College Board approves increase on 2026 registrant dues

In 2024 the College ran a substantial deficit of over $250K and in 2025 we are projecting a ~$40K deficit. This is not sustainable. Inflationary pressures such as increased costs like rent, salaries and IT equipment along with increased expectations from the provincial government and the public has required the College in invest in its capacity to deliver on its mandate. The College has also increased investments in compliance activities related to unlawful use of title and/or unlawful practice (practice infringement) as per the definition in the Applied Biologists Regulation.

Dues for College registrants were last raised (by $60 for RPBio and RBTech registrants and nominally for other registrants) in 2024 for the 2025 registration year. The College did not raise fees for the 2024 registration year.

All regulators under the Professional Governance Act (PGA) have had to evaluate, revise and expand their statutorily mandated activities to maintain compliance with the requirements in both the PGA and the International Credentials Recognition Act (ICRA). Examples of investments and improvements include:

• Ongoing investments in technology to allow for better access for registrants including online CPD reporting, in-house Learning Management System, and the online application portal
• Increased investments in compliance activities related to unlawful use of title and/or unlawful practice (practice infringement) as per the definition in the Applied Biologists Regulation
• Revamped internal operating procedures
• Further development of the self-evaluation to evaluate the College’s compliance with the Office of the Superintendent of Professional Governance’s (OSPG) Standards of Good Regulation (a performance review by the OSPG is scheduled for 2026)
• Coming into compliance with the 2024 International Credentials Recognition Act
• A substantive increase in complaints resulting in an increase in compliance activities including investigations, review of professional work product by subject matter experts, and when necessary, disciplinary actions.

Ongoing costs will include:

• Increased capacity to support the required practice guidance program
• Increased support for statutory committees (Nominations, Credentials, Audit & Practice Review, Investigations, Discipline)
• Bylaw updates and amendments
• Increased costs in adequately funding the Complaints and Discipline process
• Increased reporting functions as required through by International Credentials Recognition Act (ICRA)
• Increased reporting functions as required through the OSPG’s Standards of Good Regulation
• Increased OSPG information requests and annual reporting requirements
• Expansion of compliance work regarding unlawful Title and Reserved Practice infringement
• Ongoing collaboration with other regulators on alignments and intersections of reserved practice, and overlaps in regulated practice
• Continued investments in technology
• Ongoing outreach activities with registrants, employers, academic institutions and training providers, all levels of government (Federal, Provincial, First Nations, Municipal), other regulators, and the public at larg

Registrants are obligated to pay their dues by the dues deadline in order to avoid being suspended and to avoid the risk of having their registration cancelled. The College begins taking dues payment in October.

Yes, however with the increase in registrants comes an increase in workload for the College. This includes increases in:

• Application processing,
• the number of annual audits of current registrants
• the number practice reviews,
• investigations and possible disciplinary actions stemming from an increase in complaints
• practice and title infringement enforcement

Yes, as with the other statutory responsibilities mentioned above, reserved practice is a benefit to the public interest as it ensures that qualified professionals are competent and accountable. That responsibility and higher profile of the profession require greater resources. For example, the College is continuing to expand its unlawful Title and Reserved Practice infringement compliance program to ensure that it is meeting its responsibility of maintaining the public trust in the profession.

The College has developed a three-year financial plan that includes the current dues increase for practicing registrants in 2026. This coming year represents the second year of the plan and there is a projected increase of equal or lesser value in 2027 to adjust for economic indices (e.g. Cost of living, inflation, increase in compliance programs). There are no increases anticipated for 2028 at this time. However, the College will continue to do an annual analysis of what, if any, dues increases are required. The College is confident that the three-year outlook is enabling efficient and accurate fiscal management of budgets that will limit the need to raise dues significantly in subsequent years. The College’s 2026-28 financial strategy estimates a balanced budget for 2027.

Failure to pay the annual dues (as well as any late fee and GST on the late fee, which will be applied on January 1^st) will result in a registrant being listed as suspended on the register according to College bylaw Part 5, Division 5, 5-15 and Part 12, 12-2. Suspended means that the registrant is not authorized to practice applied biology. Continued non-compliance will result in a registration being cancelled. Under reserved practice, having your registration cancelled may compromise your ability to work in compliance with the Professional Governance Act and could result in further sanctions.  A registrant that is cancelled must apply for reinstatement according to College bylaw Part 5,  5-11 and Part 12,  12- 4.

Annual dues for most other professionals under the PGA continue to outpace those of applied biology professionals even with the 2026 increase:

Table 1: Dues for other regulators under the PGA since most recent College dues increase
Org.	FPBC		AIBC		BCIA		EGBC		ASTTBC
Title	RPF/RFT		AIBC		PAg/TAg		PEng/PGeo		AScT
Dues	2025	2026	2024	2025	2024	2025	2024	2025	2024	2025
	$880^	$911/857^	$1136^	$1148^	$600	$700	$520^	$562^	$484	$537

It is important to note that the College is required to meet the same regulatory standard as other regulators under the PGA Act who currently have more capacity.

NB: Some regulators’ dues compared to other years due to differing fiscal cycles. Fees rounded to the nearest whole dollar.

^Inclusive of Goods and Services tax (GST)

Approved dues increases are summarized in the table below.

Table 2: Approved 2026 Dues Increases
Practicing, In-Training, and Temporary Withdrawal Status Dues	2025 Dues ($)	Increase ($)	2026 Dues ($)	2026 Dues with GST (5%, $)
RPBio	545	50	595	624.75
RBTech	410	100	510	535.50
BIT	180	20	200	210.00
ABT	175	15	190	199.50
ABT Trainee	95	10	105	110.25
RBTech Trainee	135	20	155	162.75
Limited Licensee	410	100	510	535.50

The College continues to achieve administrative and operational efficiencies to keep costs as low as possible, however, to ensure that it is serving the public interest and remaining in compliance with — most notably — the PGA and ICRA, it must continue to invest in its  capacity as a professional regulator.

The increased revenue from dues will be applied to offset increasing operational costs (processing applications, enforcing reserved practice, complying with legislative requirements).

In addition, the College plans to enhance it staff capacity to ensure that it can continue to meet its statutory obligations.  This is consistent with staffing level increases by other regulators to fulfil their PGA obligations.

The 2026 budget will be finalized and posted in early 2026.

The College recognizes Registered Biology Technologists (RBTechs) and Applied Biology Limited Licensees (AB-LLs) as fully qualified applied biology professionals. While Registered Professional Biologists (RPBios) have more latitude in their practice (e.g. preparing interpretive reports outside established parameters, protocols and guidelines), RBTechs and AB-LLs also have independent practice while practicing within established parameters.

The College recognizes that the RBTech designation is sometimes mistakenly under-valued by employers and the public. To rectify this misconception the College is fully committed to continuing its outreach efforts to raise the profile of this important registration category.

The College understands that there will be some concerns about the increase, but regards the increase as necessary as the cost to superintend the RBTech and AB-LL designations, with their responsibilities under reserved practice, is similar to RPBios.

No, the average gap of $125 between RPBios and RBTech/AB-LLs is by far the largest among regulators with a technologist registration. Forest Professionals BC (FPBC) have similar designations with Registered Professional Foresters (RPF) being equivalent to RPBio and Registered Forest Technologists (RFT) to RBTech. Comparative data show a narrower gap between these designations, with RFT dues being about $50 (6%) less than those charged for RPFs. The BC Institute of Agrologists likewise has the Professional Agrologist (PAg) and Technical Agrologist (TAg) designations. These registrants pay the same annual dues (see table 1).

Aligning RBTech and AB-LL dues more closely with RPBio dues would promote consistency and equity across registration categories and is acknowledgement that these designations have similar roles, responsibilities and authorities associated with their reserved practices.