Quebec’s professional regulatory body for engineers, the Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ), has had its power of self-regulation revoked and has been placed under trusteeship of the provincial government.
Announced Wednesday, July 6, the move by Quebec’s provincial government follows a recommendation from the Office des Professions, the authority that oversees all of the province’s professional regulatory bodies. A press release issued Wednesday by the Office states: "The Office believes that the effective delivery of activities of regulation of the profession and the financial stability of the OIQ are seriously affected, to the point of putting into question the capacity of the OIQ of carrying out its primary mission of public protection."
The Order has faced a number of internal challenges and financial difficulties in recent years. In 2014, two experts, Pierre Pilote and Dr. Yves Lamontage, were appointed by the
Office des Professions to help the order address these issues and presented their recommendations in
January 2015. In a report submitted June 10, 2016, OIQ outlined how it intended to implement the recommendations. These were dismissed by Quebec’s Justice Minister, Stéphanie Vallée, as “insufficient.” She said that infighting and financial difficulties had made the Order unable to fulfill its primary responsibility of protecting the public.
Three administrators have been named by the government to work with the OIQ board to achieve a solution for governance of the order: professional engineer Michel Pigeon, lawyer Johanne Brodeur and certified professional accountant François Renauld. The Board of Directors at OIQ has just recently taken office.
A statement released by the Order noted that it was “disappointed with this decision, which was made after a year of efforts and results in line with its mission of protecting the public. However, the OIQ respects it.”
This development in Quebec, as well as the BC real estate industry’s recent loss of self-regulation, has implications for professional regulatory bodies across the country.
“While OIQ operates in a different environment, issues of governance and public protection are resonant for APEGBC as the regulatory authority for engineering and geoscience in BC,” says APEGBC President Dr. Michael Wrinch, P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.) “Self-regulation is a privilege, not a right, and it is incumbent on us to remain vigilant and ensure that we are acting to fully deliver on our duty to protect the public.”