Credentialing Standard changes coming June 1, 2026
The College Board has approved revisions to the Credentialing Standard. The changes will be implemented on June 1, 2026.
The Board of the College of Applied Biologists convened a Credentialing Standard Review Task Force in February 2025 with the objective of reviewing academic course requirements for the Registered Professional Biologist (RPBio) designation to ensure they remain relevant to the practice of applied biology and allow appropriate flexibility for applicants while maintaining robust minimum requirements.
The task force presented its recommendations to the Board at the November 2025 Board meeting.
The revisions will be reflected in the College’s Credentialing Standard and policies related to operation of the Credentialing Standard. Overall, the revisions are intended to:
- Increase flexibility for academic requirements that remove unnecessary barriers to becoming a professional while maintaining the appropriate amount of rigour in protecting the public interest and ensuring that required academic subject areas are relevant to the current practice of applied biology.
- Ensure that current applicants and future applicants who qualify under the old Standard will continue to qualify
- Allow appropriate flexibility to resolve small gaps in requirements and minimize redundancies in work product requirements
A summary of the key changes can be viewed here:
Required courses
| Current | New |
| Bachelor or Master’s Degree, with 25 science courses including 13 in biology | Bachelor or Master’s Degree with 25 science courses including 13 in biology OR Bachelor of Science (BSc) with 13 biology courses |
| 1st year or higher courses in: – Communications – Chemistry – Math/Statistics 2nd year or higher courses in: – Applied Biology and Management – Ecology – Statistics | Courses in: – Communications – Conservation or Resource Management (name change only) – Ecology – Statistics |
| Courses in 3 of the following 2nd year or higher areas: – Cell biology – Genetics – Physiology – Systematics – Evolution | Courses in 3 of the following areas: – Cell biology – Genetics – Physiology – Systematics – Evolution – Biochemistry – Environmental or Earth Science – Geomatics or Bioinformatics |
Flexibility
Applicants with less than 6 years’ experience may address a deficiency of up to 2 courses, 1 of which may be a specific course requirement, by:
- Completion of a MSc or PhD in an applied biology topic
- By increasing the required experience by one year for a specific course, or 6 months per course for a general biology or science course
- By substituting one general science course with a course in:
- Law
- Policy development
- Indigenous studies or relations
- Conflict management
- Project management
- Environmental impact assessment
Applicants with 6-8 years’ experience may miss up to 4 coursestotal, of which 2 may be general biology/science, and which may include communications Applicants with over 8 years’ experience may miss all specific courses (including communications) and up to 2 general biology/science courses
The College has prepared some frequently asked questions (FAQs) to provide further information on the changes:
General Questions
When will the new Standard be posted?
The new Standard will be posted June 1, 2026. A summary of the changes can be found here.
Why did the College do a review? What was the process?
One of the College’s responsibilities under the Professional Governance Act is to establish entrance requirements. The College reviewed the Credentialing Standard to ensure that registrants have the minimum knowledge and skills to practice independently, while avoiding unnecessary barriers to registration.
The College struck a Task Force consisting of nine registrants to recommend changes to the Standard. As part of their work, the Task Force conducted surveys of recent registrants and employers, and consulted with the College’s volunteer Credentials Assessors.
Will the changes align the College’s requirements with the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists (ASPB)’s requirements?
The changes bring closer alignment to the ASPB’s requirements by allowing applicants to use experience to make up for some missing courses. However, the College will continue to have some differences in its entrance requirements because ASPB has different obligations and a different scope of practice than what is in BC.
Do these changes weaken the College’s entrance standards?
The changes ensure that required courses are relevant to the practice of applied biology. The changes also increase flexibility so that competent applicants are not needlessly excluded from the profession.
It’s important to remember that entrance requirements set a minimum threshold, and registrants have an obligation to only practice within their area of competence, while engaging in continuing professional development.
Have there been any changes affecting Registered Biology Technologists (RBTech) or Applied Biology-Limited Licensee (AB-LL) applicants?
Yes, RBTech and AB-LL applicants will benefit from the changes being made to the minimum required number of Professional Work Products. The College will be reviewing RBTech academic requirements in the future.
Have there been any changes affecting Applied Biology Technicians (ABTs)?
None of the changes to the Standard affect ABTs.
Will the changes affect my institution’s accreditation?
No. Programs that qualified for accreditation under the old standard will continue to qualify under the new standard.
Did you consider creating an exam that people can take in lieu of a course, like Forest Professionals BC (FPBC)?
The practice of applied biology is very broad, and it would be difficult to develop and administer a meaningful exam.
When will the changes be in effect?
The new Credentialing Standard will be effective June 1, 2026.
Application Questions
Will the changes speed up the application process?
The changes will make individual applications faster to process (for example, by not needing to evaluate science courses for those with a BSc), but the processing timeline is primarily driven by the volume of applications submitted.
I am part-way through creating my application – will the system delete my draft on May 31st?
Draft BIT and RPBio applications that have not been submitted will be closed on June 1st.
Submitting your draft application prior to June 1 will avoid having to create a new application. If your application is closed, you will have access to the closed application to copy information from it to your new application.
I have recently submitted my application – will it be evaluated against the old or the new Standard?
Applications that are reviewed before June 1 will be assessed against the old standard, and applications received after June 1 will be assessed based on the new standard. As mentioned previously, current applicants who qualify under the old Standard will continue to qualify
I have recently submitted my application under the old Standard. Can I amend my application to reflect the new requirements?
No. If your application is rejected prior to June 1, you may request a reassessment after June 1 (at no cost) and include additional information related to the new requirements. Your reassessment will be evaluated against the new Standard.
If your application is assessed after June 1, the College will consider the new requirements when reviewing your application and transcripts.
My application was rejected under the old Standard. Can I be reassessed under the new Standard?
You may request a reassessment if you believe that you meet the requirements and your application was declined after Dec 1, 2025. If your application was declined prior to December 1, 2025, you would need to re-apply.
Specific Questions
My program is accredited and requires courses that CAB no longer requires – do I still need to take them?
Universities determine what courses are needed to graduate from their programs, and changes to the College’s requirements do not affect program requirements. The College will be updating accreditation agreements to reflect the new requirements.
Why is there no flexibility for missing a communications course? Why can’t the communications course requirement be made up with additional experience?
The surveys with recent registrants and employers identified communications as very relevant to the practice of applied biology. There are many online communications courses available, and for applicants with over six years’ experience, there is flexibility to miss the communications course requirement.
If I am missing a specific requirement (e.g. statistics), does the extra year of experience have to be in that topic (e.g. involve statistical analysis)?
No, any applied biology experience is acceptable.
I specifically took chemistry and first year math. Why are they no longer required?
We heard from recent registrants and employers that these courses were not strongly relevant to the practice of applied biology. You may still use these courses to count towards the 25 science requirement.
Why was the 25 science course requirement dropped for applicants with a Bachelor of Science (BSc)?
The 25 science course requirement existed to ensure that applicants had exposure to the scientific method. The College determined that a BSc addresses this without a course by course review. This will save these applicants time and improve processing times.
Why was the number of professional work products (PWPs) reduced?
If an applicant has a PWP that is able to demonstrate that the applicant meets all the requirements, additional examples are unnecessary. Changing the minimum from two to one reduces the burden on applicants and improves processing efficiency.
Can I submit a group capstone project as a professional work product (PWP)?
No, an independent study document submitted as a PWP needs to be completed independently under the supervision of a faculty member.
