Professional Governance Act Transition

In November 2018, the Government of British Columbia passed the Professional Governance Act. The Act established the Office of the Superintendent of Professional Governance, housed in the Attorney General’s office, and consolidated oversight of five professional regulators in the built environment and natural resource sectors. In addition, the Act codified key elements of professional governance, such as council composition and bylaw creation.

The Professional Governance Act is a result of the Professional Reliance Review (“Review”), which provided 121 recommendations upon reviewing the legislation of five natural resources professions in B.C – engineering and geoscience, forestry, agrology, applied biology, and applied science technology. Spearheaded by the provincial government, the Review was tasked with making recommendations that would “ensure that the highest professional, technical and ethical standards are being applied to resource development in British Columbia”.

The legislation will set consistent governance standards across the professions it governs. More information about the PGA can be found on the Office of the Superintendent of Professional Governance website.

The Architects Act is outdated and in need of modernization. The newest professional regulation legislation in British Columbia is the Professional Governance Act, and the government has invested significant resources and effort to create this modern professional governance framework. As outlined in the letter from the government, in recognition of this investment in the PGA, and, more importantly, recognizing that the PGA contains key items that were being considered as amendments to the Architect Act, the AIBC is moving ministries and transitioning to the PGA.

It is expected to take several years for all AIBC regulations and documents (such as Bylaws, Council Rules, Bulletins, etc.) to be updated and aligned with the new legislation.

As a first step, the AIBC will be moving ministries in fall 2020.

We have at least a year to prepare for the transition to the PGA, meaning there will be no changes implemented to regulatory documents or for architectural practice until the end of 2021, or early 2022.

Yes, for now. Once fully in place, the Professional Governance Act and its associated regulations will replace the Architects Act. Until then, the Architects Act is still in effect.

The following response was provided by the OSPG.

While the OSPG’s role is to ensure regulatory excellence and accountability to the public, regulatory bodies will continue governing their registrants, ensuring they meet professional standards set by them, and undertake the complaints and discipline process.

The OSPG will not assume any function currently held by the AIBC. The purpose of the PGA and OSPG is to ensure best practices in professional governance, regulatory consistency, oversight across all regulatory bodies, and compliance with the PGA.

The OSPG may intervene where there are systemic concerns but does not investigate individual cases or registrants.

The following response was provided by the OSPG.

The Professional Governance Act is about providing a modern and effective regulatory framework for professionals. It was designed to apply to the initial five regulatory bodies and be expanded to existing or new professions if and when it makes sense. The timing for bringing AIBC under the PGA was right for a number of reasons, but are not related to the government needing to “step-in” in response to a particular incident.

The AIBC has sought to modernize the Architects Act for many years, and the PGA contains key items that were being considered as amendments to the Act. The transition to PGA better aligns the profession with current societal and governmental expectations and standards and will allow the AIBC to more effectively regulate the profession in the public’s interest.

The development of the PGA is not only a result of the Professional Reliance Review but is also influenced by trends in professional regulation generally.

The following response was provided by the OSPG.

Initial implementation is anticipated to carry over the status quo to the governance framework of the PGA. The current Section 60 of the Architects Act would be carried over through regulations prescribed according to Part 5 of the PGA (Reserved Titles and Reserved Practice).

The following response was provided by the OSPG.

OSPG and AIBC have begun discussing the issue related to Section 60 and OSPG is committed to working with AIBC to bring about practical changes where appropriate. This could include reconciling the requirements in the BC Building Code for architectural services.

The timing for completion of this work is not yet known and while some aspects might coincide with bringing the AIBC under the PGA others may take longer.

The following response was provided by the OSPG.

Generally speaking, the employment context does not vary the requirements set in the PGA and in regulatory body bylaws for individual registrants.

When a regulatory body regulates firms, the firms become registrants of the regulatory body and like individual registrants, must comply with any requirements for registrants that are set in the PGA, subsequent regulations and the bylaws of the regulatory body.

A regulatory body’s bylaws may differentiate firms that are government entities, sole proprietors and other types of firms. The approach to regulating multi-disciplinary firms is still being determined.

The following response was provided by the OSPG.

OSPG will be working with AIBC to understand its current approach to regulating firms and discuss whether and how firm regulation might look differently under the PGA.

An appropriate timeline for the integration of AIBC’s program to the requirements of the PGA will be set and will involve development of some guidelines specific to the firms regulated by AIBC.

Typically, regulated professional firms should adhere to the same core principles as individual professionals: Quality Management, Code of Ethics, and Continuing Professional Education as laid out in a Professional Practice Management Plan for each firm. Firms need to maintain competency in the profession and specific fields they offer services in and will have to support their professional employees in meeting their continuing education requirements.

It is common for firms to work with their employees to ensure continuing education requirements are met, and the firm regulation provisions support that work.

OSPG is working with Engineers and Geoscientists BC on details of engineering firm regulation and intends to authorize EGBC to regulate firms by July 2021. Lessons learned from EGBC’s implementation of firm regulation could inform other regulatory bodies’ approaches. In EGBC’s model, the firm itself will send a representative to initial training on how to meet the regulation of firm requirements, and any periodic subsequent training offered by EGBC.

The following response was provided by the OSPG.

OSPG works collaboratively with all the regulatory bodies on implementation of the PGA. The AIBC has already begun joining monthly meetings with OSPG and the regulatory bodies on the implementation and operation of the PGA.

The AIBC will also be represented on the Professional Governance Advisory Committee, a statutory committee under the PGA chaired by the Superintendent. This Committee is comprised of representatives from each of the regulatory bodies as well senior employees from relevant ministries within Government. The Committee provides an avenue for communication between the regulatory bodies under the PGA and ministries in their capacity as both an employer of professionals and administrator of relevant enactments. The Committee also serves to enhance awareness of the work being done within each of the regulatory bodies and ministries.

The following response was provided by the OSPG.

The Professional Governance Advisory Committee established under the PGA provides a venue for regulatory bodies, ministries and OSPG to discuss regulatory and policy matters that impact the professions.

The AIBC may wish to raise these grey areas of building projects with the Committee, or directly with the relevant government authorities.

Once the PGA is in force and AIBC is designated, the OSPG will be in a better position to gather facts and determine what role (if any) the office would have in addressing the matters raised in this question.

The following response was provided by the OSPG.

Yes. A council through its bylaws can outline when it is appropriate to go “in camera” to discuss matters such as personnel matters. In conducting its work, the AIBC and its council or committees are required to keep information confidential.

Section 35(2) of the PGA enables council to make bylaws governing the conduct of the affairs of the council, including the conduct of council meetings and proceedings before the council.

While council meetings should be open to the public, not everything can be shared with the public. Bylaws are expected to detail who is able to attend the meetings and under what circumstances meetings may be held in camera.

In the event council meetings are held in camera, meeting minutes should detail the reason for this.

The following response was provided by the OSPG.

The AIBC will continue to engage and communicate with its registrants about implementation of the PGA including, for example, changes to its bylaws. The OSPG will work with the AIBC to identify areas where OSPG support is critical to AIBC’s engagement with registrants.

Although somewhat curtailed by the pandemic, OSPG will continue to engage registrants through townhalls, AGMs and other events. The AIBC can also send any questions put forth by their registrants to OSPG for response. Suggestions are welcome.

Registrants are encouraged to frequently review the OSPG and AIBC websites, which are updated on a regular basis.

The following response was provided by the OSPG.

It is possible that overlaps between the work of AIBC and ASTTBC registrants will be identified in the course of bringing the AIBC under the PGA.

In that case, the PGA provides various tools to address overlapping areas of regulated and/or reserved practice between two or more regulatory bodies.

The following response was provided by the OSPG.

OSPG has been working on guidance to help the AIBC and other regulatory bodies to decide where to draw the line with respect to advocacy initiatives. It is expected that regulatory bodies will use this guidance to determine and document whether the activity they are undertaking or propose to take is appropriate.

OSPG will be monitoring regulatory bodies through audits and other means and will work with regulatory bodies as needed to ensure activities are appropriate.

Section 22(3) of the PGA stipulates that a regulatory body may only act in an advocacy role in accordance with this Act and in accordance with rules, conditions or limits prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.