Advocacy Body
On June 27, 2023, Engineers and Geoscientists BC announced it will be initiating the creation of an independent advocacy body for engineering and geoscience in British Columbia. The advocacy body is expected to be operational by July 2025.
The decision came following significant review and evaluation of Engineers and Geoscientists BC’s programs and activities as it worked to integrate the requirements of the Professional Governance Act into its operations, including adopting a more focused regulatory mandate that significantly restricts advocacy activities.
Over the next two years, several advocacy-oriented programs and activities will be changing, with the goal of maintaining some programs to support an eventual transition to the advocacy body.
Activities focused on community-building and registrant benefits programs are targeted to transition to the advocacy body:
- The Branch program, which provides a way for professionals across the province to connect and network.
- The Affinity program, which offers discounts on services for registrants, such as home insurance and car rentals.
- The Career Advertising service, which enables employers to recruit registrants for engineering and geoscience positions.
These programs will remain in place at Engineers and Geoscientists BC until an appropriate timeline for transition to the advocacy body can be determined.
Other programs that no longer fit within the organization’s mandate as a regulator will stop within the next two years:
- The Awards program, which honours professionals who are nominated by their peers for career achievements. This program will be discontinued as of January 2024.
- Sponsorships, which provide financial support for external programs and events. This program will be discontinued in late 2023.
- Our outreach program, which connects K-12 educators with engineers and geoscientists to promote interest in these professions. This program will be discontinued next year.
- Our technical Divisions, which serve as special-interest groups for specific areas of practice. Transition plans are underway to transfer division activities to current or new advisory groups.
Making these transitions will enable us to apply renewed focus to our core mandate of public protection and strengthen our regulatory processes. The organization will also be targeting some specific areas defined under the Office of the Superintendent of Professional Governance’s Standards of Good Regulation. This includes:
- Increasing our engagement with post-secondary students and institutions to reinforce licensure requirements.
- Investing more resources in equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives, including advancing our journey of truth and reconciliation.
- Freeing up resources to advance our Strategic Plan.
A steering committee has been appointed to select the advocacy body’s inaugural Board of Directors. The inaugural Board of Directors is expected to be in place in October 2023. We anticipate the advocacy body will be operational by July 2025.
Engineers and Geoscientists BC will be providing $250,000 in initial seed money to support the establishment of the advocacy body.
We have also retained an experienced consultant, who recently supported two professions in Alberta through similar transitions, to guide the steering committee and support this process.
Once established, the advocacy body’s Board of Directors will determine its programs, services, and membership costs.
The steering committee is now accepting applications for the advocacy body’s inaugural Board of Directors. To learn more about this opportunity, review the Expression of Interest and submit your application by 4 PM Pacific time on September 18, 2023.
Apply Now
Please note that the Expression of Interest process and form were created and are supported by the advocacy body steering committee and their independent consultant. If you have any questions about the application process, or have any issues using the application form, please email [email protected].
As this work progresses, we will keep registrants up to date through our website, eNews, and Innovation.
Questions about this change? See our Frequently Asked Questions.