April 16, 2008

Labour Mobility

Report highlights TILMA’s impact on construction industry

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

Worker certification standards and safety regulation are two areas where TILMA could impact the B.C. construction industry, says a study recently released by the British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA).

The Alberta-B.C. Trade, Investment, and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) is designed to remove inter-provincial trade barriers for goods, capital and labour.

The agreement consists of a set of rules that apply to all government measures such as legislation, regulations, policies and procedures that affect trade, investment and labour mobility.

TILMA, which was signed in Edmonton in April 2006, came into effect one year later. In response to the implementation of the agreement, the BCCA and the BC and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council (BCYT-BCTC) commissioned a study to focus on the potential impacts of TILMA on the construction industry.

“What is known at this point in time is two related areas that will require a significant degree of reconciliation and that are of direct relevance to the construction industry in B.C. These two areas are worker certification and associated safety regulations,” concluded the study.

Two approaches could be taken to reconcile regulations and occupational standards, according to the study.

The first approach is harmonization, which means regulations and certification standards are made the same in both provinces.

In the second approach, mutual recognition, the technical standards and content of each certification and regulation are compared on a case by case basis.

Differences are noted and preserved so long as the basic regulatory or certification standard is maintained for each province.

The study argues that TILMA’s language seems to create a space for the latter approach.

“No specific mutual recognition protocol is identified in TILMA and in practice so far B.C. industry bodies have provided their own leadership in partnership with regulatory agencies to engage in discussion with their counterparts in Alberta,” said the report.

A business association representing the construction industry is sure of the best approach to reconcile certification standards.

“We are not into harmonization. Mutual recognition is the answer,” said Philip Hochstein, president of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association.

“We are moving toward accepting the fact that training programs in Alberta are as good as B.C. There is no downside here because we are comparing jurisdictions with the same level of sophistication.”

Whatever method of reconciliation is used under TILMA, the BCCA wants the construction industry to be consulted by the B.C. and Alberta governments on these issues before any major changes are made.

“This is where we think the issues are and we want to be involved in the process,” said Abigail Fulton, vice president of government relations with the BCCA.

“We want to be consulted and at the table when decisions are made that affect the industry.”

With regard to the agreement, WorkSafe BC has been working on the mobility of crane operators between the two provinces.

“The model that we will be rolling out is TILMA friendly. If an operator comes from Alberta they will be given an equal opportunity to work” said Don Nelson, manager of industry and labour services at WorkSafe BC. “They must do a practical test and get a licence to operate in B.C., but they will be given a six month time period to do this.”

The other group that commissioned the study said that one of the most important things to be done is to raise awareness about TILMA.

“What we were trying to do with this study, with people in our industry, was to get them to wake up. If it does affect us, we want to be consulted and part of the process.” said Wayne Peppard, executive director of the BCYT-BCTC.

The agreement creates a market of 7.8 million people and Canada’s second largest economy after Ontario. The removal of all trade barriers is scheduled for completion by April 1, 2009.

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