As BCNU Predicted, CRNBC Dues to Increase

As BCNU reluctantly anticipated, registration fees for the College of Registered Nurses of BC (CRNBC) are increasing. CRNBC says that this is because of increased association and professional liability protection fees. However, there is a very complex set of realities related to national and provincial nursing organizations that impact the fees.

For example, when the decision was made to utilize the Canadian Nurses Protective Society (CNPS) to provide professional liability coverage, it was accepted that CNPS wanted to charge the same amount to all nurses across the country. That meant that the amount charged to BC registrants would increase. For years, BC nurses had a reasonable amount charged for liability insurance largely due to money that had built up in a fund, as most nurses did not have to utilize the service since they had protection through their employers.

Another key issue is the portion of the registration fees that is re-directed to the Association of Registered Nurses of BC (ARNBC). CRNBC incorrectly states that ARNBC is necessary because of their advocacy role as no other organization can do this. We know that BCNU plays a professional advocacy role for the majority of nurses working in BC. Nurses who do not have an advocate are the excluded managers, nurses working in academia, or Nurse Practitioners who are not represented by BCNU. This is a small number and in order to represent these non-union nurses, the ARNBC (in collusion with CRNBC and the government) made it mandatory to direct fees to the association. ARNBC has stated clearly that they could not exist without fees from all nurses but they can't clearly state what value they are providing to BCNU nurses.

Most disingenuously, ARNBC is now blaming the increase in their fees on the legal costs they have to spend on the litigation BCNU has pursued against them. BCNU made the decision to launch a lawsuit based on two specific issues: first, the utilization of the monies that had built up in the liability fund; BCNU believes that money belonged to nurses and that they should have had a say in how it was utilized, and second, that nurses should have had the choice to belong to ARNBC or not.

Despite BCNU's best repeated efforts to collaboratively resolve concerns over excessive mandatory fees and to ensure nurses had a choice in their membership in ARNBC, there was clearly an unwillingness on the part of ARNBC to listen to BCNU or its members. In fact, ARNBC deliberately scheduled their 2015 AGM during the BCNU Convention, which made it impossible for hundreds of nurses to attend and have their say.

Both CRNBC (and all regulatory colleges) and BCNU have mandates set in legislation. With CRNBC it's the Health Professions Act and with BCNU it's the Labour Code. There is no regulated mandate for ARNBC to exist. This doesn't mean they shouldn't exist, but nurses should be able to choose to become members, which is an option open to nurses in Ontario.

In the meantime, BCNU has committed to paying a portion of RN and RPN member registration fees, effectively offsetting this arbitrary new fee increase being imposed by ARNBC.*

*More information on how RN and RPN members can access BCNU's partial payment of their upcoming registration fees will be available in the new year.