In British Columbia you complete a recognized dental hygiene diploma or degree, pass the NDHCE within three years of applying, and get licensed by the BC College of Oral Health Professionals before you can practise.
Applies in: British Columbia
Written November 13, 2026
Complete a recognized dental hygiene diploma or degree, pass the national examination, then apply for a licence from the BC College of Oral Health Professionals. The College requires the National Dental Hygiene Certification Examination to have been completed no more than three years before your licence application, and you cannot practise until the College emails you confirmation that your status is active.
British Columbia does not use a separate dental hygiene college any more. Oral health professions sit with the one amalgamated college, so every step in this guide — the application, the criminal record check, the document uploads, and the licence fee — runs through the BC College of Oral Health Professionals. Do not follow an older page that sends you to a dental-hygiene-only college, and do not carry another province's registration steps into a British Columbia application.
The College's first general licensing requirement is a recognized dental hygiene diploma or degree from a recognized dental hygiene education program. The program side of that test is accreditation. If your program is not considered an accredited program by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada (CDAC) or the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), the College gives a second route: if you are not currently licensed as a practising dental hygienist in another Canadian jurisdiction, you may satisfy the requirement by completing the Federation of Dental Hygiene Regulators of Canada's (FDHRC) Canadian Performance Exam in Dental Hygiene (CPEDH).
That distinction matters at enrolment time, not at graduation time. A program that looks like a dental hygiene program but is not recognized leaves you with an extra performance examination to arrange, and in some cases an equivalency process as well. Before you pay tuition, confirm the program's standing against the College's requirement, and keep your diploma or degree document safe: the application calls for a notarized or certified copy of it.
If you trained outside Canada, or in a program that was not accredited, contact the College before you apply. The College invites applicants in that position to ask whether the CPEDH is required, and an early answer is cheaper than an application built on the wrong assumption.
The second general requirement is successful completion of the National Dental Hygiene Certification Examination (NDHCE) administered by the FDHRC, no more than three years before the date of your application for a licence. The examination is national; the timing rule is British Columbia's.
The three-year window shapes your sequencing. A candidate who passes the examination and then waits — for a move, a job search, or a break — can find the result too old for a first British Columbia licence. The College states the consequence plainly: if your NDHCE was completed more than three years ago, and you are not currently licensed or registered in another Canadian jurisdiction, you may have to complete an equivalency determination process. You can still submit an application, and College staff will contact you after reviewing it, but the route is longer than applying while the result is current.
If you are already licensed as a practising dental hygienist in another Canadian jurisdiction, say so in the application. Current licensure elsewhere changes both the education route and the paperwork, including an exemption from submitting some notarized documents when you apply for the same or equivalent licence class while holding an active licence in the other jurisdiction.
The British Columbia application is online, and it has one trap worth planning around: your application must be completed in one attempt, because if you log out or close your browser, your partially completed application will not be saved. The College estimates the online application may take up to 20 minutes. Gather everything before you start.
You will need contact information for home and practice addresses, a BC driver's licence number or other government-issued photo identification, your dental education details including institution and graduation date, your NDHCE certification information, CPEDH information if it applies, the names of any other jurisdictions where you have been registered with dates, and your professional liability insurance information.
The steps run in this order. First, create an online account; if you already hold a licence with the College in another oral health profession and want this licence category as well, create a new account with a different email address. Second, log in and complete the application form. Third, pay the application and criminal record check fees, which are non-refundable. Fourth, upload the required documents. Fifth, when the College confirms the application is complete, pay the separate licence fee. Sixth, wait for the licence confirmation email.
One exception is flagged on the College's page: if you currently hold a licence with the College in another oral health profession, you may not need a new criminal record check — but do not pay first and ask later, because payments are non-refundable. The College directs those applicants to email its licensing address to inquire before completing payment.
After the application is submitted, you upload the required documents, and for documents that require notarization, the original must be received by the College office by mail. The list is specific:
Two timing notes sit inside that list. A certificate of standing must be delivered directly to the College from the licensing body in a sealed envelope, and it is valid for up to 60 days from the date it was signed — if your licensing process is not completed within 60 days, a new certificate will be required. And notarization can be waived for the diploma and NDHCE certificate where confirmation of successful completion is provided to the College by your educational institution or by the FDHRC directly.
Plan for the criminal record check early. The College states that a criminal record check may take four weeks to process, and advises submitting your initial payment and the notarized copy of two pieces of government-issued photo ID as soon as you can.
The licence fee is a separate payment from the application and criminal record check fees. Once all required documents are received and your application is ready to be finalized, the College emails you a notification to make the final payment through your account. Once the licence fee has been processed, the College sends an email within three to five business days confirming that your status has been changed to active.
The rule that follows is absolute: you cannot practise until you receive a licence confirmation email. A submitted application, a paid fee, or a passed examination is not a licence. The College states a general application processing time of eight weeks, and warns that incomplete applications or insufficient information may delay the process, so a start date with an employer should be set against the confirmation email, not against the day you submitted the form.
Licences are annual. The College's renewal information states that its registration year runs from April 1 until March 31 the following year, and renewal is completed by logging in to your account and submitting payment. Renewing licensees must meet quality assurance requirements if their cycle ended on or before December 31, 2025, hold a valid criminal record check, hold valid professional liability insurance where it applies to dental hygienists, owe no outstanding fines, fees, debts, or levies to the College, and complete renewal and pay the required fees on or before March 31.
Treat renewal as part of the job from the first year. A lapsed licence is not a paperwork delay you can work through — it is a gap in your legal authority to practise — and the quality assurance and criminal record check elements cannot be assembled on the last day of March.
The College's initial licence page points applicants to a separate fee schedule for the dollar amounts of the application fee, the criminal record check fee, and the licence fee, and that schedule was not opened for this guide, so this guide carries no British Columbia fee figures. Check the College's current fee schedule before you budget. The page also does not state a jurisprudence examination requirement for dental hygienist applicants, so this guide does not describe one; confirm the current application checklist in your College account when you apply.
The BC College of Oral Health Professionals (BCCOHP). It is the amalgamated college for oral health professionals in British Columbia, and its initial licence page sets out the requirements for dental hygienists. You apply through its online application process and you cannot practise until the College confirms your licence is active.
The College requires successful completion of the National Dental Hygiene Certification Examination (NDHCE), administered by the Federation of Dental Hygiene Regulators of Canada, no more than three years before the date of your application for a licence. If your NDHCE was completed more than three years ago, and you are not currently licensed in another Canadian jurisdiction, you may have to complete an equivalency determination process.
If your program is not considered an accredited program by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada (CDAC) or the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), and you are not currently licensed as a practising dental hygienist in another Canadian jurisdiction, the College says you may satisfy the education requirement by completing the Federation of Dental Hygiene Regulators of Canada's Canadian Performance Exam in Dental Hygiene (CPEDH). Contact the College to confirm whether you need it.
The College states a general application processing time of eight weeks, and notes that incomplete applications or insufficient information may delay the process. A criminal record check may take four weeks to process. The online application itself may take up to 20 minutes and must be completed in one attempt, because a partially completed application is not saved if you log out or close your browser.
The College lists a notarized statutory declaration, a notarized photo identification form with a notarized photocopy of two pieces of photo ID, a notarized or certified copy of your education degree or diploma, a notarized or certified copy of your NDHCE certificate, certificates or letters of standing from any jurisdiction where you have been licensed, and name change documents if required. Originals of documents that require notarization must be received by the College office by mail.
Licences renew annually. The College's renewal information states that its registration year runs from April 1 each year until March 31 the following year, and that licensees renew by logging in to their account, meeting quality assurance requirements where their cycle has ended, holding a valid criminal record check and valid professional liability insurance, and paying the required fees on or before March 31.