The Canadian Chiropractic Examining Board (CCEB) develops and administers the written multiple choice and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) that are part of the qualifying licensing requirements for chiropractors in Canada. Please click on the tabs at the top right of the page to gather the practical information needed to apply for CCEB exams and to learn about the structure of our exams and our organization or explore the tabs below to learn more about the principles and history that provide the foundation for our work.
The CCEB is committed to providing an inclusive, safe, and respectful environment. This organizational culture is backed by policies, procedures, and ongoing evaluation.
The CCEB reports our actions and intentions using the CCEB Social Responsibility Action Statement, our way of holding ourselves accountable and sharing our progress. You can view the Action Statement here (PDF attached).
The CCEB is proud to have received our Rainbow Registration in 2023 and has a continued commitment to being a 2SLGBTQ+ welcoming space.
There is a role for everyone in reconciliation.
The Canadian Chiropractic Examining Board is committed to exploring our role and embracing the challenge, and opportunity, of reconciliation.
We acknowledge the impact of colonialism on Indigenous people and communities is broad and far-reaching.
We are actively working to find our place in the fabric of reconciliation, and we encourage others to join us.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action
The CCEB is:
To develop, administer and validate an entry-to-practice examination through competency-based assessment for the practice of chiropractic in Canada.
The CCEB is focused on ensuring the highest level of excellence by using research-driven and socially responsible considerations in both the establishment and administration of the Canadian chiropractic entry-to-practice examination.
The Canadian Chiropractic Examining Board (CCEB) is incorporated under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, with ten members corresponding to the provincial/territorial chiropractic regulatory bodies of Canada. The CCEB conducts competency-based entry-to-practice examinations on behalf of its members and ensures fair and defensible evaluation of candidates using psychometrically reliable and valid processes.
The first administration of the Canadian National Board Examinations (as they were then known) took place in July 1963. This followed groundwork by the Education Committee of the Canadian Chiropractic Association (CCA), including a practice analysis. The examinations involved ten separate long-answer, essay format components, each with a different content area.
In 1966 the name of the examining entity was changed to the Canadian Chiropractic Examining Board, and a long-term goal was set to make the CCEB an autonomous organization.
On February 14, 1991, CCEB formally secured the autonomy that had long been desired and became federally incorporated. A period of organizational modernization and examination evolution followed, including the incorporation of a Modified Delphi process into examination structuring decisions. By 1997 the exam remained based on job analysis data; however, the ten-topic essay format had been replaced by three overarching subject areas: basic science, applied science, and chiropractic science. In 1998 a clinical component was incorporated into the examination, first on behalf of a single province, later to evolve into Objective, Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE) testing Canada-wide.
Examination content was substantially refocused through a 2004 job analysis and a comprehensive examination blueprint validation study in 2008-2009. The study included a core competency survey, ratings of clinical conditions for frequency of occurrence, and a study of the curricula of Chiropractic education institutes from around the world. Expert committees worked under psychometric guidance to produce specifications for the examination’s three components, two written multiple-choice question (MCQ) day-long examinations and a 10-station OSCE.
In November 2018 the Federation of Canadian Chiropractic (FCC) published “Entry-to-Practice Competency Profile for Chiropractors in Canada”. The publication by FCC of the entry-to-practice competency profile created the foundation for CCEB to once again update its examination and to firmly establish the examination’s roots in the new chiropractic competencies. The new CCEB examination was launched in October 2023 with a staged rollout over three exam administrations. The CCEB continues to use an examination methodology comprising multiple choice questions (MCQ), with a significant emphasis on case-based items, and in-person OSCE stations.
