We, the College of Opticians of British Columbia are excited to be a part of the future of professional regulation.
Between August 27 and September 7, 2018, the College office will be closed while we move to a new office location. The new office will be located at:
900 200 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC
V6C 1S4
*Please note that as we complete this transition, we remain without phone service the week of Sept. 10. We apologize for any inconvenience with this temporary service interruption; please reach out to us via email for any assistance, at reception@cobc.ca, and we’ll be happy to respond.
Why is the College moving? Didn’t it just move?
In October 2016 the College moved into the College of Registered Nurses’ (CRNBC) building. This move was the first step towards the B.C. Health Regulators (BCHR) vision of a regulatory hub. Moving in with CRNBC allowed our College to save money on office space, and share some services with CRNBC staff such as accounting services, IT support, and building security and management.
On September 4, 2018, The College of Registered Nurses, the College of Psychiatric Nurses of B.C, and the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of B.C. will amalgamate and become the College of Nursing Professionals. You can read more about the B.C. College of Nursing Professionals (BCCNP) here.
We are excited to announce that BCCNP invited COBC to share office space, and multiple office services in the new BCCNP office building. The new office building will act as a regulatory hub, as other regulators are also joining this space. This unique opportunity allows the regulators in B.C. to share perspectives, networks, and even more office services than before, which benefits everyone.
Why is the new office downtown? Aren’t we trying to save money by sharing space and services?
BCCNP made its decisions with the assistance of external advisors, and extensive research. BCCNP concluded that expanding or renovating any of the nursing buildings would be too costly, and in order to fit all the staff for BCCNP in one building they are required to move. BCCNP carefully selected the new location of our regulatory hub that we are about to call home. They explored many location options including the Tri-Cities, Burnaby, and Vancouver. They also looked at locations that would allow for flexibility to expand for future needs. BCCNP stated that there were very few locations that met the regulator’s needs but were able to find one that will accomplish the cost-sharing and space-saving goals that will benefit all participating Colleges.