By Andrea Waldie, P.Geo
Executive Director & Registrar, APGO

Most of you who will be reading this article are already members of the APGO. Perhaps this article will be of assistance to you during discussions with those who are not yet registered and yet need to be. It is a legal requirement to be a registered member of the APGO to practise professional geoscience in Ontario. In fact, all the provinces and territories (except PEI and the Yukon) have a licensure requirement for the practice of geoscience. However, over the last several years some misconceptions, miscommunications and misunderstandings have emerged with regards to professional geoscience licensure and now swirl around as general “knowledge”; breeding further misunderstandings and miscommunications in a vicious circle. Hopefully a little clarification will assist all concerned and will help build a strong and proud profession.

This article will speak to some of these myths and misconceptions within the context of Ontario legislation – that is The Professional Geoscientists Act, 2000 (S.O. 2000, Chapter 13). Although much of what is indicated in this article will hold true across Canada, there are slight variations in the Acts and Regulations of each province and territory. Therefore, it is best to check with the local jurisdiction for appropriate interpretations.

I don’t sign reports, so I don’t need to be registered as a Professional Geoscientist.

If you are practicing professional geoscience you need a license. There is often a belief that since one is not filing reports or acting as a qualified person, one does not need to be registered to practice geoscience. This misconception may be partly the result of the fact that The Professional Geoscientists Act, 2000 came into existence at about the same time as NI 43-101. NI 43-101 governs a company's public disclosure of scientific and technical

information about its mineral projects and recognizes numerous national and international organizations/designations acceptable as one of the criteria for acting as a qualified person. Separate from the conditions of NI 43-101, in order to legally practice geoscience, it is a legal requirement to register within the province or territory in which you work.

In Ontario The Professional Geoscientists Act, 2000 indicates:

“Practice of professional geoscience
2. (1) An individual practises professional geoscience when he or she performs an activity that requires the knowledge, understanding and application of the principles of geoscience and that concerns the safeguarding of the welfare of the public or the safeguarding of life, health or property including the natural environment. 2000, c. 13, s. 2 (1).

…Practice

3. (1) An individual shall not practise professional geoscience unless he or she is a member of the Association and practises in accordance with the terms, conditions and limitations imposed on his or her membership. 2000, c. 13, s. 3 (1).”

Therefore, in order to practise geoscience in Ontario, an individual must be a registered member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO). There are some exemptions such as: an individual who is engaged in activities that are confined to prospecting within the meaning of the Mining Act; a student who, when training to be a geoscientist, is under the supervision of a P.Geo. or P.Eng. qualified to conduct geoscience; or a recent university graduate who is obtaining their required four years of geoscience work experience under the guidance of a P.Geo. or P.Eng. qualified to conduct geoscience (although a Geoscientist-In-Training membership is recommended).

I’m registered in X province or territory, so I’m already a P.Geo. and can practise geoscience in Ontario.

Unfortunately this is not the case, although being registered in another Canadian jurisdiction simplifies the process of registering in Ontario. Each province and territory, with the exceptions of PEI and the Yukon, are governed by their own geoscience Acts and Regulations. Therefore, in order to practise geoscience in each jurisdiction in Canada, an individual must be registered in that jurisdiction and abide by the Act and Regulations for that jurisdiction.


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Consultation Session On The Proposal For Amending Ontario Regulation 153/04, Brownfields Records of Site Condition

By Ed Rodrigues, P.Geo.
Chair, Brownfields Sub-Committee

A consultation session on the recently proposed amendments to Ontario Regulation 153/04 was held on November 12, 2008 at the First Unitarian Church, 175 St. Clair Avenue West, Toronto. The session was arranged jointly by APGO’s Brownfields Sub-committee and the Ministry of the Environment (the MOE), as part of the public outreach on the proposed amendments. 80 APGO members attended the session. On the invitation of APGO, several professional engineers, including a representative of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, and other brownfields practitioners also attended.

The MOE gave an overview of the scientific, technical and policy rationale for the proposed amendments. In the opening presentation, the MOE stated that the key goal of the amendments is “to set the bar regarding the standard of the brownfields site assessment practice in Ontario, such that the public can expect the same high level of service regardless of which Qualified Person (QP) is engaged in any particular project”. In keeping with the need for better public accountability, it is expected that QPs filing a Record of Site Condition (RSC) for any property under the regulation should have no direct interest in the property, in order to avoid the possibility of a real or perceived conflict of interest.

The MOE proposes to amend the current Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessment standards by including certain defined prescriptive elements that must be followed in order for the environmental site assessment to support a RSC filing. The MOE provided details and emphasized that the inclusion of prescribed mandatory requirements will result in improved quality and standardisation of Phase I and II reports within the RSC process, and will provide greater public confidence in the work of QPs.

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