Professional Governance Act
Links
The following are links to relevant legislation posted on the BC Laws website:
Professional Governance General Regulation
Engineers and Geoscientists Regulation
Forest Professionals Regulation
Applied Science Technologists and Technicians Regulation
Creation of the Professional Governance Act (PGA)
The PGA was created in response to recommendations made in the independent Final Report of the Professional Reliance Review submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy in June, 2018. The PGA implements two of the Review’s recommendations by legislating best practices for professional governance and establishing the Office of the Superintendent of Professional Governance (OSPG) for consistent and independent oversight of the professional regulators. The PGA received Royal Assent on November 27, 2018 and came fully into force February 5, 2021.
The PGA provides a consistent governance framework for self-regulating professions that incorporates best practices of professional governance.
The PGA also strengthens government oversight by establishing a statutory Office of the Superintendent of Professional Governance. The OSPG is responsible for administering the PGA and for ensuring that best practices for professional governance are implemented. The establishment of the OSPG standardizes how professions governed under the PGA are regulated.
The PGA took effect on February 5, 2021.
Regulating Professions Under the PGA
The PGA provides authorities for the key functions and structures of a regulatory body including overall duties and responsibilities, governance structures (boards and committees), establishing bylaws, holding meetings, enrolment procedures, and disciplinary actions. The legislation lays out a consistent set of ethical principles and expectations regarding the conduct of professionals and is considered a best practice in professional governance. The PGA is not specific to any profession or sector. Regulations and bylaws have been developed under the PGA to allow regulatory bodies to meet the specific needs of their professions.
The PGA includes the ability to expand the governance framework from the six professional regulators currently in scope to other professions. The PGA enables regulatory bodies to establish protected titles for their professions as well as reserved or protected areas of practice for their professions. The PGA also provides authority for regulatory bodies to regulate firms as registrants.
Regulations
Regulations for each individual regulatory body under the PGA set out the type of registrants that may be registered by each regulatory body, the titles that may be conferred on registrants of a particular regulatory body and the scope of practice for registrants of a particular regulatory body.
Offences and Fines
The PGA establishes offences for:
- Inappropriate use of a reserved professional title or practicing in a reserved area of practice for a profession;
- Not upholding the duty to report other registrants whose practice may pose a risk of significant harm to the environment or to the public;
- Reprisals taken against anyone who upholds their duty to report;
- Obstructing an investigation or audit by the Superintendent or obstructing an inspection or search under the PGA.
Persons convicted of an offence may be subject to fines or imprisonment. Injunctions can also be sought to restrain individuals from contravening the PGA. The Superintendent also has authority to impose administrative penalties in certain instances.
Regulatory Bodies’ Powers to Hold Registrants Accountable
Regulatory bodies may also take disciplinary actions against their registrants. A determination against a registrant in a disciplinary hearing can result in a reprimand, fine, conditions imposed on their registration, suspension or cancellation of their registration, or other remedial actions.