Supporting Public Trust and Quality Practice 

The exclusive (reserved) titles health professionals use and the way they describe their services help patients understand their qualifications and make informed decisions about their care.   

These exclusive titles are established under the Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA) and the Complementary Health Professionals Regulation. Using these titles appropriately, advertising services accurately, and practising within your regulated scope of practice help maintain public trust and support clear communication with patients. The following information highlights ways to apply the Professional Standards: Advertising and Marketing and Scope of Practice in your practice. 

Using Exclusive (Reserved) Titles in Advertising and Marketing 

The Professional Standard: Advertising and Marketing emphasizes that advertising must be professional, accurate, clear, and verifiable. When preparing a professional biography, website, social media profile, or other marketing materials, consider how your use of reserved titles and descriptions may be understood by the public. 

Licensees must: 

• Use reserved titles in accordance with the CCHPBC Bylaws, the HPOA, and the Complementary Health Professionals Regulation. 

• Not use reserved titles to promote services outside their scope of practice. 

• Not use terms such as “expert” or “specialist,” or similar designations that imply special status accreditation, or expertise. 

Training, education, certifications, and association memberships should be presented separately from your reserved title. In practice this means you can provide information about training, learning experiences and areas of professional interest in your professional biography, provided the information is accurate and does not imply a qualification or designation you do not hold.  

 

Keeping Out-of-Scope Services Clearly Separate 

To support public and patient understanding of the difference between regulated and unregulated health services, licensees who have additional training or education credentials to provide services that fall outside their regulated scope of practice must ensure they do not use their reserved title to promote these services.  

The Professional Standard: Advertising and Marketing, Principle 1.6, states: 

Licensees must not use reserved titles to promote services or activities that fall outside their scope of practice. 

The Professional Standard: Scope of Practice, Principle 1.7, states: 

Ensure there is clear separation between services should a licensee be trained to provide an unregulated service that falls outside their scope of practice. 

In practice, consider how your reserved title appears alongside the services you offer: 

• When advertising as a CCHPBC licensee, keep your reserved title clearly separate with no link or association to services that fall outside your regulated scope of practice. 

• Ensure your reserved title is not used to promote out-of-scope services. 

• Keep the care you provide as a CCHPBC licensee within your regulated scope of practice. 

Reviewing your website, service descriptions, booking pages, and other marketing materials can help you identify where increased clarity and separation is needed. 

 

Practising in More Than One Regulated Health Profession 

Some licensees are licensed in more than one regulated health profession. If this applies to you, clear distinctions between your professional designations and the services offered under each can help patients understand the type of care they are receiving. 

The Professional Standard: Advertising and Marketing, Principle 1.8, states: 

Licensees must clearly differentiate advertising and marketing for each professional designation when licensed in more than one health profession. 

In practice, this means considering how you distinguish each professional role across your practice, including: 

• Patient communication: Make it clear which regulated profession you are practising under when providing care. 

• Scope of practice: Ensure services are provided within the scope of the regulated profession under which the care is being delivered. 

• Practice administration: Keep marketing, booking, billing, and health care records clearly differentiated for each regulated profession. 

Taking time to review these arrangements can help reduce confusion for patients and support transparent practice. 

Questions or Need Further Guidance? 

If you have questions about applying the Professional Standards: Advertising and Marketing or Scope of Practice to your practice, College staff are available to help at PracticeSupport@cchpbc.ca.