The name, TILMA, sounds like a destructive hurricane — and that's the kind of effect it could have if it moves across the country from British Columbia and Alberta.
The Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement between B.C. and Alberta has been promoted by both governments as a solution to the skilled-labour shortages faced by these two provinces.
But by deregulating and lowering qualification standards, the agreement is likely to make the problem worse. And if TILMA is picked up by other provinces, the end result could be lowest-common-denominator standards that dumb down years of progress at ensuring that earned credentials mean the highest quality standards for skilled workers.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has already discussed bringing TILMA to his province with B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, while groups such as the Canada West Foundation are pressing Saskatchewan and Manitoba to join the agreement.
But in B.C. and Alberta, the public and even major construction contractors are still asking, "What is TILMA?" — a question their counterparts in other provinces should start asking before it arrives on their doorsteps too.
TILMA was signed by B.C. and Alberta last April, with no prior public consultation or discussion. It allows almost any government regulation or standard to be challenged on the grounds that it is more restrictive to trade than necessary. Challenges will be adjudicated by panels appointed by the two provinces with the authority to impose fines of up to $5-million for each violation.
The implications for construction are very significant. TILMA says governments are not permitted to maintain "obstacles" to labour mobility, such as apprenticeship requirements and training standards, unless they can prove they have no other option.
Close examination of the apprenticeship systems and credentialing requirements reveals that the deal's intent is to quickly move to a deregulated market.
Alberta currently turns out the most apprentices trained to the "red seal" national endorsement and many of its trade classifications are deemed compulsory. Currently, trade workers must be qualified to the Alberta standards to work there.
However, the "red seal" endorsement is not needed in B.C. Nor is trade qualification or certification required to work in the province, except for safety purposes under specifically regulated circumstances.
Under TILMA, all trades and occupations are to be reconciled between the governments. The intention is not to create one standard, but to simply recognize each other's requirements to ensure that they do not create a barrier to labour mobility. There is absolutely no intention to move B.C.'s unregulated qualification environment up to the higher Alberta standards.
Gary Mar, Alberta's former intergovernmental affairs minister, emphasized to one audience that "we will not be 'dumbing down' professional standards. Our two provinces will reconcile them to the highest level."
But Colin Hansen, B.C.'s Minister for Economic Development, expressed a very different view: "I would argue the highest standard is not necessarily the best standard. And so what TILMA forces us to do through this process is to look at not what's the highest standard or the lowest standard, it's what makes sense."
Alberta businesses and qualified workers are likely to lose out when their province is forced by TILMA to recognize the qualifications of B.C. workers with lower credentials.
Whatever the politicians' intent, by signing TILMA they have surrendered the ultimate decision about "what makes sense" to dispute panels, whose rulings will be made not on the basis of what is best for the public interest, but on the much more narrow criteria of what is the least trade restrictive option.
What that means for the rest of Canada if other provinces accept TILMA is very clear — the province with the lowest qualifications for skilled trades will set the standards for the entire country.
TILMA's implementation in B.C. and Alberta will have a chilling effect on efforts to raise training and occupational standards in both provinces, regardless of the need to respond to new technologies and changing methods of work. And by creating confusion about which province's standards apply to workers from one province doing work in the other, it will likely create enforcement problems in areas such as occupational health, workplace safety and consumer protection. Multiply those problems by extending TILMA to other provinces and we will have a national race to the bottom in training requirements.
That's no way to achieve the highly skilled work force Canada so urgently needs to be internationally competitive. Canada should avoid the TILMA hurricane while there's still time.
Wayne Peppard, executive director of the B.C. and Yukon Building and Construction Trades Council, is a qualified plumber and gas fitter with 35 years experience in the industry.
