APEGBC Advisory Task Force

The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC) is the regulatory body that oversees the practice of professional engineering and geoscience in BC. After the Mount Polley Dam incident in 2014, APEGBC initiated a Corporate Practice Review (the “Review”) to determine if they should pursue regulatory oversight over engineering and geoscience organizations. All provinces and territories in Canada, except British Columbia and Quebec, regulate engineering and geoscience organizations in addition to the regulation of individual professionals. An Advisory Task Force was established to undertake the review of corporate practice, oversee the consultation process with members and stakeholders, and make recommendations to APEGBC’s Council. The Task Force was composed of 16 APEGBC members representing a broad range of disciplines, organizations, and industries.

Compass was contracted to lead the design of the Corporate Practice Review, support the implementation of the consultation process with APEGBC’s 33,000 members and stakeholders, and facilitate the Advisory Task Force meetings towards their consensus based recommendations. The Review process involved a jurisdictional scan of regulatory models for engineering and geoscience organizations applied in other Canadian jurisdictions and an options assessment for regulatory models that could be applied in the BC context. In supporting the Review process, Compass facilitated eight Task Force meetings over a year, which included developing agendas, presentations and pre-reading packages for the meetings. The Review process was integrated with two stages of consultation that sought feedback from members and stakeholders through in-person meetings, webinars, annual association conference, e-newsletters, and on-line surveys. Compass led the development of consultation materials, including a discussion paper, two online surveys, presentations and a summary report on what was heard through the consultation process. Throughout the project, Compass supported the Review process through applying structured decision-making techniques to ensure the Task Force’s recommendations were informed, defensible and transparent.