In British Columbia you complete an accredited physiotherapy degree, pass the national CAPR licensure examination, and register with the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC, which has regulated physical therapists since the June 2024 amalgamation.
Applies in: British Columbia
Written November 13, 2026
Complete an accredited physiotherapy degree, pass the national examination administered by the Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators, then register with the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC. That college — not the old College of Physical Therapists of British Columbia — has regulated physical therapists in British Columbia since the June 2024 amalgamation, and registration through it is required before you can practise.
Two names cause most of the confusion in this province. The first is the regulator: pages written before mid-2024 name a physiotherapy-only college that no longer regulates the profession on its own. The second is the examination: the national exam changed form in January 2026. This guide uses the names the official pages use now.
Physiotherapy entry-to-practice education in Canada is a university degree program, and accreditation is the gate to the examination. CAPR states that graduates of accredited Canadian programs are automatically eligible to write the national examination.
In British Columbia, the program is the University of British Columbia's Master of Physical Therapy. The UBC Academic Calendar states that on completion of all academic courses and clinical fieldwork, graduates in physical therapy are required to write the licensing exams, that registration through the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC is required in order to practise physical therapy in British Columbia, and that the physical therapy program at UBC is accredited, with students required to graduate from an accredited program in order to write the licensing exam.
The calendar adds one point worth knowing before you graduate: upon receipt of a licence to practise, graduates are eligible for membership in the Canadian Physiotherapy Association and its provincial branch, the Physiotherapy Association of British Columbia. Association membership follows licensure; it is not a substitute for it, and it is not the registration step.
CAPR's general information page states the national rule: to become licensed as a physiotherapist, all provincial regulatory colleges, except in Quebec, require candidates to first pass the Physiotherapy Competency Examination (PCE), and the written component of the PCE is administered by CAPR.
The form of that examination changed at the start of 2026. The College of Physiotherapists of Ontario's transition notice, describing the same CAPR examination British Columbia candidates write, states that CAPR began administering the Canadian Physiotherapy Examination in January 2026, that it is offered eight times in 2026, conducted virtually over one day, and combines written and clinical components with a single pass mark. The Alberta regulator's transition notice describes the same single examination the same way: a written section and an oral, scenario-based section with a single pass mark, evaluating the critical competencies for safe and effective practice.
For a British Columbia applicant, the practical consequence is that study material built around the old two-part structure — a written component one season and a separate provincial clinical examination later — describes a route that has been replaced. Work from CAPR's current examination pages for eligibility, dates, and fees, and treat any source that still walks you through the discontinued two-exam sequence as out of date.
Internationally educated candidates follow the credentialling route in Step 4 below before any examination attempt.
The provincial step belongs to the amalgamated college. The Province of British Columbia's list of professional regulatory authorities states that in June 2024 several health colleges in British Columbia were merged into two new regulatory bodies, and that the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC regulates audiologists, dietitians, hearing instrument practitioners, occupational therapists, opticians, optometrists, physical therapists, psychologists, and speech-language pathologists. The same list places the BC College of Oral Health Professionals and the College of Complementary Health Professionals of BC — which regulates registered massage therapists, among others — as separate regulators, so do not confuse the three amalgamated colleges with each other.
CAPR's warning applies at exactly this point: completing the credentialling and examination processes does not automatically give you the right to practise. After the CAPR processes, you must apply for a licence to practise with the regulatory college in the province where you plan to work, and each regulator may have additional registration requirements. In British Columbia, that application goes to the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC, through its physical therapy registration stream.
On fees, the College's fee restructuring information, effective January 12, 2026, sets one initial application fee of $380 for registration in any profession regulated by the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC, and its published 2026/2027 renewal fee for full practising physical therapists is $875.
Do not start work on the strength of an examination pass. Physiotherapy is a regulated profession in Canada, and CAPR states what that means in one sentence: by law, physiotherapists must have a licence to practise, and in Canada the provincial and territorial regulatory colleges are responsible for licensing them.
The internationally educated route starts before the examination, with CAPR itself. CAPR states that if you completed your physiotherapy education outside Canada, you must first have your qualifications and educational credentials assessed by CAPR to determine your eligibility to write the examination. One essential requirement is that you completed a physiotherapy training program at the university level. If your qualifications and credentials are found to be substantially different from Canadian standards, you may not be allowed to write the examination.
Language is assessed on the same route. If your physiotherapy education was not completed in English or French, you must demonstrate official language proficiency, and achievement of the minimum language test scores within the previous two-year period is required before permission is given to write the examination.
CAPR is candid about the weight of this route: the credentialling and examination processes can be lengthy and expensive, some applicants take months or even years, and not everyone succeeds. Plan the British Columbia registration application only after the credentialling result is in hand, because the provincial college's additional requirements sit on top of a completed CAPR process, not beside an unfinished one.
The official pages opened for this guide confirm the current British Columbia regulator, the accredited-degree requirement, and the national examination route, but the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC registration pages opened here do not state a registration processing time or the current list of British Columbia registration classes and any supervised-practice class for candidates between the examination and full registration. This guide therefore carries no British Columbia processing-time figures; the College fee figures carried above are the initial application fee and the published 2026/2027 renewal fee from the College's fee restructuring page. Confirm the classes and processing items on the College's physical therapy registration pages before you apply, and confirm the current examination fee and sitting dates on CAPR's own pages, because examination fees are set nationally and change by year.
The College of Health and Care Professionals of BC (CHCPBC). The Province of British Columbia's regulatory authorities list states that in June 2024 several health colleges were merged into two new bodies, and that the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC regulates audiologists, dietitians, hearing instrument practitioners, occupational therapists, opticians, optometrists, physical therapists, psychologists, and speech-language pathologists. Older pages that name the College of Physical Therapists of British Columbia describe the pre-amalgamation regulator.
An entry-to-practice physiotherapy degree from an accredited program. In British Columbia that is the University of British Columbia's Master of Physical Therapy: the UBC Academic Calendar states that on completion of all academic courses and clinical fieldwork, graduates are required to write the licensing exams, that the program is accredited, and that students must graduate from an accredited program in order to write the licensing exam. Graduates of accredited Canadian programs are automatically eligible to write the national examination.
The national examination administered by the Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators (CAPR). CAPR states that all provincial regulatory colleges except in Quebec require candidates to first pass the Physiotherapy Competency Examination, and that its written component is administered by CAPR. From January 2026 CAPR administers a single licensure examination, the Canadian Physiotherapy Examination: offered eight times in 2026, conducted virtually over one day, combining written and clinical components with a single pass mark, at a cost of $2,500, with a discounted fee of $1,800 from February through December 2026 for candidates who passed the written component in 2025.
You must first have your qualifications and educational credentials assessed by CAPR to determine your eligibility to write the national examination. CAPR states that one essential requirement is a physiotherapy training program at the university level, that credentials found to be substantially different from Canadian standards may not be allowed to proceed to the examination, and that if your education was not completed in English or French you must demonstrate official language proficiency with minimum test scores achieved within the previous two-year period before permission is given to write the examination.
No. CAPR states plainly that its credentialling and examination processes are just the first steps, and that completing them does not automatically give you the right to practise or register as a physiotherapist in Canada. After the CAPR processes you must apply for a licence to practise with the regulator in the province where you plan to work — in British Columbia, the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC — and each regulator may have additional registration requirements.
CAPR's own Dates and Fees page states the cost of the Canadian Physiotherapy Examination is $2,500, with a discounted rate of $1,800 from February through December 2026 for candidates who passed the Physiotherapy Competency Examination written component in 2025, and $2,500 for all 2027 exam dates. The College of Physiotherapists of Ontario's examination transition notice states the same figures. Confirm the current fee and sitting dates on CAPR's dates and fees page before you apply, because fees are set nationally and change by year.