Background Information
Prior to the College of Applied Biology coming into force, actions of Professional Biologists were governed by the Association of Professional Biologists of BC (APBBC). The Act provides for the APBBC to continue as an organization to look after the interests of its members. The College will take on the role of governing the members and protecting the public interest.
The APBBC worked hard for over 20 years to demonstrate the value of having registered, accountable professionals undertaking the practice of applied biology, and the government respected and responded to the call for formal recognition through self governing professional legislation.
The College of Applied Biology is responsible for governing the members of the College and protecting the associated titles; the APBBC continues to be involved with practitioners of applied biology through areas such as ethics, mentoring and continuing professional development opportunities. For more information on the role of the APBBC please go to its web site at www.apbbc.bc.ca
The College of Applied Biology Act is the first legislation of its kind in North America, and is the first time applied biologists have been granted full professional status through self governing legislation. For more information on the College and the APBBC, contact the Office of Applied Biology at 250-383-3306, or on-line at http://www.cab-bc.org.
Legislative Information and Background
On November 18, Forests Minister de Jong introduced the College of Applied Biology Act. On November 21, 2002 the Act received its final reading and was passed. On June 13, 2003 the Act was signed into law and the College of Applied Biology officially began its' existence. To look at the College of Applied Biology Act click here
To follow the progress of the College of Applied Biology Act through the legislature we have provided the Hansard extracts for your interest.
To read the introduction of the Act click here
To review comments from the second reading click here
To review comments from the final reading and its passage click here.
To reveiw the Rules of the College go to Rules.
A traveling road show was conducted in the spring of 2003 to discuss the new College of Applied Biology Act. If you were not able to attend one of the sessions, the presentation in Power Point format may be found at Getting Our Act Together.