BC Pesticide Certificate Extensions Granted

By WCTA Staff

The BC Ministry of Environment (BC MOE) hosted a stakeholder meeting on May 25th to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on pesticide applicator certificate (PAC) holders in the landscape category, specifically, ServiceBC’s current status of invigilating exams in essential service categories only including:

• Agriculture
• Aerial
• Dispenser
• Forestry
• Fumigation
• Industrial Vegetation & Noxious Weeds
• Mosquito
• Structural

The Ministry explained that because the landscape exam is currently unavailable through ServiceBC, a six-month extension was granted to individuals whose landscape certificate was set to expire in either April or May of 2020, to September 30 or October 31st respectively.  Letters outlining the extensions were direct mailed to all effected PAC holders on March 31st.

It remains unclear when ServiceBC will resume normal services including offering landscape PAC exam invigilation.  For forty landscape applicators across the province whose certificates expire in June, further extensions are not expected.  

With that, the meeting’s purpose was to inspire ideas to bridge the gap, ensuring landscape PAC holders not renewing through recertification points would have an opportunity to take the exam during the COVID-19 disruption, and if successful, be granted a new certificate .

For those with certificates that expired in April or May but are renewing through recertification points, unavailability of the exam is not a problem if the necessary point requirement was achieved.  Of the forty pending certificate expirations in June, the Ministry is not aware of how many applicators will be renewed through point collection.

In a follow-up email, IPM Section Head Jon Mullan stated, “We continue to work hard and find collaborative solutions to mitigate impacts of the pandemic, and will implement further changes as needed. As this is a fluid situation, updates will be made to the IPM Response to COVID-19 website as new information becomes available.”

For WCTA members on our CEC tracking program (free service) with certificates expiring in the next few months, you will want to make sure you have collected the required number of points.  For a copy of your record, please email Leslie at admin@wctaturf.com.

Further information on exam availability will be circulated when available.