Legislation to provide greater labour market mobility for regulated professions in the province is being put forward by the Provincial Government. The Honourable Darin King, Minister of Education, provided details on the new legislation today. An Act to Implement Labour Mobility will enter second reading in the House of Assembly today.

"This legislation stems from a national commitment to eliminate barriers to labour mobility, recognizing that a strong labour market and full labour mobility among provinces and territories is key to economic growth," said Minister King. "It will make it easier for us to attract new professionals to our province, especially in areas of need such as our health care sector."

The proposed legislation ensures compliance with the Labour Mobility Chapter of the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) which came into effect on August 11, 2009, and has been amended to require full labour mobility among all provinces and territories. Under the amended chapter, any worker certified for an occupation by a regulatory body in one province or territory will be certified for that occupation in all other provinces and territories without requiring further education, training, examinations, experience or assessment. The amended chapter builds on the original chapter that has been in place since 1995 which took a �best efforts� approach to labour mobility.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the proposed legislation applies to 36 regulatory bodies that govern 43 occupations (see backgrounder). Jurisdictions will review any additional occupations to be included in the future, provided they are regulated in at least two or more jurisdictions. The legislation also maintains the integrity of the Red Seal Program as the Canadian standard for apprenticeable trades.

"We have ensured an informed and open process with respect to consultations with regulatory bodies affected by this legislation and their reaction has been positive," said Minister King. "Several rounds of consultations were held with key stakeholders including regulatory bodies, post-secondary institutions and unions regarding our province�s participation in this Chapter."

A process has been added to allow occupations to be exempt from full labour mobility should a jurisdiction require a different standard for reasons related to public security and safety, consumer protection, protection of the health and safety and well-being of workers, among others.

Regulatory bodies must make a request to their jurisdiction for approval of any exemption. In the interest of transparency, approved exemptions must be posted on the Committee on Internal Trade website. Should a jurisdiction want to challenge an exemption of another jurisdiction, beginning June 30, 2010, challenges can be made to the national AIT dispute panel.

Regulatory bodies in the province have been working on amending by-laws and policies to reflect this new proposed legislation which will come into effect June 30, 2010.

• Video of Minister's News Conference

Media contact:

Tara Power
Director of Communications
Department of Education
709-729-0048, 727-5953
tarapower@gov.nl.ca