Educator update — newsletter

MARCH 2026

Education Program Review

• Education Program Review Policies revised to align with the Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA) and BCCNM General Bylaws, with an in-effect date of April 1, 2026.
• Certified Practice Course Review Policies revised to align with HPOA and BCCNM General Bylaws, with an in effect date of April 1, 2026.
• New and revised nursing standards: HPOA Effective April 1, 2026, all nursing standards will have new names and minor content revisions; and Professional Standards will be renamed Ethics Standards. Recognized programs and courses are required to update curricular materials to reflect the changes.
• Validation survey for the draft national RN and LPN Entry-Level Competencies is expected to open in late March for registrant feedback. Education Program Review staff will also conduct jurisdictional consultions to seek feedback from key partners, including education programs.
• For midwifery education programs – updates to standards coming soon and curriculum updates will be required
• For practical nursing education programs – the new provincial Practical Nursing Curriculum has released by the Ministry of Post Secondary and Future Skills. All BCCNM recognized practical nursing programs are required to update their curriculums and implement the new curriculum by September 2027.

Getting ready for the HPOA with BCCNM’s learning resources

On April 1, 2026, the Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA) comes into effect, replacing the Health Professions Act. To support you in preparing for this transition, we’ve compiled a list of resources. Note: Resources will be updated to reflect HPOA legislative and regulatory changes effective April 1.

• Directory of all learning resources: Learning resources
• Scope of Practice resources: Scope of Practice
• How legislation impacts nursing practice: Controls on Practice
• Thinking tools: Client_specific_orders_thinking_tool
• Module for Legislation and Nursing Regulations

Have a specific question about understanding and applying the standards of practice?

Contact our team by completing the Standards Support intake form.

BCCNM New and Revised Practice Standards ahead of HPOA

As part of BCCNM's transition to the Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA), the college has reviewed and revised all of our practice standards to ensure compliance with the Act and the associated regulations. This includes updated nursing standards for regulatory supervision and employed student licensees and a new regulatory supervision standard for midwives. Additional information and a complete list of practice standard revisions can be found on the college’s news and announcements.

Questions about the practice standard revisions?

Support is available via the Standards support intake form.

Updating key contacts

The BCCNM Education Program Review team maintains a list of key contacts for each approved education program. This list is used to communicate regulatory changes impacting educators and provide updates on the EPR process. If you need to update the contacts for your education program, please email epr@bccnm.ca to update our records.

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Useful BCCNM links

• For educators
• Cultural Safety and Humility resources
• Engagement and insights
• Learning resources: LPN, NP, RM, RN and RPN
• Newsletters