• Overview
• BC Graduates
  • Application Information
  • Fee Information
  • Leaving BC?
• Canadian Graduates
  • Application Information
  • Fee Information
  • Language Proficiency
  • Alberta Applicants
  • Labour Mobility
• International Graduates
  • Application Process
  • Country-Specific Information
  • Fee Information
  • Language Proficiency
  • Translation Policy
  • PQP Graduates
• First Nations Language
  • Application Package
• Letters of Permission
• Previously Certified Teachers
• Information Sessions

Overview of the Application Process for Graduates of a BC Teacher Education Program

The information in this section applies to you if you are completing or have completed a teacher education program at a BC university.

How to apply for a BC College of Teachers certificate

1. Download and review the Application Package for Recent Graduates of a BC Teacher Education Program. This package includes:
   • information about the BC College of Teachers and the application process
   • the application form (called the Application for Teacher's Certificate of Qualification)
   • the Consent to a Criminal Record Check form
   • two Confidential Character Reference forms
   • a list of all the documents we need as part of your application (these are described in full in the application information section)
   • a list of the fees you must pay
   • a copy of The Standards for the Education, Competence and Professional Conduct of Educators in British Columbia.
2. Print and complete the application form and the Consent to a Criminal Record Check form, which are included within the Application Package. Mail us these two forms and the application fee. Include any other documents you can, except for those that must come directly from an institution or individual.
3. Ask the applicable institutions and individuals to complete and send the relevant documents directly to us. For example, your post-secondary institutions must send us your official university transcripts and your character references must send us the Confidential Character Reference Forms. If these documents arrive at the College before your application, we will keep them and add them to your file when we receive your application.
4. Once we receive your application form and application fee, we will create a file for you and place it in a queue based on the date we received it. If you have included your email address on the application form, we will email you within two to three days to confirm that we have received your application and tell you your file number.
5. Documents will arrive for your file at different times from different sources. We will add each document to your file as it arrives (as long as it is properly identified with your full name).
6. Please be patient as we review all files according to the date we receive them. Once an evaluator has reviewed your file, we will send you a letter (called a T-Cert) listing any documents we are missing.
7. If you are eligible for a certificate and have already submitted the certificate fee and pro-rated annual membership fee, we will issue your certificate. If you are eligible and have not yet submitted the certificate fee and pro-rated annual membership fee, we will send you a Letter of Eligibility telling you the amount we need to issue your certificate.
8. You also need to apply to the Teacher Qualification Service (TQS) for your TQS category. Public school boards use this category as one element in determining your salary level. When we send you your BC College of Teachers certificate, we will also send a copy of your certificate to the TQS as they will need this as part of your application to them. Please see the TQS website for more information.

How long will the application process take?

BC's Faculties of Education and the College work together to ensure the quickest possible process for certifying new graduates.

Approximately one month after you complete your program, your university will send us your complete transcript along with the university's recommendation that you receive a College certificate.

You can help speed up the process by sending all required documents to us before your Faculty of Education sends us your transcript and recommendation. If we have all your required documents and fees, we will issue your certificate as soon as one week after we receive the transcript and recommendation. However, if your file is incomplete, we will not be able to issue your certificate until we receive all of the outstanding documents and fees.

How to find out the status of your application

Please do not contact us to ask about the status of your application until we have sent you your T-Cert notification letter. This letter includes your College file number and a list of any documents that are missing from your application.

You can contact us by phone or email for updates on whether we have received specific documents required as part of your application:

• Leave a telephone message at 604.731.8170 or 1.800.555.3684 stating your name, file number, phone number and the best time to reach you. We will return your call the next business day.
• Email us at certification@bcct.ca. Please quote your file number in the subject line. We will reply to your email within two to three business days.

Our policy regarding your documents

All documents you send us as part of your application become the property of the College. We will not return any documents to you and we will not send any of your documents to other individuals or organizations.

Your non-refundable evaluation fee is valid for a two-year period. However, some documents expire after a certain amount of time, and we may ask you to send us updated documents (such as a new Application for Teacher's Certificate of Qualification) if we have not received any documentation or communication from you in over one year.

University information session

Near the end of your teacher education program, your Faculty of Education will invite an evaluator from the BC College of Teachers to speak to the graduating education students about how to apply for a BC College of Teachers certificate. It is important that you attend this information session.