British Columbia · College of Health and Care Professionals of BC

What Happens During a CHCPBC Investigation?

A CHCPBC investigation runs under British Columbia’s Health Professions and Occupations Act, in force since 1 April 2026. The College’s investigators have real statutory powers, investigations are confidential, and one duty runs through all of it: you must cooperate. Knowing what an investigator can do — and what happens at the end — lets you prepare properly.

How an investigation begins

Most investigations start with a written complaint, but not all: the College can act on information that reaches it in other ways, licensees have duties to report peers for conduct such as sexual misconduct or conduct that endangers the public, and a matter can arise from the College’s quality assurance processes. Once a complaint is with the Registrar, it is screened and, where it has gravity, referred to the Investigation Committee. The College handles intake and investigation itself, even though, under the HPOA, it no longer resolves matters that require a disciplinary outcome.

The investigator’s powers and your duty to cooperate

An investigator appointed by the College has broad statutory powers. They can attend your practice; inspect the premises, equipment and materials you use; require and examine the records you created while providing care — examination records, prescriptions, dispensing and contact-lens records; interview complainants, witnesses and you; and audit your practice as part of monitoring outcomes. Licensees have a legal obligation to cooperate, and an investigation can be intrusive. That does not mean answering off the cuff. Cooperation and careful preparation are not in tension: you can meet every request and deadline while still taking advice on how to frame written answers and which documents actually respond to what has been asked.

Your records and disclosure to the College

Optometrists and opticians worry, understandably, about handing patient files to the College. The position is clear: the investigator has statutory authority to require and inspect your records, and producing them when the College requires them is an authorised disclosure, not a breach of confidentiality. Investigations are themselves confidential. Your ordinary obligations to keep accurate, contemporaneous and complete records continue to apply throughout — and where those records are complete and legible, they are your strongest evidence. Withholding records to “protect” a patient is not an option and will worsen your position.

What the investigator is looking for

Investigations tend to concentrate on a recognisable set of issues: whether your care met your profession’s Standards of Practice and Code; the adequacy of your records and consent; the accuracy of an examination, diagnosis, prescription or dispensing; and questions specific to the BC model — whether a restricted activity such as contact-lens fitting or a sight test was performed within your authorisation, and whether reserved titles were used correctly. Practising after a licence has lapsed, or beyond your scope, can itself trigger investigation. Anticipating which standard is engaged lets you address it directly rather than defensively.

Interim action while the investigation runs

If, during the investigation, the College concludes that your conduct may expose the public to risk, it can make a summary protection order — limits or conditions on your practice, or a suspension — before any final decision. This is risk management, not a finding, but because it is published the effect can be immediate and public. The Act provides a route to apply for reconsideration of such an order, and this is the point at which representation is most valuable.

How an investigation can resolve

Not every investigation ends in a hearing. The College can dismiss a matter, resolve it early or by agreement, or seek a resolution with you — including a reprimand or remedial action by consent, or a consent order in which you admit certain facts and agree to specified orders. Consent resolutions can be sensible, but they carry consequences: a consent order is published and treated as equivalent to a discipline order, and agreeing to facts can foreclose later challenges. For that reason, you should evaluate any proposed resolution carefully and, ideally, only with legal advice.

If it proceeds to a hearing

Where a matter is contested or serious, it moves into the independent discipline process the HPOA created. Discipline is no longer resolved by the College: an independent Director of Discipline and a discipline tribunal — with a panel that includes a member of your profession and a member of the public — determine the matter, housed within the Health Professions and Occupations Regulatory Oversight Office. A hearing is a formal, quasi-judicial process. If misconduct is found, the tribunal can impose orders including limits or conditions, suspension, cancellation of your licence, and costs, and the College enforces them. The HPOA has narrowed the court appeal routes that existed under the former Act, so early legal advice matters more than ever.

This guide is general information about the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC (CHCPBC) complaints, investigation and remediation process. It is not legal advice and does not create a professional relationship. For advice on your own situation, contact your professional liability insurer or a lawyer who practises regulatory or health law. Last updated July 15, 2026.