Kaycee Madu, Minister of Labour and Immigration (Government of Alberta)

By rdnewsNOW Staff

Professional Governance Act

Province proposing to streamline professional governance laws

May 3, 2022 | 4:40 PM

The Alberta government says new rules would make it easier for self-governing professions to protect Albertans’ health, safety and economic interests.

Alberta’s government delegates self-governing responsibilities for certain professions and occupations to professional regulatory organizations. If passed, the Professional Governance Act will consolidate and streamline nine current acts that govern these organizations into a single act to achieve consistency and efficiency in their operations, say government officials.

“Our professional regulatory organizations do an excellent job and the proposed act will make it easier for them to do their important work of safeguarding the public interest and public safety of Albertans. Streamlining Alberta’s professional laws reduces red tape and helps attract job-creating investment to support the province’s economic recovery,” said Kaycee Madu, minister of labour and immigration, in a press release Monday.

“These changes will represent a significant contribution to the government’s commitment to reduce red tape,” added Tanya Fir, associate minister of red tape reduction. “This legislation will allow our professional groups improved transparency, standardize their core functions and help them to quickly adapt their bylaws to reflect changing business requirements.”

“As the regulator for engineering and geoscience, APEGA looks forward to working with the Government of Alberta to achieve the goals of this new legislation. We fully support the government’s commitment to increasing accountability and enhancing the governance of professional regulatory organizations to further support the public interest and public safety,” shared Jay Nagendran, registrar and chief executive officer, Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA).

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“The new Professional Governance Act is a clear benefit to self-regulating professions and the Albertans they serve,” noted David Lloyd, registrar and chief executive officer, Alberta Institute of Agrologists. “It provides consistency for how professional regulatory organizations operate while respecting unique needs of individual professions through the regulatory schedules. This will help our organization ensure that our registered members provide competent service to Albertans and conduct themselves ethically.”

“Based on our understanding of the bill, CPA Alberta is confident the new legislation will provide a robust and transparent regulatory framework for the affected professions – a framework that will make protection of the public the top priority. CPA Alberta has valued the opportunities the ministry provided for us to contribute input and perspectives as the bill’s direction was being developed,” said Rachel Miller, chief executive officer, Chartered Professional Accountants Alberta.

Government officials say professional regulatory organizations are responsible for the governance, registration, conduct and discipline of their registrants. They are also responsible for ensuring their registrants deliver services in a way that safeguards the life, health, property, environment and the economic interests of Albertans. Officials say the proposed act affects 22 non-health professional regulatory organizations.

Key features

If passed, the Professional Governance Act aims to:

• Provide a consistent and standard way for professional regulatory organizations to carry out core functions such as governance, registration and addressing professional conduct and discipline.
• Allow development of profession-specific schedules to address any unique needs or requirements.
• Have consistent processes for amalgamating or deregistering existing professional regulatory organizations and creating new ones.
• Have a consistent and efficient process to appoint public members to the organizations to ensure the public’s interest is represented.
• Provide that a public administrator be appointed when a professional regulatory organization is no longer fulfilling its obligations, acting in good faith or serving the public interest and public safety. This provision will be used only in exceptional circumstances when there is a clear threat to the public interest or the interest of public safety.
• Align with the Labour Mobility Act (awaiting proclamation) and the Fair Registration Practices Act. This is intended to reduce barriers for regulated professionals from outside Alberta and allow their credentials to be recognized more quickly and efficiently. Credentials can also be recognized on a temporary basis to allow out-of-province professionals to work in Alberta on short-term projects or during emergencies.

If passed, the Professional Governance Act will take effect upon proclamation.