College of Applied Biology

No. The College of Applied Biology’s role is to protect the public interest and is the regulatory body for the applied biology profession. The College is responsible under the Professional Governance Act (2018) for setting and maintaining entrance requirements through the Credentialing Standard and holding its registrants professionally accountable to the public interest through audits, practice reviews and, if necessary investigations processes.

To be clear: even since the time the College of Applied Biology Act was brought into effect in 2003 there has not been a connection between the College and the Association or any other non-regulatory group. The College mandate is to uphold the public interest, not to engage in advocacy.

All complaints about registrants are reviewed. Many can be resolved at the investigation stage and others may ultimately be sent to a Discipline Panel. The Investigations Committee, the body charged with reviewing complaints, consists of members of the College and members of the public. The Committee reviews and discusses all material submitted about the complaint.

What happens when the College receives your complaint submission?

1. You will receive an acknowledgement (mail or electronic) regarding your complaint.
2. Your complaint will be reviewed by the Registrar to determine if the subject member is/was a member of the College during the time of the alleged infraction.
3. If the subject of the complaint was a member of the College at the time of the alleged infraction, the complaint will be forwarded to the Investigations Committee within 30 business days.
4. You may be contacted if further information is required by the Discipline Committee. (Note: Ensuring that all information is available to the Discipline Committee can take time as this may involve submissions from both parties and sometimes a separate investigation).

Depending on the findings of Investigations Committee, the following outcomes are possible:

• Dismissal of the complaint
• Dismissal of the complaint with a letter of advice
• Reach a Conditional Admission with the subject member
• Issue a Citation to the subject registrant, convene a Discipline Panel and proceed to a Discipline Hearing (Note: At this time, the subject member's name and nature of the alleged infraction will be published on Discipline Digest page of the College website)

At any point in the Investigations process, the subject registrant may agree to an alternative complaints resolution (ACR) prescribed by the registrar, Investigations Committee or Discipline Committee as applicable.

The College makes sure that a member practicing applied biology in British Columbia has the necessary knowledge and skills.  No one who is a member can call themselves a Professional Biologist or a Registered Biology Technologist without registration in the College.  The College addresses the behaviour, skills and knowledge of members through a complaint driven process and through random practice audits.

Yes. The Professional Governance Act prescribes that the governing Boards of regulatory bodies shall have four public representatives (Lay Board Members) appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council through the Crown Agency and Board Resourcing Office. Public representatives are also required for Committees and are appointed by the Board.

If you believe a registrant of the College -- or a registrant of any other regulator under the Professional Governance Act -- has contravened the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, you should submit a complaint to the College by completing and submitting the complaint form.  

To regulate the professional conduct and competency of the practice of its registrants in the public interest.

Through the Professional Reliance Review and subsequent development of the Professional Governance Act the province of BC has committed to a professional self-reliance model that allows for regulatory bodies to set standards for entry and regulate the practice of its registrants with oversight from the Office of the Superintendent of Professional Governance in order to uphold the public interest.