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​​​​​​​​​​To work as a nurse or midwife in B.C., you must hold current practising registration with BCCNM. ​Unregistered, retired or non-practising individuals cannot call themselves nurses or midwives and cannot practise in clinical practice, education, administration or research.

If you work without current practising registration, even accidentally, you are in breach of the Health Professions Act and may be subject to prosecution under the Offense Act or to an application in Supreme Court for an injunction against you.

Know the risks

If you participate in unregistered practice, you’re taking a risk that can impact you professionally and financially. Here’s what you need to know:

You’re not cov​​ered by p​​rofessional liability protection

Only practising registrants are eligible for ​professional liability protection​. If you practise without protection, you are opening yourself up to personal financial risk if there is a lawsuit stemming from your practice during that period.

Additional fees

If you forget to renew your registration and work on or after the renewal period, you will pay additional fees and surcharges. Along with reinstating your registration and paying your registration fees, you’ll have to pay:

  • $265+GST ​reinstatement application fee
  • $375+GST reinstatement surcharge (unregistered practice)

For more information about fees, ​visit the Fees section and look at "other fees."

Committee review

Applicants who practise without registration may be referred to the Registration Committee for review. While under review, applicants are not eligible to practice until they have satisfied the committee that all requirements to reinstate registration have been met. ​​​​​​​​

Report unregistered prac​​tice

​Please advise BCCNM of unregistered practice by any p​erson by mail or phone, or by emailing complaints@bccnm.ca

900 – 200 Granville St
Vancouver, BC  V6C 1S4
Canada

info@bccnm​.ca
604.742.6200​
​Toll-free 1.866.880.7101 (within Canada only) ​


We acknowledge the rights and title of the First Nations on whose collective unceded territories encompass the land base colonially known as British Columbia. We give specific thanks to the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking peoples the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations and the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh-ulh Sníchim speaking Peoples the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), on whose unceded territories BCCNM’s office is located. We also give thanks for the medicines of these territories and recognize that laws, governance, and health systems tied to these lands and waters have existed here for over 9000 years.

We also acknowledge the unique and distinct rights, including rights to health and wellness, of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples from elsewhere in Canada who now live in British Columbia. As leaders in the settler health system, we acknowledge our responsibilities to these rights under international, national, and provincial law.​