January 2007 ISSUE
Geoscience Group Works on Cross-Canada Issues
BY JULIE AITKEN, P.GEOPH.
CCPG Director (Alberta)
and
BRENDA WRIGHT, P.GEOL.
CCPG President
In Canada, geoscience is a regulated profession. In 11 of the 13 provinces and territories, legislative acts restrict the practice of geoscience to individuals who are registered members of a self-governing professional association.
There are more than 7,600 geoscientists currently licensed in Canada, with the number expected to surpass 10,000 over the next several years. More than half of theses licensed geoscientists are APEGGA members.
The Canadian Council of Professional Geoscientists is a completely autonomous body whose members are those provincial and territorial associations that license or certify geoscientists under right-to-practice or right-to-title legislation. See Figure 1. The CCPG does not license individual geoscientists. Individuals must become licensed by the appropriate professional association in the province or territory in which they practice.
The Canadian Council of Professional Geoscientists /Conseil Canadien des Geoscientifiques Professionals was established over eight years ago to coordinate the development of consistent, high standards for the licensure and practice of geoscience, to promote the recognition of Canadian professional geoscience, and to facilitate national and international mobility. Its vision is to be the organization that provides national leadership in Canadian professional geoscience, and to be recognized as representing Canadian professional geoscience nationally and internationally.
This year saw the hiring of Chief Executive Officer Oliver Bonham, P.Geo., and the relocation of its headquarters to Burnaby, B.C. The CCPG is governed by a board of Directors appointed by its constituent association members.
Currently, the CCPG is committed to working on a number of key initiatives, including updating and ratifying CCPG bylaws, creating a governance policy manual and promoting standardization of the registration application form for all jurisdictions. We are also drafting a memorandum of understanding with our sister organization, the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers, to help us work closely on issues affecting both engineers and geoscientists.
Canadian Geoscience
Standards Board
At present, a national syllabus for geoscientists graduating from science faculties
across Canada does not exist. Consequently, inter-provincial transfers and mobility
from one provincial or territorial jurisdiction to another have presented challenges
to APEGGA’s Board of Examiners in some cases.
A committee of the CCPG, the Canadian Geoscience Standards Board, has been assigned
with the task of setting up a national syllabus and has agreed in principle to
a set of knowledge standards for three curriculum streams: geology, environmental
geoscience and geophysics. The board is in the process of setting up descriptors
for each of the courses.
The CCPG Board of Directors unanimously carried a motion at the most recent meeting to distribute the knowledge standards with the course descriptors to the constituent associations for endorsement by the end of March 2007, with the goal being approval at the next CCPG meeting in June. This ambitious timeline was set in order to expedite the process, and this process represents a significant step in enhancing mobility across Canada.
It is hoped that, once this is completed, the registering associations will recognize one another’s registering processes and the qualifications of geoscientists whose academic program meets these standards. Professional geoscientists transferring from one jurisdiction to another will be able to have their registrations transferred as an administrative step, rather than having to have their credentials vetted again in detail by the receiving association.
Inter-Association
Mobility Agreement
Mobility, the ease of transfer of professional recognition from one jurisdiction
to another, and incidental practice, the occasional short-term geoscience project
outside the province of registration, are much higher profile concerns for geoscientists
than for engineers. The Inter-Association Mobility Agreement committee of the
CCPG continues to move forward on mobility for geoscientists.
It anticipates further improvements to this living document as the present agreement addresses transferability but is not considered to represent full mobility. Impediments to full mobility at present are the lack of a national geoscience syllabus, no mandatory continuing professional competency program across all jurisdictions, no common standard for a professional practice exam, and no obligation to inform other jurisdictions about disciplinary actions against a member.
This committee has a number of recommendations hinging on the national syllabus work of the CGSB, including the need for education of geoscientists regarding registration procedures in their home association and other jurisdictions, and evaluating the concept of a national geoscientist designation, such as P.Geo. Canada.
Survey On Mobility
The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada commissioned a survey on
the mobility of geoscientists in Canada in early 2006. Some of the results are
intriguing.
Only 46.7 per cent of geoscientists in Canada registered in their home associations, and nearly 75 per cent reported working in another province or out of the country. This validates the need for better communication with geoscientists regarding the importance of and legal requirement for licensure.
Geoscience Risk Analysis
Although not considered a CCPG initiative, the Association of Professional Geoscientists
of Ontario, together with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists
of British Columbia, is currently exploring the concept of risk analysis to better
understand geoscience risk to the public. The associations want to find out whether
regulatory associations could better protect the public by developing appropriate
policies for those members that practice in areas of high risk.
APEGGA has been invited to participate in this study and the APEGGA Geoscience Task Force supported this initiative at a meeting held on Nov. 14. Ramifications of this work will include insurance liability and the ability of associations to defend and prosecute legal cases.
For further information about the CCPG, visit our website at www.ccpg.ca
or contact either of the writers, at aitkenja@shaw.ca or Wright.Brenda@syncrude.com.