Practising/Non-Practising Status Change

Registrants/Practising/Non-Practising Status Change

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 [email protected]. 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 (click here to see applicable fees).

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. For more information, click here.

Registration Status Change: Practising to Non-practising

If you hold Practising status and are changing to Non-practising registration, you must complete the fillable Application for Non-practising Registration form and return it to CMTBC by mail, fax or email to [email protected]. 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 via the Registrant Portal (click here to see applicable fees).
Valid professional liability insurance: if you carry claims-based insurance, you must provide “tail” coverage for your period of Non-practising registration. For more information, see section 61 of the Bylaws.

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 CMTBC.

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), CMTBC 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 CMTBC by following the labour mobility registration pathway 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 CMTBC’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. CMTBC’s Bylaws were amended in 2019 to minimize the differences between reinstatement of registration and return to practising status (from non-practising).