Government Licensed Professionals

From professional oversight to emergency response, professionals employed in the public service are critical to the work of the BC government.
The Professional Employees Association (PEA’s) 1267 government licensed professionals (GLP) work across 11 Ministries as engineers, geoscientists, psychologists, pharmacists, agrologists, foresters, and veterinarians. Their work encompasses a variety of projects – from providing government with the knowledgeable oversight of forestry, mining, and fossil fuel projects to ensure they are safe, environmentally sound, and in the best interest of British Columbians, to planning decades ahead to ensure BC’s infrastructure, forests, and farms are resilient to the impacts of climate change. Many of these same professionals are also called upon to respond to a variety of severe weather emergencies, such as flood and forest fires.
Unfortunately, understaffing, a lack of competitive compensation when compared to other provinces and the private sector, and issues specific to compensation for emergency response are hampering the ability of the BC government to be effective and timely when it comes to these key roles and projects.
Inadequate professional capacity in the BC government
In the early 2000s, the BC government sought to aggressively reduce the amount of regulation within government. They set a goal of a one-third reduction of regulation, and alongside that, drastically reduced the number of professionals within the public service. In the resource sector, BC government professionals were reduced by approximately 25%. Across the BC public service, the number of scientific professionals dropped significantly – from 1500 in 2001, to just over 1200 in 2020, despite the province’s growth over the same period from 4 million to 5.15 million residents. This corresponds to a change from 1 BC government professional for every 2,700 BC residents in 2000 to 1 for every 4,100 in 2020.
Issues with staffing levels within BC Ministries are exacerbated by ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified professionals in the BC public service. Key drivers of these challenges include:
- Compensation – When compared with public service jobs at the municipal and federal level, as well as many other provinces and private sector jobs in BC, BC public service professionals are compensated less. PEA members frequently cite this as a reason for their departure from the BC public service.
- Burnout – PEA members report high rates of concern with their ability to meet the mandate of their ministries. This leads to stress and burnout. This burnout is further exacerbated by the conditions faced by members involved in emergency response, as discussed below.
- Position vacancies – Without compensation structures like career laddering in place to allow for career development and progression, PEA members are forced to leave the public service to further their career growth.