VSC and Renewal FAQs

The College will not accept password-protected documents. If you are unable to remove the password from the original document, please screenshot or scan the original document and upload it to the form. Make sure you screenshot or scan the entire document, including all pages and any signatures and dates. Upload these screenshots as part of one document. Submissions with incomplete documents will be passed back for you to upload the complete document. 

In most cases, the issue date will be at the bottom of the form or letter, next to the name or signature of the person who completed the check. However, checks from the Calgary Police Service have the issue date at the top of the letter. 

College staff will review your document and if necessary, reach out to you to provide the original, or the issuing agency to verify the document. 

Yes. If an incomplete document is uploaded, College staff will pass your submission back to you to upload the complete document. Upload all the pages of your VSC document in one file (e.g., PDF). 

The VSC document you upload must have all of the following: 

• Your full name and birthdate. 
• A statement that indicates that a Vulnerable Sector Check was completed. 
• An original signature, a watermark, or other feature which will confirm that it is a true document. 
• An issue date between November 1, 2024 and October 31, 2025. 

If additional information or documentation is required after your submission is reviewed by College staff, you will be contacted by email. 

Registrants must meet the requirements set out in the Registration and Practice Permit Renewal Policy in order to renew their practice permit. This includes:

• A current CPR certification that meets the minimum requirements of the policy
• Professional Liability Insurance that meets the minimum requirements of the policy
• A minimum of 600 practice hours in your three-year reporting period
• A minimum of 45 Continuing Competence credits in your three-year reporting period
• Complete payment of the required fees

Registrants with a 2021 - 2024 reporting period are required to obtain and submit a VSC document to the College by the Renewal deadline of October 31, 2024. The College encourages you to submit your Renewal form during the Renewal period, even if you have not submitted your VSC yet. Your Renewal form will still be reviewed and approved by staff as usual, regardless of your VSC status.

Registrants who do not have a complete and approved Renewal application by October 31 will have their practice permit suspended and will not be able to practice dental hygiene as of November 1. This may be considered unprofessional conduct under the Health Professions Act and may be referred to the Complaints Director for further action.

The Renewal form cannot be saved and must be completed in one sitting. This means that your information in the Registrant Portal must be complete and correct BEFORE you begin the Renewal form.

Get ready for Renewal by using the checklist on the right. Review all your information in the Registrant Portal and make any edits or updates before starting the Renewal form.

After a registrant has submitted a complete renewal form and paid the permit fee, college staff manually review the form for accuracy before approving it. The College is pleased to announce that we are piloting automated renewal approvals to improve the efficiency of the overall renewal process. This year, a select group of registrants will have their renewal applications automatically approved after submitting them with payment. These registrants were selected for automation based on the accuracy and completeness of their previous renewal forms.

If your renewal application is selected for automation, you will receive a confirmation email informing you of your automatic renewal application approval. Automated renewal applications will be manually reviewed by staff in November, and any applications found to be inaccurate or incomplete will require corrections or updates from the registrant.

There is a separate form for registrants wishing to cancel their registration with the College. Do not fill out the Renewal form if you wish to cancel.

Once you have logged into the Registrant Portal, click the "Cancel My Registration" Link on the right hand side of any tab.

Complete the form, include your reason for cancelling, and the full list of declarations.  You can choose any cancellation date, from one day after the date you are filling out the form, up until October 31, 2024. Your registration will be canceled on the date you enter in this form.

If you cancel your registration and would like to return to the General Register at a later date, ensure you understand the requirements and fees for Reinstatement.

Your new practice permit will be available as soon as your Renewal application is approved. During the Renewal period, click the "Print My Upcoming Practice Permit" link on the right hand side of any tab in the Portal.

As of November 1, click the "Print My Practice Permit" link to access your current practice permit.

The annual practice permit fee for the 2024/25 permit year will remain at $599 for the General Register.

An Administrative Fee of $150 for general registrants will apply to Renewal applications initially submitted to the College after 11:59pm MT on October 14.

A Late Fee of $119.80 will apply to Renewal applications that are not complete and cannot be approved by the College by 11:59 pm on October 31.

Visit the ACDH Fee Schedule page to learn more about fees.

Registrants are required to complete and maintain CPR certification intended for health care providers (e.g., Basic Life Support BLS or Health Care Provider HCP level). Read the detailed CPR requirements in the Registration and Practice Permit Renewal Policy.

Although a lapse in CPR certification of no more than 30 days is permitted, your CPR certification must be current (i.e., issued within the past 12 months) at the time you submit your application for Renewal.

Example Scenarios:

CPR lapse prior to Renewal: A registrant completed BLS CPR on July 5, 2023. Their CPR certification is no longer considered to be current as of July 5, 2024, per College policies. The registrant is permitted a lapse of no more than 30 days and must complete their new CPR certification by August 4, 2024 at the latest.

CPR lapse during Renewal: A registrant completed BLS CPR on September 1, 2023. Their CPR certification is no longer considered to be current as of September 1, 2024, per College policies. The registrant is allowed a lapse of no more than 30 days until October 1, 2024; however, the system will not permit them to submit a Renewal application with a CPR certification that is not considered to be current. They will be required to complete and upload a current CPR certification in the Continuing Competence tab of the Registrant Portal before submitting a Renewal application.

Your Professional Liability Insurance must meet the minimum requirements listed in the Registration and Practice Permit Renewal Policy. This includes having full coverage for the permit year of November 1, 2024 to October 31, 2025 with no gaps.

Please ensure you have obtained full coverage and the appropriate proof (ie., insurance certificate) of professional liability insurance before starting your Renewal application. Membership cards and receipts are not acceptable proof of PLI.

Go to the PLI tab in the Registrant Portal. Once you have clicked on the tab, you will see a button to "Upload New Professional Liability Insurance Certificate." Underneath that will be a table of your existing PLI entries.

Click the blue "Upload New Professional Liability Insurance Certificate" button above the table to upload a new Professional Liability Insurance policy in the form. Your PLI for the entirety of the upcoming permit year (November 1, 2024 to October 31, 2025) must be uploaded using this form prior to beginning your Renewal form.

In the PLI form, your name, registration number, and email address will auto-populate. After you view the examples of acceptable proof of insurance, you can enter the information for your upcoming policy. Type the name of the insurance provider and policy number. Ensure that when you enter the Effective Date and Expiry Date, you enter the dates listed on the policy, not the date that you are filling out the form.

Upload a clear, legible insurance policy document that shows your full name, the policy start and end dates, the policy number, and the coverage amount. Read the Registration and Practice Permit Renewal Policy to ensure that your PLI entry and documents meet the requirements. Membership cards and receipts are not proof of professional liability insurance and will not be accepted.

Once you have completed the form, click "Submit." Refresh the PLI tab in the Registrant Portal and you will see your new entry listed at the top of the table with a status of "Submitted."

You can also read more detailed step-by-step instructions for entering your PLI in the Registrant Portal How-To Guide.

Once you have submitted a learning activity for program credits, the credits are calculated and immediately reflected in the Credits Eligible column. As per the Continuing Competence Program Manual, registrants can claim hour-for-hour program credits in 15-minute increments. For example, a course that took two hours to complete can be claimed for two credits. A module that took 15 minutes to complete can be claimed for 0.25 credits.

There is no approval of credits at the time of submission, however, the College maintains the ability to seek additional verification of the registrant’s attendance, participation, and/or completion of activities. This includes verification of time reported for hour-per-hour program credits. Registrants must be able to justify that reported learning activities have significant intellectual or practical content related to their practice of dental hygiene, oral health, or the professional responsibility and ethical obligations of the registrant.

The Competence Committee has the authority to adjust the number and category of credits accepted for any reported activity.

Read more FAQs about the Continuing Competence program.

You will be required to enter your practice hours for the current permit year from November 1 to October 31 in the Renewal form.

Estimate the total number of hours you expect to work between November 1 and October 31. This number will be the sum of the number of hours you have already worked in the current permit year and an estimation of the number of hours you expect to work between the date of submitting your Renewal application and October 31.

If you are a new registrant who registered with the College after November 1, 2023, enter your practice hours from your date of registration until October 31, 2024.

How to Calculate Your Practice Hours

Estimate the total number of hours you expect to work between November 1, 2023 and October 31, 2024. This number will be the sum of the number of hours you have already worked in the current permit year and an estimation of the number of hours you expect to work between the date of submitting your Renewal application and October 31.

Example: A registrant submits their Renewal application via the form in the Registrant Portal on September 12. They start by calculating their practice hours between November 1, 2023 and September 12, 2024. They calculate that number to be 1425 hours.

Then, the registrant estimates the number of hours they will work between September 13, 2024 and October 31, 2024. If this registrant works an average of 25 hours per week, that means they can estimate that they will work 175 more hours by October 31, 2024.

The calculation for this is: [Total number of hours worked between November 1, 2023 and application submission] + [Estimated number of hours that you expect to work between application submission and October 31, 2022] = Total number of practice hours entered in the form

In this example, [1425 hours] + [175 hours] = 1600 practice hours

Dental hygienists can report practice hours according to the Registration and Practice Permit Renewal Policy. This policy requires dental hygienists to report practice hours obtained in Canada that meet the dental hygiene practice statement (Health Professions Act, Schedule 5).  

The practice of dental hygiene includes the roles of clinician, educator, researcher, administrator, health promoter, and consultant. You can claim practice hours in any of those roles if the activity you are doing assesses, diagnoses, or treats oral health conditions by providing therapeutic, educational, and preventive dental hygiene procedures and strategies to promote wellness. If you can justify that the activity does this, then it falls within the practice of dental hygiene and you may claim it for practice hours. 

If you need to edit your previously submitted Practice Hours, fill out the Request for Practice Hours Correction form in the Practice Hours tab of the Registrant Portal. Please note that your Practice Hours will not be automatically updated once you submit the form. Once the requested change is approved by College staff, you will see the new number reflected in the Portal.