicable fees via the Registrant Portal.

If you have been Non-practising for two years or more, College staff will review your application form and guide you through the next steps. There will be an assessment by the Registration Committee of your readiness for practice, which may result in a requirement that you successfully complete registration examination components or a clinical skills refresher course.

Registration Status Change: Practising to Non-practising

If you hold Practising status and are changing to Non-practising registration, please contact College staff for the applicable form, and return it to the College by mail or email to ac.cbphcc@ofni. College staff will guide you through the next steps which are summarized below.

The requirements for conversion to Non-practising status are:

• Payment of any applicable fees.
• Valid professional liability insurance: if you carry claims-based insurance, you must provide “tail” coverage for your period of Non-practising registration.

Registration Status Change: Relocation Outside of British Columbia

If you are moving out of BC, you will need to make a decision about whether or not to maintain registration with CCHPBC.

Moving to a regulated province?

If you intend to continue to practice, and are moving to another province in Canada that regulates massage therapy (Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland/Labrador), CCHPBC recommends that you obtain registration in your province of residence and that you do not continue to be registered in BC.

If you later decide to return to BC to practice as an RMT, and you continue to hold the equivalent of practising registration status in another regulated province, you will be able to re-obtain practising registration status with CCHPBC by following the labour mobility registration pathway (Link to: RMTS From Ontario, Newfoundland & Labrador, New Brunswick, and PEI page) created by the Canadian Free Trade Agreement.

If you retain non-practising status in BC while practicing elsewhere, you will have to continue to meet CCHPBC’s requirements for non-practising registrants.

Moving to a non-regulated province, or outside Canada?

If you are moving to a non-regulated jurisdiction in Canada, or outside Canada entirely, there is no real benefit or advantage to maintaining non-practising status while you are away. The College’s Bylaws were amended in 2019 to minimize the differences between reinstatement of registration and return to practising status (from non-practising).

The requirements that apply to a reinstatement depend on when and why an RMT’s registration lapsed:

1. RMTs who fail to renew their registration for the following year by December 31 of the current year will automatically be cancelled. Reinstatement of registration following non-renewal is available within three months – that is, by March 31 – by meeting the requirements set out in the College’s Bylaws.
2. If registration has lapsed or been cancelled for more than three months, RMTs must meet the more extensive reinstatement requirements set out in the College’s Bylaws. 
3. Once the period of non-registration exceeds two years, an RMT may also be required to successfully complete one or more portions of the registration examination or a clinical skills refresher course, or otherwise demonstrate currency of knowledge, skills, and ability.
4. If registration was cancelled due to the College’s inquiry and/or discipline process, the College’s Bylaws sets out an additional requirement that applies in that circumstance.

See the College’s Bylaws to determine the fee that applies to each type of reinstatement.

Former registrants may not use the professional titles protected by the Massage Therapists Regulation, including “massage therapist”, “registered massage therapist”, or “RMT”. Those titles can be used only after registration has been reinstated by the College.

If you are applying for reinstatement, please contact College staff for the applicable form, and return it to the College by mail or email to ac.cbphcc@ofni.