In early March 2018 [see update below], CMTBC will mail new registration certificates to all RMTs. The certificates will enhance public protection by containing a reminder that current registration status can be verified online at CMTBC’s Public Register, and will also benefit RMTs by providing proof of their registration with the College and their initial registration date.

The College has learned, especially in cases where unlicensed massage providers who have been criminally charged with sexual offences have mistakenly been referred to in the media as massage therapists, that many members of the public will attach trust and significance to what appears to be a professional certificate on a person’s wall. However, one important difficulty with most professional certificates is that they do not specify a validity period. That means that even though an individual’s registration may have been suspended or cancelled, a certificate could appear to validate him/her as a practicing professional and someone a member of the public feels able to trust.

While this is a potential issue with any registration certificate – unless new certificates or certificate renewal stickers are issued annually, options which both come with their own challenges – the new CMTBC certificates will:

• Certify the RMT as a registrant of CMTBC as of his/her initial date of registration, which will be printed on the certificate;
• Contain language directing members of the public to CMTBC’s Public Register should they wish to verify an RMT’s current registration status; and
• Provide all RMTs in BC with a common registration certificate, in a contemporary design consistent with CMTBC’s rebranding, and therefore not easily confused with any other certificate. While the College’s main goal is to protect the public, practicing RMTs will benefit by having a distinctive certificate standardized across the profession.

To see what their new certificate will look like, RMTs can log on to the Registrant Portal and click the “Download College Documents” button at the bottom of the left-hand menu. The certificate RMTs receive in the mail will also have an embossed silver-foil College seal and be printed on high-quality linen stock.

RMTs are encouraged to view their certificate on the Portal as soon as possible, and if they wish to request changes to the name that appears on their certificate, contact the College at [email protected] no later than February 23, 2018. Otherwise, the printed certificate – apart from the seal, which does not display online – will be as it appears on the Portal.

Update (April 11, 2018): 
Due to production issues, printing and mailing of the new certificates was delayed past the originally-anticipated early March date.  However, CMTBC has now confirmed with its printer that the certificates have been produced, and will be mailed out during the week of April 16, 2018.  Any RMT who has not received their new certificate by April 30, 2018 is invited to contact CMTBC.