President's Message

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President's Message

As a result of the on-going work with Municipal Affairs regarding the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) and the North West Partnership (NWP), the SAAA is currently undergoing a complete review of its Regulations. The government is committed to implement legislative changes to all professions acts to ensure compliance with AIT and NWP. The current review can be used by the SAAA to modify its professional educational criteria to ensure that its requirements for accreditation and licensing are pertinent, current and meet the demands of the profession.

In addition, this initiative by our governments creates opportunity for similar professional associations across Canada to enter into professional accreditation reciprocity agreements. Maintaining an educational equilibrium with our sister organizations not only facilitates reciprocity agreements but it also ensures that our public will be protected in conjunction with widely recognized standards. This initiative is being undertaken through IPPAC. A detailed educational comparative matrix was completed by SAAA recently and will be presented at the next IPPAC meeting to be held at the Alberta Assessor Association Conference in Calgary in late April 2012. Once this document has been circulated to the IPPAC members, it will be posted on the SAAA website for all to view.

What I can tell you now is that the SAAA’s urban educational standard is below the standard found in the two other provinces that have professional legislation (Alberta and Ontario). Both Alberta and Ontario are also subject to AIT.

It should be noted that SAAA designated and licensed members who may wish to supplement their education through another professional association, such as the Appraisal Institute of Canada (AIC) and the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO), educational qualifying standards are set at a much higher level. The AIC has required a degree for some time now prior to granting their professional designations. The IAAO’s qualifying standards are changing in 2014 and 2015. By 2015, the qualifying standard prior to receiving the RES or CAE will be a Bachelor’s Degree.

The recent newsletter provides its members with information on the proposed changes endorsed by both the Education Committee and Council to the education curriculum for the MAAS and MRAAS designations. If approved, or at least approved in principle by the membership at the AGM this May, the new curriculum will come into effect once The Assessment Appraiser Regulations and all the proposed changes to The Assessment Appraisers Act are proclaimed. This is anticipated to be completed sometime in 2012, but only when the issue of the agricultural assessment appraisers is resolved. There are some details that need further attention however the frame work is in place to make a smooth transition to the new curriculum.

Currently, the SAAA is awaiting the decision from the government on the Legitimate Objective application that was launched by the SIA. The SIA assumed the role in developing the criteria for the Legitimate Objective, which was largely researched and written by our own SAAA AG assessment appraisers. Depending on the decision of the government, the SAAA will be required to amend The Assessment Appraiser Regulations to accommodate the change to The Agrologist Act, 1994. Regardless of the decision of the government, the SAAA is committed to maintaining a high standard of competencies for both the agricultural assessment appraisers and urban assessment appraisers.

As with any change to the education standards, all the members who are currently a Candidate member are locked into the current education standard. There will be no additional requirements required of these individuals.
SAAA members who become Candidate members after the new educational standards are approved and are set in Regulations will be subject to the new education standards.

You may recall, at the October 2011 AGM, the revised membership categories, was approved in principle pending the outcome of the decisions to amend the Assessment Appraiser Regulations.

To re-state, Regular members would not automatically have to enrol in the education program or become Candidate members. Regular members can enrol in the education program and take the required course content at their leisure. Once Regular members feel comfortable in achieving the MAAS or MRAAS designation within the prescribed time line (currently 6 years), they then can become Candidate members. In essence, the new membership categories allow members the flexibility to achieve their designation within a time line suitable for their life style and ambition.

For example, perhaps all you may need to achieve your designation is the demo. At that time, you may want to become a Candidate member and continue to have a 6 year window to complete your designation requirements. This new structure most closely aligns with the IAAO (5 years to complete designation requirements once becoming a Candidate) and reduces the increased pressure of taking additional courses on top of the heavy workload by spreading the course work over a timeline suitable to the individual.

With any change comes uncertainty, the SAAA will endeavour to ensure our members are properly informed of the change to its qualification standard to ease any discomfort.

In closing, I would encourage the SAAA membership to carefully read the materials presented in the newsletter from the Legislative and Bylaw Committee, the Education Committee (including the FAQ) and the article that discusses the Agricultural Assessment Appraiser and AIT and come prepared to discuss and approve the enhancement to our professional education standards.

Darwin Kanius, MAAS, AAAS, CAE