If you run an assisted living residence in British Columbia, the Assisted Living Registrar is the office you answer to. The rules are public, but they are spread across an Act, a Regulation, a set of forms and a handful of fact sheets. This guide puts the parts operators deal with every week in one place: registration, the changes you must tell the Registrar about, reportable incidents, records, and inspections.
We checked every source on September 22, 2026, against the Assisted Living Regulation as consolidated on BC Laws. This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice. When the wording matters, read the section we link to.
Who the Registrar is
The Community Care and Assisted Living Act requires the minister to designate an assisted living registrar (s. 24). The work is done by the Assisted Living Registry, a branch of the BC Ministry of Health. Its job, in the Registry's own words, is to register residences and monitor their operations.
Does your residence need to register?
Under the Act, an assisted living residence is a premises where housing, hospitality services and assisted living services are provided to three or more adults who are not related to the operator (s. 1). Operating one without registration is not allowed (s. 26(1)), and the Registry says this applies to both publicly subsidized and private-pay residences.
Hospitality services are meals, housekeeping, laundry, social and recreational opportunities, and a 24-hour emergency response system. Assisted living services include help with daily living activities, managing medication, safekeeping money and property, therapeutic diets, behaviour management and psychosocial supports. An operator must provide hospitality services and at least one assisted living service, with no limit on the number.
The Regulation sets three classes of residence (s. 3): Mental Health, Seniors and Persons with Disabilities, and Supportive Recovery. Each class needs its own application (s. 6(2)).
Registration and renewal
- Apply on form HLTH 1620, with a business licence (or confirmation none is needed) and a food service permit if one is required (s. 6). The Registry publishes an application guide, and all forms are on the assisted living forms page.
- Fees (s. 7): a $250 application fee, plus a registration fee of $12.50 per unit if registration begins between March 31 and September 30, or $6.25 per unit from October 1 to March 30.
- Renew every year. Every registration expires on March 31 (s. 13), and renewal is covered in s. 14.
- Display it. The registration must be displayed at the residence (s. 8).
Changes you must tell the Registrar about
This is the part operators most often learn the hard way. Section 9 sets notice periods, and some changes also need written approval before you make them. The Registry's changes fact sheet explains the process, and notice goes in on form HLTH 8117.
- 30 days' written notice: the residence's name or contact information.
- 30 days' notice, plus written approval: a new manager, a change in the number of units, or a change in resident capacity.
- 4 months' notice, plus written approval: structural changes to the premises.
A change of address or class, a transfer of control, or closing a residence have their own, longer rules (s. 9 and s. 10). Closing a Mental Health or Seniors and Persons with Disabilities residence requires a year's notice.
Reportable incidents: the 24-hour rule
Schedule E of the Regulation defines the reportable incidents. They include falls, medication errors, missing persons, choking, unexpected illness, overdose, death, disease outbreaks, police calls, service delivery problems, aggression between residents, and emotional, financial, physical and sexual abuse and neglect. Each has a specific definition, so read Schedule E rather than going by the name alone.
When one happens, section 51(2) requires the registrant to do three things.
The report to the Registrar goes on form HLTH 1622, the Reportable Incident Report, which you can send by email or fax as the form describes, or file electronically from the forms page. The form asks what happened, who was involved and who witnessed it, and what was done for the resident. It also asks whether the contact person and funding program were told, and if not, why not. According to the Registry's reportable incidents fact sheet, an investigator will contact you if more information is needed.
Twenty-four hours is a short window on a night shift. The operators who meet it are the ones whose staff capture the details at the time, not the next morning.
What records you have to keep
Every resident needs a record (s. 76). It must hold their residency agreement, their contact person and personal representative, their current personal service plan, any incident, complaint and medication administration records, and any minor accidents, illnesses or medication errors that were not reportable.
Retention rules are in section 78. Resident records are kept for at least two years after the residency ends. Employee records are kept for as long as the person works for you. Other records required by the Regulation are kept for at least one year. The Registrar can ask for any of them, and you must hand them over within the time requested (s. 79).
Inspections and enforcement
There is no fixed inspection cycle. The Registry's guide to the role of investigators says plainly that "there is no schedule for doing inspections included in the legislation". Inspections follow up on applications, monitor compliance, investigate complaints, follow up on reportable incidents and look for unregistered residences, and they can happen with or without notice.
After an inspection, the Registrar publishes a report summarizing the findings and any actions taken (Act, s. 25.5). If the Registrar believes residents' health or safety may be at risk, they can also require a health and safety plan after an inspection, an incident report or a complaint (Regulation, s. 53). If problems continue, the Act allows conditions on a registration, suspension or cancellation (s. 27).
A short operator checklist
- Put the March 31 renewal date in the calendar, with a reminder a month ahead.
- Before changing a manager, units or capacity, send notice at least 30 days ahead and wait for written approval.
- Keep Schedule E printed where staff write incidents, so they know what counts.
- Make sure whoever is on shift knows how to get an HLTH 1622 to the Registrar within 24 hours.
- Check that every resident record holds the items in section 76, and that nothing is destroyed before section 78 allows.
Where software helps
Most of this is process, and no system replaces knowing the rules. What software can remove is the retyping. In Karis Care, reportable incidents come out in the Registrar's reportable incident format (HLTH 1622) as a finished PDF that you review and file yourself, and incidents stay on the resident's record alongside their health and medication logs. See how it works on our assisted living page, or book a demo and bring one of your own incident reports.