Applied Biology and Agrology Practice Rights Now In-Force, September 2022

New reserved practices for applied biology and agrology are now in force. On September 13, 2021, the reserved practices for the College of Applied Biologists (CAB) and the British Columbia Institute of Agrologists (BCIA) were granted through Order in Council 517/2021 with implementation following a year later to allow  professions and practitioners to prepare. The order, which amends the Agrologists Regulation and the Applied Biologists Regulation, came into force on September 1, 2022.

The implementation of reserved practices for applied biologists and agrologists represents an important step towards a strengthened professional governance framework and greater public interest protection. Reserved practices already exist for engineering, geoscience, and professional forestry. Where a regulatory body has been granted a reserved practice, the defined scope of work must be carried out by or under the supervision of a registrant. Reserved practices help ensure that unqualified, unregistered people are not carrying out work that requires the knowledge and skills of a professional.

The CAB and the BCIA, which currently have over 2800 registrants and 1800 registrants each, have undertaken a significant amount of work to prepare their professions for implementation of reserved practice, including:

• Regular communications with registrants and industry about the upcoming implementation of reserved practice.
• Reviews of the scope of practice to identify reserved practice for biologists and agrologists.
• Development of illustrative materials to help the public understand when a registrant with reserved practice is needed, and where intersection, overlap, or alignment with another profession’s reserved practice may exist and how to address this.
• Development of enforcement plans for the professions to ensure registrants, employers, industry, and the public are aware of how each regulatory body intends to conduct compliance and enforcement oversight with respect to breaches of use of title or unauthorized practice.

More information on BCIA’s reserved practice is available through their  Regulated and Reserved Practice and Title Rights  and Illustrative Materials webpages.

More information on CAB’s reserved practice, is available through their Reserved Practice Outreach webpage and Compliance Plan.

For more information on practice rights under the PGA, see the OSPG’s Practice Rights webpage.