Membership Categories

The APB has several membership categories as detailed below.

An Accredited Member is defined as an individual who is a member in good standing of a Professional Accrediting Organization in Canada, specifically: The College of Applied Biologists (CAB) in BC and/or The Alberta Society of Professional Biologists (ASPB) in Alberta.

Accredited members have voting rights on APB governance and policy.

The Associate Membership is open to individuals who are not members in good standing with an accredited organization such as CAB or ASPB, and do not have professional designation provided by these organizations (e.g. RPBio or PBiol). Students can join as Associate Members at a discounted rate.

Associate members cannot vote on APB business or serve on the APB Board of Directors.

✨ Student Memberships may qualify for a fee waiver in 2026. Please inquire with the office to see if you qualify.

 

A member may request to become an Emeritus if that member is 65 years of age or older; and as been a regular member of the Association for 25 or more continuous years (unless extenuating circumstances can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Directors) or was assigned the ‘Retired member’ status by a Professional Accrediting Organization for biologists in Canada (e.g., CAB or ASPB)

Emeritus members may join annually, or they may choose to purchase a long-term membership. The ‘Emeritus-Permanent’ membership option allows retired members to do a one-time lump payment of $200.00 instead of renewing their membership every year.

 

The Fellow Membership is in the Association of Professional Biology (FAPB) is a designation for long-serving active members who have displayed exemplary application of the APB’s purposes during their career.

The Directors may, upon written nomination by seven (7) or more regular members of the Association in good standing, approve the designation of an accredited member who is not a retired member, to Fellow in Association of Professional Biology (FAB), if the member has significant professional biology experience; exemplified the application of the purposes of the Association; and made outstanding contributions to Biology.

Life Member designations recognize long-serving APB members who have made a significant positive contribution to the Association during their membership.

Honorary membership is a category where non-biology professionals are granted a symbolic, non-voting membership in the Association in recognition of their great contribution to the science of biology.

The Directors may, upon written nomination by five (5) or more regular members of the Association in good standing, approve the designation of a regular member to “Life Member” if the member has made an exemplary contribution to professional biology. The difference between a Life Membership and an Honorary Membership is who would fit in this category. An honorary member might not be a biologist and could be a journalist, teacher, politician, or an author, for example. This category is for people who have done exceptional service to professional biology without having gone through the educational route or training that a biologist would normally follow.

NEW – A Business Affiliate Membership is designed for a business or non-profit organization to support the APB in its objectives and network with its members. A Business Affiliate Member does not have voting privileges and may not have a representative on the Board of Directors but will receive all regular notices from the APB to its members and may serve on committees or support the Association in other ways.

Benefits include 

  • A brief bio and corporate logo on the member webpage;
  • One Business Affiliate article in BioNotes during the first year as a member;
  • Job postings on the Job Board at 50% off.