Professional Enhancement Bursary: HSPBA

2024-2025 Professional Enhancement Bursary

HSA members covered by the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) contract are eligible to apply for professional development funding available through the 2024-25 Professional Enhancement Bursary.

Applications for the Professional Enhancement Bursary are open.  To apply, you will need to have your personal email address registered with the union. To access the application, click on the big link below.  

Bursary Overview

In recognition of the need to help HSA's health science professional members maintain and upgrade specialized training amid ongoing shortage and workload issues, the BC Ministry of Health has provided $4 million in funding for this bursary over the coming year.

What can this funding be used for?

• The training needs to be related to your professional development: the funding is to be allocated to training and upgrading skills for HSPBA members working in professions experiencing shortages, or in rural and remote locations, as well as ongoing required professional development. The fund is designed to help reimburse HSA members for outlays for their professional education, and not for personal development.
• The training needs to start in the bursary window: you can apply to the fund for education or training that began, or will begin, between September 1, 2024 and August 31, 2025.
• The fund is designed to help HSA members get reimbursed for outlays in their education.
• The education or training must pertain to professional development in a Health Science Professional discipline being practiced in the public health care system, not for personal development.
• Eligible expenses for reimbursement include tuition fees, registration fees, cost of required books or materials, and other reasonable education-related expenses. Costs of travel and accommodation (within Canada or the US only) are eligible if the applicant must travel or temporarily relocate to attend education or training for related clinical placement.
• Maximum funding per member is $7,500 of which $1,500 is allowable for travel and accommodation.

These funds are not intended for personal development purposes. Applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are exhausted. Please note that "pooling" funds among groups of multiple members at individual sites will not be eligible for reimbursement.

For more information, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions page and Eligibility Guidelines. 

To prepare for your application, please read the rest of this page to learn about the new Article 17 process that you must follow before applying.  

Your Collective Agreement Rights: Article 17

Did you know that employers continue to hold back millions of dollars in professional development funding that is contractually owed to health science professionals?

Under Article 17 of the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association collective agreement, health authorities and other employers are required to provide employees seeking professional development with as much as $1,000 in funding in each year of the collective agreement. But for years, employers have routinely turned down these requests, often citing budget constraints. This practice is not based in fact – employer budgets provide for this money – and it leaves less money overall for professional development.

For the sake of member career development, and for the sake of a stronger health care system, we need every dollar available for professional development to be put to use. The employer needs to be held accountable for paying their fair share.

Here is what you can do to ensure you and your fellow HSPBA members get more funding to help rebuild the health care system:

• Approach the employer first and request for Education funds under Article 17, by following the Article 17 process.
• While you are waiting to hear back from your employer, apply to the Professional Enhancement Bursary. You don’t have to wait to hear back from your employer before applying.
• If you don't hear back from your employer about your request or your request is denied, then HSA will provide you with the funding your requested from the employer under Article 17 as part of the reimbursement for your approved bursary application.
• If your employer denies your request entirely or does not provide you with the full amount of funding you are eligible for under Article 17, the Union will support you in filing a member-driven grievance.

Your union expects that grievances on this matter will be successful, and that while it will take time and effort to follow these steps, millions of dollars in untapped money will become available to support professional development and improve the delivery of public health care. We also hope that, after sending a strong signal to the employer on this matter, we will see an end to the practice of routinely holding back this funding, resulting in faster delivery of support from both the employer and the union.

For more information, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions page and Eligibility Guidelines. 

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ONLINE APPLICATION FORM

We have many thousands of members who are eligible to apply for this funding, which has resulted in a very high volume of email. We are asking members to please read the information available on this web page, the FAQ, and the Eligibility Guidelines before emailing with questions. We will also be updating the FAQ in response to member inquiries. If you have a question that is not answered, please reach out by email to ProfessionalEnhancementBursary [at] hsabc.org.

HSA is responsible for distributing these funds to HSA members under the HSPBA.  If you are a member of a different bargaining unit (i.e. BCGEU, CUPE, PEA or HEU), please contact your union directly for funding opportunities.