Authorized Medical Practitioners in British Columbia

When calculating your Medical Expense Tax Credit, you are allowed to include fees from authorized medical practitioners on your income tax return. However, each territory and province has different rules regarding which practitioners are considered authorized.

British Columbia boasts one of the most comprehensive lists of authorized medical practitioners compared to other areas. It’s important to understand which medical practitioners are considered authorized in your province of residence.

In British Columbia, if you have fees from seeing a range of health care providers, you can include these as medical expenses on your income tax return. The list of authorized care providers in British Columbia includes licensed practical nurses, registered practical nurses, registered nurses and registered nurse practitioners.

It also includes physicians, emergency medical technicians, midwives, surgeons and pharmacists.

If you see a specialist who falls into one of the above categories, you can include these fees when completing your income tax return. For example, if you see a cardiologist, this specialist falls under the category of physician.

However, there are a few specialists that do not fall into any of these categories. In British Columbia, you can claim some of their fees. Authorized specialists in this province include audiologists, dietitians, hearing aid practitioners, podiatrists and speech language pathologists.

If you are being rehabilitated due to an injury or affliction, you will be pleased to note that occupational therapists, physiotherapists and physical therapists are also considered as authorized.

In British Columbia, psychologists, psychological associates, registered psychiatric nurses and social workers are considered authorized.

Unfortunately, family and marriage therapists are not included on the authorized list. However, if your family and marriage therapist is also a psychologist or physician, you can include your expenses.

Luckily, if you reside in British Columbia, you can also include fees from a range of vision and dental care providers on your income tax return. For vision care, both opticians and optometrists are considered authorized.

If you get dental care from a dental hygienist, a dental technician or technologist, or a dentist, these fees are also considered to be from authorized care providers. Additionally, if you get dental care or prosthetics from a denturist, dental mechanic or denturologist, you may also include these fees on your income tax return.

British Columbia includes a number of alternative health care providers on its list of authorized care providers. These include acupuncturists, chiropractors, naturopaths, massage therapists, registered massage therapists and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. If you have fees from these care providers, you can include them when calculating your Medical Expense Tax Credit.

Unfortunately, if you want to add a medical practitioner to the list of authorized practitioners in British Columbia, you cannot do so as a private citizen.

However, you can contact members of your provincial government or representatives from health care professional governing bodies, and can ask them to request additions to the Canada Revenue Agency’s list.