All staff working with children in a licensed child care centre or preschool program must have a Licence to Practice. There are three levels:

• Early Childhood Educator Assistant: Requires completion of one course of a basic certificate program in early childhood education (or equivalent) in one of the following areas: child guidance, child growth and development, or health, safety and nutrition, and a character reference.
• Early Childhood Educator: Requires completion of a basic certificate from an approved B.C. post-secondary ECE program. There are two types of early childhood educator licenses:
  • An Early Childhood Educator one-year licence, which requires a character reference; and
  • An Early Childhood Educator five-year licence, which requires 500 hours of supervised work in an ECE setting and a competency-based reference.
• Early Childhood Educator Infant/Toddler and Early Childhood Educator Special Needs: Requires
  • a post-basic certificate; or
  • a diploma in one of the specialized areas in addition to possessing an early childhood educator five year license.  

Early Childhood Educator Assistant and Early Childhood Educator one-year Licences to Practice require references while Early Childhood and Educator five-year Licence to Practice requires a competency reference from an individual with an ECE License to Practice in B.C.

The number of staff required to have a particular type of Licence to Practice depend upon the type of facility and ages of children. 

B.C. uses the term Licence to Practice; however, to be consistent with other jurisdictions, the term certification will be used interchangeably.