BCACC launches continuing competency program for 8,500 Registered Clinical Counsellors (RCCs) in British Columbia

The Quality Assurance Continuing Competency (QACC) program is designed to promote high practice standards in the clinical counselling profession and improve public protection.

VICTORIA, BC, May 12, 2025 /CNW/ - The BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC) has unveiled its newly revised continuing education program, now known as the Quality Assurance Continuing Competency (QACC) program.

The new program is not only expected to strengthen public safety by advancing the professional competency of RCCs but will also help practitioners maintain their competencies to practice safely and ethically. The new QACC program will also help RCCs, who comprise approximately 90% of all clinical counsellors in BC, to prepare for what a regulatory college expects of its registrants.

The QACC program provides a structured, measurable pathway to support lifelong learning for more than 8,500 RCCs. It enhances professional accountability and readiness for the expectations that will come with future regulation under a regulatory college.

BCACC developed the program after benchmarking standards and best practices from over 30 regulatory colleges across Canada. The QACC program operates on a credit-based system over a two-year cycle and is built on the AsPIRE framework (Assess self, Plan & Implement, Reflect & Evaluate). No matter where RCCs are in their careers, they can customize their learning pathways, drawing from a wide range of experiential and applied learning activities—including authorship, resource development, clinical supervision, workshops, research, and independent learning.

BCACC CEO Michael Radano says "The QACC program reinforces our association's commitment to public protection and aligns with our code of ethical conduct and standards of clinical practice. We are proud to support RCCs in practicing safely, competently, and ethically as we prepare for legislative regulation."

This launch marks another significant milestone in BCACC's ongoing efforts to support and prepare the profession of psychotherapy for legislative regulation.

Additional key initiatives developed by BCACC to support regulation include:

• The creation of BCACC's Clinical Supervision Designation Program
• Development of Entry-to-Practice requirements for new registrants
• A publicly searchable online registry of all RCCs
• An updated Code of Ethical Conduct
• Expanded Standards of Clinical Practice, including a new Cultural Safety/Indigenous Standard developed with guidance from regulators such as the BC College of Nurses and Midwives
• A forthcoming jurisprudence activity
• A proposed grandparenting pathway to registration with the new regulatory college

These initiatives reflect BCACC's ongoing commitment to advancing public protection and supporting the safe, ethical delivery of clinical counselling and psychotherapy services across British Columbia.

For more information, please visit BCACC's website.

BCACC: The BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC) is a not-for-profit provincial professional association founded in 1988 with more than 9,000 members. BCACC advocates for the clinical counselling/psychotherapy profession and public access to mental health services. Its 8500+ Registered Clinical Counsellors (RCCs) are held to the highest standards of practice and a strict code of ethics in service and protection of the public which includes a robust complaint, inquiry, and remedial process. https://bcacc.ca

SOURCE BC Association of Clinical Counsellors

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