Canadian · British Columbia · Professional Licensing
CVBC veterinarian lookup: check a BC vet or clinic.
The College of Veterinarians of BC runs two searches, one for people and one for practice facilities. This page explains both, the registration classes behind the labels and what the College’s public notifications add.
The CVBC Online Registry lets you search for a BC veterinarian or for a BC veterinary practice or facility. The veterinarian search takes first name, last name, preferred name and an area of specialty. The facility search uses facility name, city, designated veterinarian, phone, postal code and accreditation status. The College also posts notifications on licensure, discipline outcomes, facility restrictions and closures.
Two searches: the vet and the clinic
The Registrant Lookup (“Search by Veterinarian”) has four inputs: first name, last name, preferred name and area of specialty. The specialty drop-down is long and includes anatomic pathology, anesthesiology, beef cattle practice, canine and feline practice, cardiology, dentistry, dermatology, emergency and critical care, equine practice, oncology, ophthalmology, shelter medicine, theriogenology, zoological medicine and more. The preferred-name box is the one most people overlook, and it matters because many vets practise under a name that differs from their legal first name.
The second search, “Search by Practice or Facility”, returns a table of practices. The page has boxes for facility name, city, designated veterinarian, phone, postal code and accreditation status, and the results show the same columns, with an accreditation status such as Full Accreditation. Use it to confirm the clinic itself is accredited, which is a separate question from whether the individual vet is registered.
Open the CVBC Online Registry
Choose a veterinarian or a practice facility search from the registry page.
What the Online Registry page covers
The College’s Online Registry page is short but organised: one link to search for a BC veterinarian, one to search for a BC veterinary practice or facility, and a list of public notifications related to registrant licensure, investigation and disciplinary hearing outcomes, and practice facility restrictions and closures. The menu elsewhere on the site names the same families of notices: licence status change notifications, unlicensed notifications, practice facilities notifications, discipline decisions, consent orders and consent resolutions, and a page on unauthorized practice and injunctions. A person can look clean on the lookup yet appear in a notice, so the notifications are worth a second look when stakes are high.
Registration classes explain the labels
The classes of registration page lists four full classes. Private Practice (PP) is the most common, allows unrestricted practice of veterinary medicine in BC and requires a Certificate of Qualification from the national examining board. Specialty Private Practice (SPP) is for diplomates certified by a recognised specialty college and limits the registrant to their demonstrated field. Public Sector (PS) is for veterinarians employed by the Crown, the provincial government or a similar public body, and applies only for the duration and scope of the government contract; a PS registrant must not provide veterinary services directly to the public. Temporary registration (TEMP) is for veterinarians fully licensed in another recognised jurisdiction, valid for one full year.
There are also provisional registrations, which the Registration Committee may grant with terms and conditions when an application is deficient, and a Provisional Supervised Active (PSA) category. If a record says Public Sector and the person is treating your dog at a downtown clinic, that is worth a question.
Letters of standing are a separate thing
The registrant menu has a License Verification (Letters of Standing) page. The College lists it among its services for registrants, separate from the public lookup, so a member of the public checking a vet should use the lookup and notifications instead.
A worked example (hypothetical)
A horse owner in the Okanagan is booking “Dr. Casey Example” (made up) for a lameness exam and the clinic says they are an equine specialist. This describes no real person.
Open the Registrant Lookup, enter the last name and, if the first name does not match, the preferred name. Select Equine Practice in the specialty drop-down to confirm the specialty is recorded. If the listed class is Specialty Private Practice, the registrant should be practising only within the demonstrated specialty; if Temporary, the registration lasts one year and you can ask when it ends. Then use the facility search to confirm the clinic holds accreditation, and glance at the notifications list for anything that mentions the name. If the vet is not found at all, ask for their full legal name.
What this page does not cover
- It does not run either search or store what you type; there is no form on this page.
- It does not state a registration-number format, because the lookup shown has no number box.
- It does not give medical or treatment advice for any animal.
- It does not cover veterinary technologists or animal-health workers who are not veterinarians.
- It does not cover veterinarians in Ontario or other provinces, who have their own registers.
Frequently asked questions
How do I look up a veterinarian in BC?
Use the Online Registry on the College of Veterinarians of BC website. The Registrant Lookup takes first name, last name, preferred name and area of specialty.
Can I look up a veterinary clinic as well as a vet?
Yes. The Online Registry has a separate Search by Practice or Facility, which uses facility name, city, designated veterinarian, phone, postal code and accreditation status.
What does Private Practice registration mean?
The College calls it the most common class: it allows unrestricted practice of veterinary medicine in BC and requires a Certificate of Qualification from the national examining board.
What is Public Sector registration?
It is for veterinarians employed by the Crown, the BC government or a similar public body. The College says they practise only within their government contract and must not provide veterinary services directly to the public.
What is temporary registration?
It is for veterinarians fully licensed in another recognised jurisdiction. The College says it is valid for one full year.
Where does the College post discipline and licence changes?
The Online Registry page lists public notifications on registrant licensure, investigation and disciplinary hearing outcomes, and practice facility restrictions and closures.
Is a Letter of Standing the same as a lookup?
No. The College lists License Verification (Letters of Standing) among its registrant services. The public lookup and notifications are the tools for checking a vet.
Does TNAADO verify veterinarians?
No. This page explains the registry and links to it. It does not look anyone up or collect anything.
Sources
Retrieved
- College of Veterinarians of BC: Online Registry (veterinarian and facility searches, public notifications)
- College of Veterinarians of BC: Registrant Lookup (search fields, specialty list)
- College of Veterinarians of BC: Search by practice or facility (result columns, accreditation)
- College of Veterinarians of BC: Classes of registration (PP, SPP, PS, TEMP, provisional)
Official register and regulator pages only. Each link was opened on the retrieval date and the facts above were read from it. The register itself is the authority.
Guide only — not a verification tool
This page explains a public register and links to it. TNAADO does not check anyone’s licence or registration, does not copy or proxy the register, and collects nothing you might look up. Nothing here is an official verification or professional advice. Details above were read from the regulator’s own website on 20 October 2026 and can change; always rely on the official register.