Indigenous Identity

As part of our ongoing commitment to Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility and addressing Indigenous-specific racism within BC’s health system, beginning in 2025, CPBC is inviting all renewing registrants to answer a few questions about Indigenous identity as part of the annual registration renewal process.

Why Are We Asking You About Indigenous Identity?

BC First Nations have a health governance partnership with the Province of BC, and the parties have identified "practicing, certified First Nations health care professionals" as an indicator of progress of the Transformative Change Accord: First Nations Health Plan. In 2017, all the health profession regulatory colleges in BC signed onto a Declaration of Commitment with the Ministry of Health and the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) for "Cultural Safety & Humility in the Regulation of Health Professionals serving First Nations and Aboriginal People in BC."

Identification and support of First Nations, Métis and Inuit pharmacy professionals creates pathways for culturally safer care and invites their perspectives and voices on initiatives that impact how the profession is regulated in a way that respects the interests of these distinct communities.

Better understanding the current Indigenous registrant cohort will aid in determining whether the number of Indigenous registrants is increasing as a result of efforts to create safer, more equitable spaces in education and in the pharmacy profession broadly. Success will be measured not only by increasing the numbers of Indigenous registrants but by working with registrants to emphasize competency with respect to the Indigenous Cultural Safety, Humility, and Anti-racism Practice Standard, creating an expectation of culturally safer workplaces and client care.

Your personal information is being collected for use in CPBC’s current and future programs and activities in relation to its Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility (ICSH) commitments, including for the following purposes:

To enable CPBC to promote Indigenous cultural safety and humility and take actions that address Indigenous-specific racism as committed in CPBC’s Strategic Plan 2022/23 – 2027/28.
To enable CPBC to align with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action to increase the number of Indigenous professionals working in the health care field, ensure the retention of Indigenous healthcare providers in Indigenous communities, and provide cultural competency training for all healthcare professionals.
To enable CPBC to align with the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Calls for Justice to encourage, support, and equitably fund Indigenous people to train and work in the area of health and wellness.
To enable CPBC to align with the In Plain Sight report's recommendations to recruit Indigenous individuals to senior positions to oversee and promote needed system change.
To encourage Indigenous representation on the CPBC Board, Committees and in staffing roles.
To offer Indigenous registrants opportunities in leadership and regulatory service and to promote cultural safety and humility within the pharmacy regulatory framework.

Invitations to Participate

If you choose to identify yourself to us as an Indigenous person, we may contact you in the future to invite your participation in Indigenous-specific initiatives or for access to Indigenous-specific opportunities, however participation will never be mandatory, and you may decline any invitation to participate.

You may also decline to receive invitations to participate in any of CPBC’s Indigenous-related initiatives.

If you have any questions or concerns about this collection of personal information, its purpose, or how your responses will be used, please contact CPBC’s Privacy Officer at 604-733-2440 or [email protected].

For additional information about CPBC's efforts to dismantle Indigenous-specific racism within BC's healthcare system, visit:

bcpharmacists.org/CulturalSafetyAndHumility

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is CPBC asking registrants about Indigenous identity?

These questions are designed to collect information about the number of CPBC-registered pharmacy professionals who identify as Indigenous to establish a baseline for Indigenous representation within BC's pharmacy profession.

Collecting this data supports our commitments to Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility and addresses Indigenous-specific racism within BC’s health system. It also enables us to measure our progress in contributing to a greater presence of Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) healthcare providers in BC. Additionally, it enables us to:

Promote Indigenous cultural safety and humility and address Indigenous-specific racism as outlined in CPBC’s 2022/23 – 2027/28 Strategic Plan.
Align with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action to increase the number of Indigenous health professionals, retain Indigenous healthcare providers in communities, and provide cultural competency training.
Align with the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice to encourage, support, and equitably fund Indigenous people to train and work in health and wellness.
Align with the In Plain Sight report's recommendations to recruit Indigenous individuals to senior positions to oversee and promote needed system change.
Encourage Indigenous representation on CPBC Boards, Committees, and in staffing roles.
Offer opportunities for Indigenous registrants in leadership and regulatory roles.

These commitments and calls to action require that CPBC develops stronger connections and relationships with registrants who identify as Indigenous to create opportunities that amplify their voices and invite their perspectives into decision-making and leadership positions. Better understanding the current Indigenous registrant cohort will aid CPBC in determining whether the number of Indigenous registrants is increasing as a result of efforts to create safer, more equitable spaces in education and in the pharmacy profession broadly. Success will be measured not only by increasing the numbers of Indigenous registrants but by working with existing registrants to emphasize competency with respect to the ICSH and Indigenous-specific anti-racism practice standard, creating an expectation of culturally safer workplaces and client care.

How will this information be used?

Your information will support CPBC’s current and future programs related to Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility commitments, including:

Promoting Indigenous cultural safety and humility and addressing Indigenous-specific racism as outlined in CPBC’s 2022/23 – 2027/28 Strategic Plan.
Aligning with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action to increase the number of Indigenous health professionals, retain Indigenous healthcare providers in communities, and provide cultural competency training.
Aligning with the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice to encourage, support, and equitably fund Indigenous people to train and work in health and wellness.
Aligning with the In Plain Sight report's recommendations to recruit Indigenous individuals to senior positions to oversee and promote needed system change.
Encouraging Indigenous representation on CPBC Boards, Committees, and in staffing roles.
Offering opportunities for Indigenous registrants in leadership and regulatory roles.

Will I be contacted for all Indigenous-related initiatives?

If you choose to identify as Indigenous, CPBC may invite you to participate in relevant opportunities unless you have told us that you do not want to receive any additional communications from CPBC based on your self-identification as an Indigenous person. If you choose to receive invitations to Indigenous-related initiatives, your participation is always optional, and you can decline any invitation without any impact on your registration or standing with CPBC.

Will CPBC share my data with other organizations?

Your individually identifiable or de-identified data will not be shared with any external organizations without your consent. Aggregated information may be shared with trusted partners like the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) and the Ministry of Health to support broader initiatives. If you have any further questions or concerns about data-sharing outside of CPBC, please contact CPBC’s Privacy Officer at 604-733-2440 or [email protected].