On February 5, 2021, the Professional Governance Act (PGA), a legislation that standardizes how regulatory bodies govern their registered professionals, came into full effect in British Columbia?a change that is expected to impact British Columbia’s architects starting in early 2022.  

The legislation, which includes expectations on codes of ethics, continuing education, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and transparency in their governance, initially governs the following five professional regulators: the Association of BC Forest Professionals, Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of BC, BC Institute of Agrologists, College of Applied Biology, and Engineers and Geoscientists BC.

The PGA replaces the respective regulators? previous legislation, and introduces new regulatory processes and requirements. It creates a standardized approach for how regulatory bodies in the natural and built environment govern their registered professionals.
The regulatory bodies involved oversee more than 60,000 professionals working in B.C. across a range of disciplines in the natural resources sector, industry, transportation, construction and real estate industries, among others.

In alignment with the new policy, the Government of British Columbia has announced that the AIBC will also transition its legislation from the Architects Act to the Professional Governance Act (PGA). According to the organization, this transition does not change the AIBC?s core functi...