Pay your annual teaching practice fee

Your annual practice fee must be paid by May 31 every year to maintain a valid B.C. teaching certificate. If your certificate is cancelled because your annual practice fee is not paid by the final deadline, you will need to apply for a new teaching certificate. You need to pay the fee to keep your certificate – even if you are:

• Retiring but may be employed as a teacher-on-call
• Using your B.C. certification to accept employment in B.C.
• Unsure whether you will be employed as a teacher
• On leave from your position and have not arranged for your employer to remit the fee

If you are receiving full LTD benefits from the BCTF Salary Indemnity Plan as of March 31, the Plan will pay the fee and recover it from your July benefit. The BCTF will make payment on your behalf during the last part of May. If you are approved on LTD after March 31, you will need to pay the fee yourself. Contact the BCTF Income Security Division for more information. 

Payment options

Deducted from your payroll

• If you work for a school district or independent school on April 30, your employer will automatically deduct the annual fee from the payroll in the spring each year
• If you work for more than one school board or authority, you will need to elect one employer to deduct the annual fee
• If you are on leave from a school district or independent school, intermittently employed or teaching on call, check with your employer to see if they will pay the fee. It may not be possible for your employer to deduct the fee from payroll – you might need to pay your own annual practice fee

Pay online

You can pay online by logging in to Your Account. To pay, you can use Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Visa Debit or Debit Mastercard. You can also use pre-paid Visa or Mastercard. 

Cheque, money order or bank draft

Make cheques payable to the Minister of Finance and include your certificate number. Mail it to the Ministry of Education and Child Care, 201-828 8th Avenue W, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1E2. Post-dated cheques are not accepted.

Please note: After we receive payments, they can take two to three days to clear.

Income tax receipts

If your employer deducted the annual practice fee from your pay, it will automatically appear on your T4 slip.

If you paid your fee online or by cheque, you can log in to Your Account starting in February of each year to download and print your tax receipt.

Certification fee

If you are eligible for certification, you will be notified by email to pay your initial certification fee inside Your Account. Your certificate will not be issued until you pay this fee. Your fee is prorated during your first year, depending on when you become a certified teacher:

• June 1 - November 30: $80
• December 1 - March 31: $40
• April 1 - May 31: $135 (includes a $40 pro-rated fee for the rest of the school year, plus the $95 annual practice fee for the following school year)

Annual practice fee for the 2024-2025 school year

Refunds

If you choose to end your teaching certification in B.C., you may be able to request a refund of your annual practice fee.

• Find out how to end or relinquish your certificate