Professional Governance ACT and Engineers and Geoscientists BC

The new Professional Governance Act (PGA) legislates Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia (EGBC) to regulate all firms that engage in the practice of engineering or geoscience for external or internal consumption.  This means all companies who employ professional geologists and engineers (including sole proprietors) will need to register with EGBC.  Going forward all professionals will be required to work under a registered firm and include the firms Permit to Practice Number when signing off on work.

Firm Registration Steps

  1. Complete an application form between July 2 and September 30, 2021
  2. Appoint a designated person to be responsible for the firm’s registration
  3. Pay an application fee of $350 and an annual registration fee calculated by the square root of the number of EGBC registrants on staff multiplied by 500.
  4. Have the designated person take an 8-hour training course (online) before September 2022.  This course walks through creating the firms Professional Practice Management Plan (PPMP)
  5. Document your firm’s policies in a PPMP

AME is working with EGBC to provide templates of PPMPs that will be suitable for use by our members.  It is anticipated that these documents will be 10-12 pages in length and will touch on the following areas:

  1. Ethics – Addressing how a firm’s Code of Conduct aligns with the professionals Code of Ethics.
  2. Quality management – A description of how firms will ensure professionals maintain an acceptable level of quality.
  3. Continuing Education – A plan to support continue education of their employees.

More information about firm regulation is available at www.egbc.ca/firms and further guidance specific to mineral exploration firms can be found here.

EGBC Professional Registration Update

Under the new regulations for Professionals, there are three key changes to note:

  1. There is an updated Code of Ethics – all professionals should read and familiarize themselves with it.
  2. There is a requirement to keep you contact information up to date.
  3. Continuing education is mandatory starting July 1, 2021.
  4. The requirement is for 60 hours of continuing education over a 3-year rolling time period.
  5. Professionals must complete 1 hour of ethical and 1 hour of regulatory learning each year; the remainder of the hours can be used for a variety of activities related to your specific area of practice, role and responsibilities.
  6. It is also a requirement to have a Continuing Education Plan and to document your learning hours.  You can find a template for a Continuing Education Plan here.

For more information on these changes click here.

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