Repeal health professions overhaul

Summary#

This bill would cancel British Columbia’s Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA) from 2022. That 2022 law was designed to overhaul how the province regulates health professionals and some health occupations. If this repeal passes, those planned changes would not take effect or would be rolled back. The repeal would take effect 18 months after the bill becomes law.

• Repeals the 2022 Health Professions and Occupations Act.
• Sets an 18‑month transition period before the repeal takes effect.
• Stops the shift to the HPOA model, which aimed to create fewer, larger colleges and a single, province‑wide discipline tribunal (hearing body).
• Maintains the current system for licensing, standards, and complaints instead of moving to the HPOA’s new structures.
• Slows or stops plans to bring more health occupations under that 2022 law.

What it means for you#

• Patients and families

  • Your process to file a complaint about a health professional would stay the same, through the existing professional colleges, not a new single tribunal.
  • Day‑to‑day care would not change because of this bill.

• Health professionals

  • Your licence, fees, and practice standards would continue to be set by your current college, not by new HPOA bodies.
  • College governance would remain as it is today, rather than shifting to fully appointed boards planned under the HPOA.
  • Any planned moves to merge colleges under the HPOA would not proceed.

• People in unregulated or emerging health roles (for example, aides or support workers)

  • The HPOA made it easier for government to bring new occupations into regulation. Repealing it would likely slow or halt that path, so your regulation status would be less likely to change under this bill.

• Employers and health organizations

  • You would keep working with the current set of colleges rather than moving to fewer, larger colleges and a central discipline tribunal.
  • Fewer system changes to plan for over the next 18 months.

• Timing

  • Nothing changes right away. The repeal would take effect 18 months after the bill receives Royal Assent (final approval).

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

• Repeal avoids a large, complex overhaul that could disrupt care and create confusion for patients and professionals.
• Keeps more direct professional input in college governance, rather than shifting to government‑appointed boards.
• Saves the costs of building new provincial bodies (like a central discipline tribunal) and merging colleges.
• Maintains a model that people already know, reducing transition risks and administrative burden.
• Prevents government from taking on broader control over professional regulation than necessary.

Opponents' View#

• Repeal would delay or undo patient‑safety reforms meant to speed up and strengthen discipline across professions.
• Keeps a fragmented system with many colleges, which can mean uneven standards and slower responses to complaints.
• Misses a chance to improve transparency and public trust through independent, province‑wide oversight and hearings.
• Makes it harder to bring new health occupations under consistent rules, leaving gaps in accountability.
• Wastes work already done to prepare for the HPOA and could leave BC behind other provinces modernizing health regulation.