B.C. Takes the Lead in Canada
With Labour Mobility Bill

March 12, 2009

In a move that CGAs across the country cheered, today B.C. became the first province in Canada to introduce legislation that would tear down barriers to full labour mobility for all trades and professions.

“This is just what CGAs have been working, writing and arguing towards for the past several years,” said CGA-BC President, Stephen Spector, FCGA. 

“As a British Columbian and as President of B.C.’s Certified General Accountants Association, it is gratifying and, I think, appropriate to see our province take the legislative lead on cross-border labour mobility,” said Spector.

Once enacted, Bill 9 will allow a person certified in any Canadian jurisdiction to be recognized and able to practise their profession in any other Canadian jurisdiction. The bill is similar to legislation being enacted or revised in other provinces. Under the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), each province will continue to be responsible for maintaining and monitoring the requirements that are in place through provincial legislation for regulated occupations, such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants and certified trades.  

“Bill 9 doesn’t mean the issue will disappear,” noted Spector, “after all there are forces still working to uphold the anti-free trade status quo in this country. But by passing this legislation, the B.C. government is pushing hard to open our national economy to the utmost. Trades people, professionals and employers should consider this stimulus without spending.”

This legislation will improve opportunities for workers and employers, said Murray Coell, Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development, and Ida Chong, FCGA, Minister of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development in a joint media release.

Said Chong, “The provincial government is taking action now to ensure that British Columbians share in the opportunities created by unprecedented freedom of labour mobility throughout Canada,” said Chong.
 
“With the introduction of Bill 9, we are supporting a historic agreement on labour mobility between Canada’s first ministers and fulfilling British Columbia’s commitment to the Agreement on Internal Trade,” said Coell. “This legislation provides a solid foundation for our future success, ensuring we have the human resources B.C. will need in the coming decades.”

See the provincial government’s Question and Answer document on Bill 9, The Labour Mobility Act.

See CGA-Canada’s previous media releases, discussion papers and reports on internal free trade and the AIT.