November 27, 2019 Re: Better…

November 27, 2019

Re: Better for People, Smarter for Business Act - Support for the Elimination of OPAC and Improving the Professionalism of the Structural Pest Management Industry

Dear Ms. Ghamari, Mr. Sarkaria, and Members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

The Structural Pest Management Association of Ontario (SPMAO) is the most experienced and largest professional association for the structural pest management industry in Ontario, a non-profit organization with a board of directors comprised of representatives from our members. SPMAO assists its member companies and licenced pesticide applicators through workshops and training seminars, so they can obtain their professional licences and stay current with the latest policies, standards and best practices. SPMAO represents over 160 licenced companies that actively protect the health and safety of all Ontarians from dangerous and deadly pests. SPMAO members use pesticide products to control ants, bed bugs, cockroaches, mosquitoes, rodents, spiders, stinging insects, and other pests in countless commercial, residential, and institutional settings.

SPMAO appreciates the opportunity to submit comments regarding changes to the Ontario Pesticide Act as part of the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act. Ontario is comprised of largest number of pesticide applicators in all of Canada, and it is important to ensure that the greatest contingent of applicators leads the rest of Canada in professionalism standards. In short, SPMAO enthusiastically supports proposals that modernize Ontario’s Pesticide Act, remove duplicative regulations, and increase the professionalism of our industry by requiring recertification and continuing education or re-writing the examination every five years for licenced exterminators.

Support for the Elimination of OPAC and Removal of Duplicative Regulations

SPMAO agrees that it is time to end Ontario’s duplicative classification of pesticides and align with the federal government, along with the rest of Canada’s provinces. For many years, Ontario has trailed the rest of Canada. By automatically adopting federal standards, this change will bring the latest and greatest technology to market, thereby improving the protection of public health and property in Ontario by our member companies and licenced exterminators. Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act, registers pesticides after completing a rigorous review of scientific studies on potential impacts on human health and the environment. Health Canada’s PMRA is resourced and equipped to review and register pesticides for all of Canada, something all other provinces have recognized. With the proposed changes, the Ontario Pesticide Advisory Committee (OPAC) would be abolished, a change that SPMAO supports. We support this change because OPAC’s main role results in a second unnecessary layer of pesticide classification, a proposal that modernizes Ontario’s Pesticide Act.

Support for Increasing Professionalism of the Structural Pest Management Industry and Requiring Recertification or Re-writing the Examination Every Five Years

While we support the modernization of the Ontario Pesticides Act regarding pesticide classification and evaluation, we believe the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, could be greatly improved by increasing the professionalism of the structural pest management industry in Ontario. Currently in Ontario, only a fee is required every five years to renew a licence without re-writing the exam, and no additional education or training is required for recertification. Ontario is the only province where licenced applicators are not required to demonstrate their knowledge at regular intervals. All other provinces either have a mandatory examination every five years, or even better, allow for an accumulation of continuing education credits in lieu of the examination.

The Province of Ontario played a large role in developing the National Standard for licencing pesticide applicators in 2005 with prominent groups such as the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Committee on Pesticides and Pest Management (FPT), Working Group on Pesticide Education, Training and Certification (WGPETC), Canadian Association of Pesticide Control Officials (CAPCO), Health Canada, and other entities. The consensus for the National Standard for pesticide applicators that Ontario played an integral role in developing included re-writing exams or recertification every five years through education with the following structure:

Recertification Criteria
The objective of recertification is to maintain or upgrade an applicator or vendor’s knowledge
regarding pesticides and pest management. Recertification criteria are:
Recertification must occur at least every five (5) years.
A candidate must obtain recertification by one of the following:
- successfully completing the certification examination,
- successfully completing a recertification examination,
- taking a course and successfully completing an examination, or
- obtaining 15 continuing education credits in a continuing education program based on the
criteria specified in Appendix E.
The above recertification process must be approved by the provincial/territorial regulatory
agency.

Since this is the National Standard, SPMAO strongly recommends that Ontario take this opportunity to adopt this through the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act.

For example, British Columbia has a recertification program that requires applicators to rewrite the exam every five years or collect continuing education credits (CECs) through an approved industry association, which for our industry is through the Structural Pest Management Association of British Columbia (SPMABC). The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy provides oversight by approving courses for CECs and monitors the fitness of the SPMABC to administer the recertification program. It is SPMAO’s view that obtaining CECs through the Association is the best way to improve the professionalism of the industry, eliminate red tape, and exercise fiscal responsibility because there is little to no cost to the Province of Ontario.

An additional example is Saskatchewan, where recertification runs not through an industry approved association, but through the Ministry of Agriculture and Saskatchewan Polytechnic. Both entities have agreed that all pesticide applicator examinations must be written under the supervision of Saskatchewan Polytechnic personnel at any Saskatchewan Polytechnic campus, or Regional College. While, we believe that having a university administering certification is better than the status quo, we would rather operate in a model that more closely resembles British Columbia because trade associations are more efficient, responsive, and cost-effective to taxpayers.

SPMAO Proposed Changes to the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act Regarding Increasing Professionalism for the Structural Pest Management Industry in Ontario

SPMAO proposes that the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act include additional changes to the Ontario Pesticides Act that requires recertification through CECs and training through a model that closely resembles British Columbia, where credits are administered through an industry approved association with course approval from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

If these changes are not included in the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, SPMAO recommends that at minimum, the bill establishes a working group between members of SPMAO and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to study, develop, and implement a recertification program for licenced exterminators in Ontario within the next year.

Conclusion

SPMAO appreciates the opportunity to provide these comments and urges the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to consider our input as it considers the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act. Please email acannon@pestworld.org should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Geoff Walsh & Dusana Bondy
President & President-Elect
Structural Pest Management Association of Ontario