Health Science Professionals

Negotiated inflation-protection measures will trigger full 3.0% increase British Columbia inflation data released this week confirms that the maximum wage protections in the 2022-2025 HSPBA collective agreement will be triggered, and members will receive the full 3.0% wage increase starting April 1, 2024. For most members, this brings the total general wage increase for the three years of the agreement...

We know that job classifications, and the systems that help determine them, aren’t always the easiest thing to understand. However, they are a tool that has the potential to determine a lot about your job and your career. For this reason, we want to ensure that all health science professionals know the broad strokes of what’s going on with the...

Last fall, as part of the HSPBA classifications review, HSA members and HSA staff filed profile match objections where they thought that the employer-assigned profile match for a job was incorrect. Since they were filed, these objections have been moving through the agreed-upon process. The outcome of each objection will be decided by the appointed classification referee (an experienced third-party...

HSA members covered by the HSPBA collective agreement are eligible for funding to cover health science professional fees paid in 2023 as negotiated in the recent round of HSPBA bargaining. Members will be reimbursed up to a maximum cap, informed by the fee rates set by regulatory bodies and professional associations. Note that this fund is not on a first...

Last year, in June, HSA received notice that Vancouver Coastal Health Authority would begin reversing 13 years of consolidating operations of diagnostic imaging services within the four different health authorities in the Lower Mainland. On January 19, these changes took effect, with most members working in medical imaging transferred from VCHA to Fraser, Providence and Provincial Health Services authorities. Negotiating...

Applications are now being accepted for professional development funding, for eligible expenses commencing from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, to support HSA members who work under the Health Science Professionals Collective Agreement (HSPBA) and who are pursuing professional development. The continued funding was negotiated in the 2022-2025 collective agreement, with a $400,000 contribution to the fund each year...

Have you submitted your professional fees fund application yet? While many HSA members have already been reimbursed for their 2023 professional fees, many other members still need to apply. Don’t miss out – the deadline for eligible receipts is December 31, 2023. This financial benefit was negotiated in last year’s round of HSPBA bargaining; all HSA members covered by the...

Thank you to all full- and part-time HSA members who took part in the first stage of the move to a new profile-based classification system for health science professionals working in BC’s public health care system. Over the last several weeks, thousands of health science professionals used HSA’s online classification review tool to double-check how the employer matched their jobs...

Applications are now being accepted for funding to support HSA members who work under the Health Science Professionals Collective Agreement (HSPBA) and who are pursuing professional development. The continued funding was negotiated in the 2022-2025 collective agreement, with a $400,000 contribution to the fund each year. “I encourage members to apply to this fund to support their professional development, as...

A new report from the Health Sciences Association of BC puts a microscope on the critical role of medical laboratory technologists in the health care system – and how acute staffing shortages are causing burnout and delaying patient care. Medical laboratory technologists (MLTs) are often invisible to the public, but health care would not function without them. At least 70...