News & Updates

One of the features of the new Community Health collective agreement that expires on March 31, 2022 is a $40 million fund for low wage redress. This is different than the comparability monies distributed in the agreement that expires March 31, 2019 because it will be applied to a greater number of positions. You can find the collective agreement language...

HSA members have been invited by CoDevelopment (CoDev) Canada to participate in its 2019 Canadian delegation to Honduras and Nicaragua. This year, the Canadian delegation will focus on occupational health and safety and gender rights in the Maquila (textile manufacturing) industry, and will be meeting with one of CoDev’s partners in Central America: the Honduran women’s collective (CODEMUH) in Honduras...

On Tuesday, February 19 the BC NDP government introduced Budget 2019. Following from the Throne Speech, the budget allows us to see the actual investments being made in critical program areas and the new initiatives government has prioritized for the coming year. Budget 2019 continued to build on the government’s focus on increasing affordability for families and strengthening health care...

Last fall, HSA announced a $3 million Professional Development Fund funded by the provincial government aimed at supporting health science professionals to undertake professional development to increase specialization, improve health care service to rural and remote areas of BC, and meet ongoing requirements for professional development. In response to high demand for specialized professional development opportunities outside of Canada, eligibility...

For Immediate Release Health Sciences Association of BC says today’s provincial budget provides important investments in health care and social services, but workforce challenges need attention. HSA represents 18,000 highly trained specialists working in diagnostic MRI, sonography and lab testing, physiotherapy, social work, radiation therapy, pharmacy, early childhood development and many other health science and social service professions. “We are...

The David Bland Memorial Award is awarded annually to an HSA member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the area of occupational health and safety and who has made a meaningful difference in the lives of their fellow HSA members. The award was established by HSA's board of directors to honour HSA member David Bland, a vocational counsellor from Richmond...

Health science professionals working in hospitals and communities throughout the province have voted to accept a new collective agreement that recognizes the value of health science professionals on multi-disciplinary health care teams. With a vote of 82 per cent in favour of the agreement, union members covered by the multi-union Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) collective agreement have accepted...

Yesterday was a big day in provincial politics, as MLAs from across the province were back in Victoria and the Spring sitting of the Legislative Assembly got underway. To open the session, the Lieutenant Governor, Honourable Janet Austin, delivered the Speech from the Throne. The Throne Speech is an opportunity for government to lay out its agenda for the coming...

Brittany Sanders will join the HSA Board of Directors as the representative from Region 9 (Kootenays). Sanders was acclaimed after the deadline passed with no further nominations. She has worked as a medical laboratory technologist at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital in Trail for the past five years, where she has been a union steward, and is currently the Chief Steward...

Two candidates have been nominated to represent HSA members working in Region 7 on the union’s board of directors. The two candidates in the election are Jas Giddha and Edith MacHattie. The successful candidate will assume the position of Regional Director for a two-year term at the conclusion of HSA's 2019 annual convention. Candidate statements will be included with voting...