HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Definitions

1  In this Act:

"Agreement" means the Agreement on Internal Trade, signed in 1994 by the governments of Canada, the provinces, Yukon and the Northwest Territories, as amended from time to time;

"applicable BC regulator", in relation to an occupation, means the regulatory authority that is authorized to issue certification in British Columbia in relation to that occupation;

"approved measure" means a measure approved under section 2;

"BC equivalent occupation", in relation to an extraprovincial occupation, means an occupation in British Columbia that consists of a set of jobs that is the same as or is substantially similar to the set of jobs that constitutes the extraprovincial occupation;

"Canadian jurisdiction" means a jurisdiction the government of which is a party to the Agreement;

"certification", in relation to a worker, means a certificate, licence, registration or other form of official recognition issued to the worker by a regulatory authority of a Canadian jurisdiction that attests to the worker being qualified and authorized to do one or both of the following:

(a) practise a particular occupation in the Canadian jurisdiction;

(b) use in the Canadian jurisdiction a particular occupational title, designation or abbreviated title or designation;

"extraprovincial occupation" means an occupation in relation to which a worker holds a certification in a Canadian jurisdiction other than British Columbia;

"governing Act", in relation to an occupation, means the Act under which certification may be issued in British Columbia in relation to that occupation;

"measure" includes a practice, policy, standard and procedure;

"occupation" means a set of jobs that, with some variation, are similar in their main tasks or duties or in the type of work performed;

"occupational standard" means the skills, knowledge and abilities required for an occupation as established by a regulatory authority of a Canadian jurisdiction and against which the qualifications of an individual in that occupation are assessed;

"regulatory authority", in relation to British Columbia or another Canadian jurisdiction, means a person or other body, whether or not a governmental entity, that has, by an enactment, been granted authority to set or implement measures related to any of the following:

(a) the establishment of occupational standards or certification requirements;

(b) the assessment of the qualifications of workers against established occupational standards or certification requirements;

(c) the official recognition that an individual meets established occupational standards or certification requirements,

and, in relation to British Columbia, includes any other person or body that may be prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council;

"worker" means an individual, whether employed, self-employed or unemployed, who performs or seeks to perform work for pay or profit.

Approved measures

2  An applicable BC regulator must not propose or apply, in relation to an occupation or an application for certification in relation to an occupation, a measure that constitutes an inconsistent measure referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 708 of the Agreement, unless that measure is approved by both the minister charged with administration of this Act and the minister responsible for the Act under which the occupation is or may be regulated.

Application of Agreement

3  (1) Subject to subsection (2), a worker who holds a certification in relation to an extraprovincial occupation may, if there is a BC equivalent occupation in relation to which certification may be issued,

(a) apply for certification in relation to that BC equivalent occupation, and

(b) practise the BC equivalent occupation in British Columbia after obtaining that certification and satisfying any terms, conditions and requirements imposed on that certification under subsection (3).

(2) A worker who holds a certification in relation to an extraprovincial occupation may, if there is a BC equivalent occupation, practise the BC equivalent occupation in British Columbia without obtaining the certification referred to in subsection (1) (b), but only if

(a) the applicable BC regulator for the BC equivalent occupation is a prescribed regulatory authority,

(b) the BC equivalent occupation is a prescribed occupation or an occupation within a prescribed class of occupations, or

(c) certification is not required to practise the BC equivalent occupation in British Columbia.

(3) A regulatory authority in British Columbia, when considering an application under subsection (1) (a), must decide the application, and impose terms, conditions or requirements, if any, on any certification issued in response to the application, in accordance with Chapter Seven of the Agreement.

(4) The applicable BC regulator must make available to a worker wishing to apply under subsection (1) (a) an application form and an application process that require the worker to provide only the information that the regulatory authority requires to be able to comply with

(a) the regulatory authority's obligations under subsection (3),

(b) any approved measures, and

(c) any applicable social policy measures referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 702 of the Agreement.

(5) A worker who holds a certification in relation to an extraprovincial occupation and who is authorized to practise the BC equivalent occupation in British Columbia under this section

(a) may use, in British Columbia, the occupational title, designation or abbreviated title or designation applicable to the BC equivalent occupation if

(i) the worker is authorized to practise the BC equivalent occupation in British Columbia as a result of obtaining a certification under subsection (1) (b) and has satisfied any terms, conditions and requirements imposed on that certification under subsection (3), or

(ii) the worker is authorized to practise the BC equivalent occupation in British Columbia under subsection (2), and

(b) otherwise has the same rights and is subject to the same restrictions and obligations as would be the case had he or she obtained that authorization to practise other than under this section.

Reviews

4  (1) If, on an application by a worker under section 3 (1) (a), the applicable BC regulator issues the certification on terms, conditions or requirements or refuses the application,

(a) the worker may exercise all administrative rights of review and appeal, if any, provided for under the governing Act, and

(b) if, after completing all administrative review and appeal processes, if any, provided for under the governing Act, the worker alleges that the result of the decision of the applicable BC regulator and of the administrative review and appeal processes, if any, undertaken by the worker is not in accordance with Chapter Seven of the Agreement, the worker may, within 60 days after being notified of the decision made under the last of the administrative reviews or appeals provided for under the governing Act and despite any enactment to the contrary, refer the decision to the Supreme Court for review.

(2) On a review or appeal under subsection (1) (a), the person or body that has the authority to consider reviews and appeals under the governing Act has the authority to consider the review or appeal under subsection (1) (a) and is to do so as if the application for certification under this Act were an application for certification made under the governing Act.

(3) A reference to the Supreme Court under subsection (1) (b) must be made in the form of a stated case that identifies, as the question of law to be determined, whether the decision under review was in accordance with Chapter Seven of the Agreement.

(4) On a stated case under subsection (3) of this section,

(a) the applicable BC regulator, if not the government, must deliver a copy of the filed notice of stated case and material to the government, and

(b) the court must

(i) determine whether the decision under review was in accordance with Chapter Seven of the Agreement, and

(ii) if the court determines that the decision was not in accordance with Chapter Seven of the Agreement, refer the application back to the applicable BC regulator with directions.

(5) In a direction under subsection (4) (b) (ii), the court must not interfere with a valid exercise of discretion by the applicable BC regulator if the court determines that the applicable BC regulator's discretion was exercised reasonably.

(6) If an application is referred back to the applicable BC regulator under subsection (4) (b) (ii), the applicable BC regulator must reconsider the application and make a decision on that application in accordance with those directions.

Conflicts

5  In the event of a conflict between a provision of this Act and

(a) any other enactment, or

(b) any other record of, or applicable to, an applicable BC regulator,

the provision of this Act prevails.

Agreement does not become law

6  Nothing in this Act renders the Agreement an enactment or otherwise gives to the Agreement the force of law.

Prohibition on private cause of action

7  (1) Subject to subsection (2), no legal proceeding lies or may be brought or continued against the government or another person to enforce or determine a right or obligation that is claimed or arises solely under the Agreement.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a proceeding that is contemplated by Chapter Seventeen of the Agreement.

Power to make regulations

8  (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in section 41 of the Interpretation Act.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations as follows:

(a) prescribing regulatory authorities for the purposes of one or both of

(i) the definition of "regulatory authority" in section 1, and

(ii) section 3 (2) (a);

(b) prescribing occupations and classes of occupations for the purposes of section 3 (2) (b);

(c) respecting information that must be collected and maintained by each applicable BC regulator respecting applications for certification under this Act;

(d) respecting reports that must be given by applicable BC regulators, including regulations respecting the timing, format and content of those reports;

(e) respecting the information that an applicable BC regulator must provide to an applicant under section 3 (1) (a) in relation to the application, including regulations respecting the timing within which and the format by which that information must be provided;

(f) respecting any rules, orders, forms and directions that may be desirable for carrying out the provisions of this Act or for regulating procedure or establishing practice under this Act;

(g) regulations considered necessary or advisable for the purpose of more effectively bringing into operation this Act and to avoid or remedy any transitional difficulties encountered in doing so.

(3) Regulations under subsection (2) (g) may, for a period the Lieutenant Governor in Council specifies, suspend the operation of a provision of an enactment if that provision would impede the effective operation of this Act.

(4) Unless earlier repealed, a regulation under subsection (2) (g) or (3) is repealed one year after it is enacted.

Commencement

9  This Act comes into force on the date of Royal Assent.

 
Explanatory Note

This Bill allows certified workers from other jurisdictions to practise their occupations in British Columbia in accordance with Chapter Seven of the Agreement on Internal Trade, and, in particular, provides that British Columbia regulators must consider and apply Chapter Seven when workers who are certified for an occupation in a signatory jurisdiction apply to obtain British Columbia certification for that occupation. It allows the Supreme Court to consider whether Chapter Seven has been correctly applied and to make directions where that has not been the case.