How to Become a Teacher in British Columbia

The short answer

British Columbia teachers are certified by the Teacher Regulation Branch of the Ministry of Education and Child Care — not by a self-governing college. You need a Certificate of Qualification, built on 120 credits of post-secondary study including a degree and an acceptable teacher education program. The application runs online through a BCeID account and costs $245, non-refundable, and nothing is processed until the fee is paid.

Step 1: The 120-credit foundation

The Certificate of Qualification requirements start with post-secondary studies: four years, or 120 credits, including a degree or equivalent. The coursework is not free-form. It has to meet the academic studies requirements for the level you will teach — elementary applicants, for example, carry specified credits in areas such as English or French literature and composition, Canadian studies, mathematics and science within their academic studies.

Step 2: An acceptable teacher education program

If your teacher education program was completed in BC, it must be offered at a BC post-secondary institution and approved by the British Columbia Teachers' Council under the Teacher Education Program Approval Standards.

Programs completed outside BC are measured against a published test:

• Taken at an accredited post-secondary institution
• At least 18 credits of professional education coursework
• A practicum of at least 10 weeks in a kindergarten to Grade 12 school, observed, reviewed and assessed by mentor teachers at the school and by faculty or supervisors from the institution

Teaching experience in a K-12 school, or extra practicum experience, can be used to meet the practicum criteria.

For the Professional Certificate of Qualification, the bar sits higher than the minimum: 24 credits of professional education coursework across the areas the standards name. And if your teacher education was completed outside Canada, a familiarization course approved by the BC Teachers' Council is part of the professional certificate route.

Step 3: Open Your Account and apply

Certification runs through an online account. If you do not have a Basic BCeID, you create one first; it gives you secure access to Your Account, the teacher certification account where you submit an application, check its status, and pay your annual fee.

The application fee for a Certificate of Qualification is $245. Two conditions matter: applications cannot be processed until the fee is paid, and application fees are non-refundable. Payment is by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Visa Debit or Debit Mastercard, including prepaid Visa or Mastercard.

Step 4: Know which certificate you are actually getting

The Certificate of Qualification is the professional certificate for BC public schools — full-time, part-time and on-call teachers all need it — and it is also accepted at BC independent, First Nations and offshore schools. Applicants whose files are close but incomplete on a requirement can be issued a Conditional Certificate instead, with a window to finish what is missing; internationally trained teachers are the group that most often lands there first, with the approved familiarization course as the usual outstanding piece.

Do not confuse certification with pay placement. The Teacher Qualification Service (TQS) is a separate body that sorts certificate holders into salary categories. The province's advice is to apply to TQS at the same time you apply for certification if you intend to teach in a public school, and to download a copy of your certificate from Your Account to share with TQS once you are eligible.

Step 5: After certification

Your Account remains the working tool: it is where the annual fee is paid and where your certificate can be downloaded. Certification decisions sit with the Teacher Regulation Branch; questions about the application process itself go to the Service BC Help Desk, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific time.

What the opened pages do not state

The provincial pages state the $245 application fee and the 120-credit, degree and practicum requirements used above. The application page does not state the amount of the annual fee payable after certification, a salary figure for BC teachers, or tuition for BC teacher education programs, so this guide gives none of those. Salary categories are set through the Teacher Qualification Service and school district collective agreements, not on the certification pages.

Related guides:

• How to Become a Teacher in Canada — the national picture: each province runs its own certification, with its own account, fees and standards.
• How to Apply for StudentAid BC in British Columbia — provincial student funding for the degree and teacher education years.
• How to Become a Nurse Practitioner in British Columbia — another BC regulated profession, this one registered through a health college rather than a ministry branch.
• How to Start Getting Your Foreign Credentials Recognized in Canada — the first steps for internationally educated teachers entering a Canadian certification process.

Sources

• Province of British Columbia, Apply for a teaching Certificate of Qualification in British Columbia — where a Certificate of Qualification is required, the Basic BCeID and Your Account application route, the $245 non-refundable application fee, and the Teacher Qualification Service note.
• Province of British Columbia, Requirements to apply for a Certificate of Qualification (COQ) — the 120 credits and degree requirement, the outside-BC program test of 18 professional education credits and a 10-week assessed practicum, and the familiarization course and 24-credit requirements for the professional certificate.