Certified (Registered Professional Planner) Membership

Individuals who are not already Candidate Members in good standing of the Institute may not apply directly for Certified Membership. For more information about applying for Candidate Membership, click here. 

Please be aware, that the RPP, MCIP designation is not a life long designation such as a university degree for example. Only as long as you are a current active Certified Member in good standing (annual Fees paid / annual CPL reported) you will be able to use this designation.
 

PIBC Certified Members in good standing - right of designation use:

• RPP - Registered Professional Planner (right via the specific PTIA - Provincial and Territorial Institutes and Associations): permitted in BC & the Yukon
• MCIP - Member of Canadian Institute of Planners (right via CIP):  permitted in Canada
• FCIP - Fellow of Canadian Institute of Planners (right via CIP):  CIP Fellowship Members only / permitted in Canada
• RPP use in other provinces (APPI for NWT): Please apply for Out of province membership with the specific PTIAs listed here.

Please note: anyone who is not a current active Certified Member in good standing is not eligible to use any Planning related designation (such as RPP).  For example, the use of "RPP, MCIP Candidate" is not allowed. Current Candidate Members can state they are currently going through the Certification process and will become a Certified Member soon. Legal action may be taken against those who are not Certified members using the RPP designation. Once a Candidate Member passes the PSB exam and becomes a Certified Member, they are eligible to use the RPP designation.
 

Only current Certified Members in good standing with PIBC are entitled to use the professional designations and or titles 'Registered Professional Planner' or 'RPP' and 'MCIP' after their name. Certified Membership includes equivalent joint membership with CIP, which is mandatory for this PIBC membership category.

A Certified Member and 'Registered Professional Planner' is a qualified professional individual who has achieved or completed the following:

• Has previously applied for and been admitted as a Candidate Member of the Institute.
• Has a university degree from a Planning school/program which is formally accredited by the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) & Planning Institute of British Columbia (PIBC).
• Has attained and documented at least two years of practical work experience in planning.
• Has completed and documented a minimum of one year of professional mentorship.
• Has successfully completed a course in ethics & professionalism.
• Has successfully completed a professional examination.
• Agrees to abide by the Institute’s bylaws & Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct*.
• Maintains her/his skills, knowledge, and abilities in accordance with the Institute’s required Continuous Professional Learning system.

OR who:

• Has previously applied for and been admitted as a Candidate Member of the Institute.
• Has a university degree from any other school/program which is not accredited by CIP & PIBC.
• Has had their combined education and experience assessed through a Prior Learning Assessment Recognition (PLAR) process, and been deemed to have met a majority of the appropriate professional competencies.
• Has attained and documented at least six years of practical work experience in planning (at least five prior to admission as a Candidate Member of the Institute).
• Has completed and documented a minimum of one year of professional mentorship.
• Has successfully completed a course in ethics & professionalism.
• Has successfully completed a professional examination.
• Agrees to abide by the Institute’s bylaws and Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct*.
• Maintains her/his skills, knowledge, and abilities in accordance with the Institute’s required Continuous Professional Learning system.

*The updated National Ethics Standards (developed with PSB) are effective starting January 1, 2027. Each PTIA, including PIBC, will be adopting the National Ethics Standards with variances based on its local legislative, regulatory, legal and other contexts. Learn more about the National Ethics Standards here. Revisions to PIBC’s Code, which is embedded in the Institute’s bylaws, are being worked on and we anticipate these will be brought forward for a member vote and adoption in the coming months. The PIBC's current Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct remains in effect until such time as the PIBC bylaws are updated.
 

The MCIP designation is connected to your paid CIP membership and the RPP designation is connected to the main PTIA you pay your membership to as active Certified Member in good standing.

If someone becomes a new Certified Member (date as of it is officially confirmed by the PIBC Board of Directors) or you are an active paid Certified member with PIBC, you have the permission to use the designation RPP, MCIP in BC & the Yukon. It was first shown as MCIP, RPP, but the direction to RPP, MCIP was changed in 2019 to reflect the importance of the PTIA Designation RPP. Please see also the article on page 32 in the following Planning West issue.

PIBC has CIP Membership mandatory for most of their membership categories and you pay it with your annual PIBC Renewal Fee. Please find more info about this & the designation use here: https://www.pibc.bc.ca/fee-schedule.

if you resign your membership, you are not eligible to use either RPP or MCIP any longer, since both designations are always connected to a paid Certified Membership in good standing.

As PIBC Certified Member, your annual renewal includes the PIBC affiliation fee + the mandatory CIP annual fee & mandatory CIP Insurance. Therefore you can use the designation "RPP" in BC & the Yukon due to your membership with PIBC and you can use the MCIP designation Canada-wide.

If you want to use the RPP designation in other provinces, you will need to apply with the specific affiliation (listed here) as an out of province member.