Office of the Superintendent of Professional Governance (OSPG)
Established in 2019 when the first phase of regulations to implement the Professional Governance Act came into force, the Office of the Superintendent of Professional Governance (OSPG) oversees five regulatory bodies to ensure qualified professionals are acting in the public interest. The regulatory bodies include ASTTBC along with Engineers and Geoscientists BC (EGBC), Association of BC Forest Professionals (ABCFP), College of Applied Biology (CAB), and BC Institute of Agrologists (BCIA).
The five regulatory bodies regulate nearly 55,000 professionals working in BC across a range of disciplines in the natural resources sector, industry, transportation, construction and real estate industries, among others.
To ensure that decisions made about natural resources and the environment in British Columbia are science-based and in the public interest, OSPG brings independent oversight and helps restore public trust in qualified professionals through transparency and consistency with best practices regarding qualifications, continuing education and potential conflicts of interest.
The OSPG has the power to issue guidelines and directives to enforce compliance with best practices and high professional and ethical standards.
The OSPG reports to the Attorney General and Minister responsible for Housing.
To learn more about OSPG, please visit: www.professionalgovernanceBC.ca
Registrants’ Duty to Report
Registrants have a duty to report under section 58 of the Professional Governance Act, when a registrant has reasonable and probable grounds to believe that an identified registrant is:
(a) engaged in the regulated practice in a manner that may pose a risk of significant harm to the environment or to the health or safety of the public or a group of people, or
(b) engaged in a matter or conduct prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council,
the registrant must promptly report this to the registrar of the identified registrant’s regulatory body.
In addition, if a person terminates the employment of an identified registrant, revokes, suspends or imposes restrictions on the privileges of the identified registrant, or dissolves a partnership or association with the identified registrant based on such a belief, the person must promptly report this in writing to the registrar of the identified registrant’s regulatory body. If the identified registrant resigns, relinquishes privileges or dissolves the partnership or association before it is possible to take action, the person must also report this in writing to the registrar of the identified registrant’s regulatory body.
If you need to report an incident, please contact Michael Thain, Manager, Investigations & Compliance, at mthain@asttbc.org.
Note on Reprisals
It is very important to note that, in accordance with the Professional Governance Act, that a person must not evict, discharge, suspend, expel, intimidate, coerce, impose any pecuniary or other penalty on or otherwise discriminate against a registrant because that registrant:
(a) has reported a matter as described in section 58 [duty to report] with respect to a registrant or other persons,
(b) complains or is named in a complaint under section 65 [complaints], or
(c) gives evidence or otherwise assists in respect of a prosecution, a complaint or another proceeding under this Act.
Further information about the duty to report or reprisal protection for ASTTBC registrants may be found on the website of the Office of the Superintendent of Professional Governance here: https://professionalgovernancebc.ca/app/uploads/sites/498/2021/03/2020-GD-14-Duty-to-Report-Guidance-web-1.1-20210329.pdf