If you have been registered as a dental hygienist, but have never been registered with the ACDH (or CRDHA or ADHA) you must apply for initial registration.
If you have previously been registered with the ACDH (or CRDHA or ADHA) you must apply for reinstatement instead.
The requirements for initial registration are outlined on this page. There are different requirements for dental hygienists working in Canada and dental hygienists working outside of Canada. Please read the information below about these requirements carefully.
Between October 1 and October 31, new applicants will automatically be processed for the permit year beginning November 1. In order to request to have your application processed to be approved in the current permit year ending October 31, email registration@acdh.ca.
IF YOU REQUEST TO APPLY FOR THE CURRENT PERMIT YEAR:
- You will be permitted to practice as soon as you receive your registration number.
- Your practice permit will be valid until October 31 of this year.
- You MUST also apply to renew your practice permit before 11:59 pm MT on October 31 and pay the practice permit renewal fee.
- An Administrative Fee will apply to any practice permit renewal application that is submitted after 11:59 pm MT on October 14, regardless of when your application for initial registration is approved.
Otherwise, you will NOT be permitted to practice until your application for registration is approved, which will happen after October 31. When your application is approved (after October 31), you will receive a permit for the next permit year and will not be required to renew your practice permit until next fall.
Click here to go to the ACDH Fee Schedule for information about applicable fees for each option.
If you choose to apply for the current permit year, the College cannot waive the requirement for renewal, nor can it “take back” a registration number once it has been assigned. Additionally, practicing dental hygiene in Alberta without a valid permit is a punishable contravention of the Health Professions Act.
Dental Hygienists Working in Canada
This section applies to applicants who are currently registered and in good standing to practice as a dental hygienist in another Canadian jurisdiction.
You must have active registration in another Canadian jurisdiction in order to apply for registration with the ACDH.
As part of the required online application form, applicants must enter or upload the following:
- Applicant personal information, including contact and demographic information.
- Dental hygiene education program information.
- Information about employment history and practice hours.
- Applicants must upload evidence of practice hours into the application form. This could be a signed letter on clinic letterhead from an employer, an ROE, or a recent paystub showing the number of hours you worked as a dental hygienist at each location.
- Information about any current or previous professional healthcare registrations such as a dental assistant, nurse, paramedic, or dentist, etc.
- CPEDH completion information (the CPEDH is not a mandatory requirement in this situation).
- If required, applicants must upload a completion certificate into the form.
- Answers to questions about primary language and language in which applicants intend to practice.
- Applicants must only provide language proficiency test results if their dental hygiene education and exams were NOT done in English.
- If required, applicants must upload language proficiency test results into the form.
- Information about which, if any, advanced restricted activities the applicant may be eligible to apply for authorization for.
- Additional post-secondary education information.
- Completion information from the “Protecting Patients from Sexual Abuse and Misconduct” e-learning course.
- Applicants must upload a completion certificate into the form.
- Information about current CPR certification that meets the requirements listed in section 2 of the Registration and Practice Permit Renewal Policy.
- Information about Professional Liability Insurance (PLI) that meets the requirements listed in section 3 of the Registration and Practice Permit Renewal Policy.
- Applicants must upload PLI certificate(s) into the form.
- Request to take the jurisprudence exam modules.
- Applicants will be given access to and must complete the modules.
- The College will receive and upload the completion certificate. The learning management system will automatically send a completion certificate to the College, applicants do not need to send a copy to the College.
- Answers to Good Character and Fitness to Practice declarations and the statutory declaration.
- Applicants must obtain and submit a vulnerable sector check to the College that meets the requirements listed in section 4 in the Registration and Practice Permit Renewal Policy.
- College staff will then upload the document to the application.
- Applicants must upload 2 pieces of government-issued identification.
- Applicants must type their full name as their signature.
Please note: All uploaded documents and information provided must be verifiable by the College. The College may contact third parties such as educational institutions, regulatory bodies, agencies, or employers to verify documentation or the information provided in an application for registration.
Reference: Health Professions Act (HPA) – Sections 28, 29.1, 33(4)(b)
Reference: Dental Hygienists Profession Regulation – Section 4
Canadian RDH Application Information
Initial Registration Checklist
Click here to Create an Applicant Profile to start the application process.
Fees for Dental Hygienists Working in Other Canadian Jurisdictions
Applicants will have to submit the non-refundable $350 application fee.
When an application for registration is approved, the applicant must pay the $599 Permit Fee before the College can enter their name on the General Register and issue a unique Registration Number and Practice Permit. The breakdown of fees is as follows:
| Application Type |
Application Fee |
Permit Fee |
TOTAL
|
|
Dental hygienists working in other Canadian jurisdictions
|
$350
|
$599
|
$949
|
More information about Council-approved fees can be found on the Fee Schedule page on our website.
FAQs for Dental Hygienists Working in Other Canadian Jurisdictions
If you do not hold current registration in another Canadian jurisdiction, you are not eligible to apply for registration using this pathway. In order to apply for registration in Alberta, you can either:
- Reinstate your registration in your current province, in which case you could proceed with this pathway, OR
- Have your educational transcript sent to the College and provide a copy of your NDHCE completion certificate to the College. Your application will then be considered using this documentation as well as evidence of your currency of practice (practice hours).
Please note, in this case, your dental hygiene program will have to be deemed to be substantially equivalent to the Council-approved program. Please see the New Graduate FAQs for more information about substantial equivalency.
If you have been using a temping agency, you may be able to obtain a record of your assignments from them. This could be a signed letter on agency letterhead. If you were an independent contractor, you could provide pay stubs, letters from frequent employers, or copies of paid invoices.
Practice hours are counted if they were worked in the 3 years immediately preceding when your application for registration is considered complete.
For example, if all of your required documentation is submitted to the College and the information in your application is correct on September 1, 2024, The College will consider hours worked between September 1, 2021 and August 31, 2024.
There is no requirement for self-initiation in Alberta. The Health Professions Act does not require supervision of dental hygienists. There is no requirement for a dentist to examine a patient prior to dental hygiene treatment or for the dental hygienist to obtain an “order” to provide services.
Because dental hygienists in Alberta do not work under the supervision of another health profession, they retain full accountability for their actions.
Authorization for Advanced Restricted Activities must be applied for separately from your registration application. Visit the Applying for Advanced Restricted Activities webpage for more information.
You will need to provide evidence of completion of additional education in that activity as well as currency practice with your application. This would be a letter from an employer (clinic) stating that you provided LA as part of your regular practice.
For more information about application timelines, processes, and next steps, visit the general Registration FAQs webpage.
For more information about maintaining your registration and the annual renewal process, visit the Maintaining Your Registration webpage.
To read about how the College maintains the privacy of applicants and registrants, read the Privacy Statement.
Dental Hygienists Working Outside of Canada
This section applies to applicants who have graduated from a CDAC or CODA accredited dental hygiene program and who have been working as a dental hygienist outside of Canada. If you are an internationally-trained dental hygienist, go to the Internationally Trained page for information about how to register.
As per section 5.1(b) of the Registration and Practice Permit Renewal Policy, practice hours obtained outside of Canada are not accepted by the College. The reason for this is the scope of practice for dental hygienists varies significantly between countries. As a regulatory body, ACDH has the responsibility to ensure that applicants are able to demonstrate the necessary knowledge, skills, and judgement to practice safely and competently in Alberta.
Under sections 3(2)(d) and 5(2) of the Dental Hygienists Profession Regulation, applicants working outside of Canada may be required to demonstrate that they are currently competent to practice dental hygiene in Alberta.
As part of the required online application form, applicants must enter or upload the following:
- Applicant personal information, including contact and demographic information.
- Dental hygiene education program information.
- The dental hygiene education must either be from the Council-approved program or from a program that has been reviewed and determined to be substantially equivalent to the Council-approved program.
- Information about employment history and practice hours.
- Applicants must upload evidence of practice hours. This could be a signed letter on clinic letterhead from an employer, an ROE, or a recent paystub showing the number of hours you worked as a dental hygienist at each location.
- Information about any current or previous professional healthcare registrations such as a dental assistant, nurse, paramedic, or dentist, etc.
- CPEDH completion information (the CPEDH is not a mandatory requirement in this situation).
- If required, applicants must upload a completion certificate into the form.
- Answers to questions about primary language and language in which applicants intend to practice.
- Applicants must only provide language proficiency test results if their dental hygiene education and exams were NOT done in English.
- If required, applicants must upload language proficiency test results into the form.
- Information about which, if any, advanced restricted activities the applicant may be eligible to apply for authorization for.
- Additional post-secondary education information.
- Completion information from the “Protecting Patients from Sexual Abuse and Misconduct” e-learning course.
- Applicants must upload a completion certificate into the form.
- Information about current CPR certification that meets the requirements listed in section 2 of the Registration and Practice Permit Renewal Policy.
- Information about Professional Liability Insurance (PLI) that meets the requirements listed in section 3 of the Registration and Practice Permit Renewal Policy.
- Applicants must upload PLI certificate(s) into the form.
- Request to take the jurisprudence exam modules.
- Applicants will be given access to and must complete the modules.
- The College will receive and upload the completion certificate. The learning management system will automatically send a completion certificate to the College, applicants do not need to send a copy to the College.
- Answers to Good Character and Fitness to Practice declarations and the statutory declaration.
- Applicants must obtain and submit a vulnerable sector check to the College that meets the requirements listed in section 4 in the Registration and Practice Permit Renewal Policy.
- College staff will then upload the document to the application.
- Applicants must upload 2 pieces of government-issued identification.
- Applicants must type their full name as their signature.
Please note: All uploaded documents and information provided must be verifiable by the College. The College may contact third parties such as educational institutions, regulatory bodies, agencies, or employers to verify documentation or the information provided in an application for registration.
Reference: Health Professions Act (HPA) – Sections 28, 29.1, 33(4)(b)
Reference: Dental Hygienists Profession Regulation – Section 4
RDH Working Internationally Application Information
Initial Application Checklist
Click here to Create an Applicant Profile to start the application process.
Fees for Dental Hygienists Working Outside of Canada
Applicants will have to submit the non-refundable $350 application fee.
When an application for registration is approved, the applicant must pay the $599 Permit Fee before the College can enter their name on the General Register and issue a unique Registration Number and Practice Permit. The breakdown in fees is as follows:
| Application Type |
Application Fee
|
Permit Fee
|
TOTAL
|
|
Dental hygienists working outside of Canada
|
$350
|
$599
|
$949
|
More information about Council-approved fees can be found on the Fee Schedule page on our website.
FAQs for Dental Hygienists Working Outside of Canada
No, under the Registration and Practice Permit Renewal Policy, only practice hours obtained in Canada can be reported. The reason for this is the scope of practice for dental hygienists varies significantly between countries. As a regulatory body, ACDH has the responsibility to ensure that you are able to demonstrate the necessary knowledge, skills, and judgement to practice safely and competently in Alberta. Please contact the College to discuss your options.
The HPA requires that applicants are either a Canadian citizen or lawfully permitted to work in Canada. The ACDH does not require evidence of this at initial registration, however, it is expected that applicants and registrants meet this requirement and maintain their eligibility to practice in Canada if necessary.
For more information about application timelines, processes, and next steps, visit the general Registration FAQs webpage.
For more information about maintaining your registration and the annual renewal process, visit the Maintaining Your Registration webpage.
To read about how the College maintains the privacy of applicants and registrants, read the Privacy Statement.
