British Columbia’s veterinary medical association will get funding to improve how it assesses credentials and approves licenses, in order to import new veterinarians from other countries.
The province on Monday announced about $497,000 for 17 professional regulatory bodies to improve those assessments and licensing practices, after making the offer to those professional bodies through a request for proposals.
Groups were able to apply for up to $50,000 and the BCVMA received the maximum. Other groups funded include applied science technologists, professional engineers and geoscientists, land surveyors and landscape architects.
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Programs eligible for this funding may include, for example:
- translation of regulating bodies’ web sites, to make sure the information on the registration process is clear and user-friendly to all applicants;
- online application and self-assessment tools, to help streamline the time taken in the registration process; and
- putting competency-based tools and programs in place to better make sure that the assessments of incoming professionals are consistent.
The province had pointed to the need for improvement in how foreign credentials are assessed, when it drew up its “WorkBC” plan to deal with shortages of certain skills in the province.
