Payment of college fees
Your teaching certificate will be cancelled if you do not pay your College fees. Once your teaching certificate is cancelled for non-payment, it is expensive and time consuming to have it reinstated. If you do not have recent teaching experience, you may have to upgrade your teaching qualifications. To avoid this situation:

• Pay your annual fee well before the due date.
• Ensure that you continue to pay your fees (and/or provide non-practicing forms to the College) even when you are not working due to shortage of work, illness, maternity or parental leave, retirement from a prior assignment, or any other reason.
• Check to ensure that your fee payment has been processed. You can do this by calling the College at 604-731-8170 or by checking the online registry of certificate holders at www.bcct.ca. Make a habit of doing this prior to the final date of payment.

If you feel that your certificate was cancelled in a manner that was unfair, contact the VSTA office for assistance.

Qualification and fitness issues
College staff can provide you with detailed information on how to apply for a teaching certificate.  College staff can also answer any questions you have regarding requirements for academic and teaching experience.  If you have fairness concerns around your application for certification, contact the VSTA office.

When you apply for a teaching certificate fro the College, concerns may arise regarding your fitness to be a teacher. This most commonly occurs where there have been criminal charges. If this happens to you, contact the VSTA office for immediate assistance.

Reports to the College about your conduct or competency
If you receive any correspondence from the College indicating that there has been a complaint or report to the College about you, obtain legal assistance immediately from the BCTF. Your VSTA office can help you with this. Written requests for legal aid can be mailed directly to the BCTF legal department (or faxed to 604-871-2288).

Do not make any statement or respond to questions from the College about your conduct prior to receiving legal assistance. Keep copies of all correspondence you receive from the College and provide them to the VSTA office.

Facing allegations before a professional body is inherently stressful, even where those allegations are inaccurate or minor.  Remember that you are not alone.  Your colleagues, the VSTA office and the BCTF will assist you in responding to College proceedings. 

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