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• Applicants Area

Application Package Information

You may submit your application online through the Applicants Area. Alternatively, you may download and print the Application Package for Recent Graduates of a BC Teacher Education Program. This package includes several forms that you must complete as part of your application.

This section describes the documents that we require as part of your application and tells you how to complete and submit them.

You will notice that some of the documents need to be verified. A verified copy is a photocopy of a document on which a notary public or lawyer states in writing that it is "a true copy of the original" and signs the copy. Anyone who holds current, valid certification with the BC Ministry of Education can also verify your documents. On the photocopy, he or she must include his or her full name, certificate number and signature.

Application for Teacher's Certificate of Qualification

You must complete all four pages of this form and mail it to the Teacher Regulation Branch. We will only accept this form if you answer all of the Personal Information questions and if you sign and date the Declaration of Professional Commitment.

Having a criminal record does not automatically make you ineligible for a certificate. However, you may be ineligible for a certificate if you make false statements or if you do not tell us about a criminal record. If necessary, we may ask you to complete an additional criminal record check so we can review all the details related to your offence.

Consent to a Criminal Record Check

Please complete the Consent to a Criminal Record Check form and mail it to us with your Application for Teacher's Certificate of Qualification.

Under the Criminal Records Review Act, we are required to obtain an original signed form and a $20 fee from each person who applies for certification. We include this $20 charge in our application fee.

We keep your original completed form and send a copy of it along with the $20 fee to the Criminal Records Review Agency (CRRA). The CRRA is responsible for processing the criminal record check forms and identifying any criminal record that indicates that the applicant is a risk to children.

Criminal record checks are confidential. We cannot accept previous criminal record checks you have completed, and we cannot provide you with a copy of the results of our criminal record check.

Recommendation and official transcript from your Faculty of Education

All applicants graduating from a BC teacher education program must be recommended for a Ministry of Education certificate by their Faculty of Education. The Faculty of Education must send directly to us its recommendation as well as an official transcript of all the studies completed at the university. Your Faculty of Education will tell you what steps to take to ensure these documents are sent to us. In most cases, the Faculty of Education will automatically forward your recommendation and transcript once you have completed the program and all of the relevant information has been processed.

Official transcripts of all other post-secondary studies

We must receive official transcripts from all of the post-secondary institutions that you have attended. This includes transcripts for:

• all coursework for your degree(s)
• all transferred courses, including Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs
• courses that were required for admission to your teacher education program
• courses for any exchange programs.

Transcripts should list each course you took at that institution, along with:

• the dates of enrolment
• the grades you received
• the credit granted (or number of lecture hours completed) for each course.

If the official transcripts do not include all of this information, we may ask you to have the post-secondary institution send us an outline or syllabus of the academic program you completed, including lecture hours and courses completed.

You need to ask each institution to send the official transcript(s) directly to us. We will not accept a transcript sent by you even if the transcript is sealed or notarized.

Degree verification

Some transcripts from post-secondary institutions outside of Canada do not indicate the awarding of a degree or qualification. If this is the case with any of your transcripts, you must send us a verified copy of your degree or diploma. You can also ask the post-secondary institution to send us a letter stating the qualification they have awarded you.

Confidential Character Reference for Authorization to Teach in British Columbia forms

Your application must include two character reference forms. Each form must be completed by someone other than a family member who has known you for at least two years (called a referee). You need to complete page 1 of the form. Give the form to your referee and ask him or her to complete page 2 and then submit the form directly to us. We do not accept letters of recommendation as a substitute for the Character Reference form.

Identification documents

We require legal identification for all names appearing on the documents you submit as part of your application. We will only use your legal name on your certificate. We will not issue you a certificate that includes names for which official documentation does not exist.

We require one of the following as a primary identification document:

• Birth certificate: We require a verified copy of your birth certificate. If you were born in Canada and you do not have a birth certificate, you must obtain a replacement from the Vital Statistics department in the province where you were born. Send us a verified copy of the replacement certificate.
• Statutory declaration: If you were born outside of Canada and you do not have a birth certificate, you must have a notary public or lawyer prepare a statutory declaration in which you swear to the following:
  • your date of birth
  • your full name at birth
  • your birthplace
  • that you do not have a birth certificate.
  
  You must attach a verified copy of your passport, permanent resident/landed immigrant papers or a Canadian citizenship card to the statutory declaration. Please see the Sample Statutory Declaration form in the Application Package for Recent Graduates of a BC Teacher Education Program .

We require the following if they apply to you:

• Marriage certificate: If you changed your surname as a result of marriage, you must include a verified copy of your marriage certificate.
• Divorce certificate: If you are divorced and cannot provide a marriage certificate as proof of a current or previous surname, you must send us a verified copy of the divorce certificate.
• Change of name certificate: If you changed your name for reasons other than marriage or divorce, you must send us a verified copy of an official change of name certificate.

Application fee

You must include a non-refundable application fee with your application. We will not evaluate your application or assign you a file number until you have paid the application fee. Please see Fee Information to find out the fee you must pay and the payment options.