2024 Annual Meeting and Professional Development Conference

The Engineering and Geoscience Professions Regulatory Bylaws requires that the annual meeting of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan be held in the first six months of each year, so it is customarily held on the first Saturday in May.

This year’s events were a professional development conference on Friday, May 3 in person and virtual with the theme, Resilience in a Changing World, followed by the president’s reception that evening. The 94th annual meeting of the association was called to order in person and virtually at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 4, 2024 with 196 (104 in person and 92 virtual) voting members in attendance. The business of the meeting included:

• Minutes from the May 6, 2023 annual meeting
• Business arising from the minutes
• Message from the president
• Governance continuum update
• Reports from Executive Director and Registrar, Public Appointees
• The Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act review update
• One Bylaw amendment – see below for more
• Audited financial statements
• New business – one motion from the floor
• 2024 election results
• Council induction

The annual report for 2023 is available at https://www.apegs.ca/about/publications/annual-reports and in print by contacting the APEGS office.

Council Elections

APEGS engaged Insightrix Research Inc., an independent third-party research firm, to conduct the 2024 council elections. Insightrix issued ballots on March 11, 2024, and polling day was on April 8, 2024.

The Executive Director and Registrar reported that the total number of votes cast was 1,587 (1,575 electronic and 12 mail), being 10.23% of the 15,506 total ballots sent out.

The new officers of the council are President Erin Moss Tressel, P.Eng., P.Geo., FEC, FGC, President-Elect Ian Farthing, P.Eng., and Vice-President Nicholas Kaminski, P.Eng. The three new councillors are Neche Igboke, P.Eng., Derek van Nes, P.Eng., and Wesley Wizniuk, P.Eng. To view all council members, go to https://www.apegs.ca/about/apegs-governance/current-council-members.

Bylaw Amendments

At the annual meeting on May 4, 2024, the members present passed motions to amend the following from The Engineering and Geoscience Professions Regulatory Bylaws.

• Regulatory Bylaw 6.1(1) – Life Member

The amendment will eliminate a contravention of the Human Rights Code by removing the age requirement for life member (engineering) and life member (geoscience). The view that people only retire at 65 is not reflective of the differing ages that people retire from the professions.

This bylaw established the requirements for an applicant to be registered as a life member (engineering) and life member (geoscience). Both life membership categories require applicants to be retired from practicing the professions and be at least 65 years of age. Since the age requirement is a contravention of the Human Rights Code, the bylaw amendment would remove the age requirement for life members.

The removal of the age requirement would allow professional members who are currently retired, but are not yet 65, to obtain life membership.

Existing Bylaw:

Life Member
6.1(1) A member in good standing who is 65 years of age or more, or who was designated a life member pursuant to The Engineering Professions Act, as it existed on March 5, 1997, and who is retired is eligible to be granted life member status by Council.

Proposed Bylaw:

Life Member
6.1(1) A member in good standing, or who was designated a life member pursuant to The Engineering Professions Act, as it existed on March 5, 1997, and who is retired is eligible to be granted life member status by Council.

Before the proposed bylaw amendment can come into force, APEGS must submit it to the minister responsible for The Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act and then to the Gazette for publishing.

More information about the amendment is available at Proposed Bylaw Amendments.