As you will all have heard, the Ministry of Environment has issued a ban on all anti-coagulant rodenticides for all of British Columbia. This ban is effective as of July 21st 2021, and will be in place for 18 months, until January 2023.
The SPMABC board is fully appreciative of the effect that this will have on our members and the industry as a whole. As such, we’d like to reassure our members that we are already in talks with the Ministry of Environment to dispute these bans, making arguments for the necessity of these baits for successful integrated pest management for our customers.
Please review the attachments on this email, which include the SPMABC statement to our members, as well as the documentation from the Ministry of Environment regarding these regulation changes.
The Vancouver Rat Project (who will often send a speaker for our SPMABC conferences), has asked for our support in their COVID-19 19 Rodent research.
The project explores how the P1 COVID-19 variant has effect rodent populations, and involves testing rodent carcasses that are trapped (not baited). They are offering payment for collection of these rodents.
If you’d like to participate by donating trapped rodents, please consult the flyer for further information.
We wanted to advise our members that the page on our website that allows members to access their detailed recertification points report is currently down.
Because we will be migrating to a new system in the coming months, we won’t be able to repair this system, so in the interim, we would ask that you email any points inquiries to this email address (info@spmabc.com) and we can manually pull your points report and email it to you.
Please be advised that it does take longer to pull these reports manually, so we would advise any members to contact us in plenty of time prior to your expiry date to ensure you have adequate credits in time for your renewal.
We cannot guarantee an immediate response to a request for a points report, due to the numbers of inquiries that are being sent to us.
We hope for your understanding and patience as we move towards our new points database.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us should you have any questions about this.
Thank you all for your inquiries, and your patience as we address your industry-specific concerns. We have engaged with the Ministry of Health, the COVID-19 Workplace Task Group and public health about our status as essential workers.
Currently the list of Front-line priority workers doesn’t include our industry, but we are making the case that In Canada our industry has been designated as an essential service. The SPMABC and CPMA is working to ensure we also fall under the category of essential workers when it comes to vaccine rollouts. With that said, we are NOT attempting to jump the line ahead of health care workers, police, fire, etc. We believe that we fit in to Phase 2 of the rollouts:
Attached is the letter that went out on March 23rd to the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) and all Provincial Ministries of Health. A big thanks to Jake from the NPMA on crafting the letter!
Please note: we are not taking a position that it should be mandatory for all people to be vaccinated, we are merely stating that it should be available during phase 2 to those wanting it.
We would encourage you to share this with your technicians/members, and forward this information as you see fit.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us should you have any questions or concerns at this time.
As many of you are already aware, the NPMA has released a second edition of the Service Technician’s Manual.
The second edition to NPMA’s top-selling training handbook, The Service Technician’s Training Manual, is available now!This revised and expanded second edition is loaded withnew content including updated pest biology and controlinformation, the latest advances in pest control technology, a revised overview of federal regulations, new full-color images, a comprehensive Q&A section and much more!The Service Technician’s Manual is the core training book for service technicians. It provides technicians with essential information on the pesticide label, basic steps to pest management, pesticides, insect and vertebrate pests, equipment, safety, procedures, and state/federal laws.This manual serves as a companion training aid to NPMA’s online training course: NPMA New Hire Training For Service Technicians.
Due to the level of interest from our member companies, we are at this time hoping to offer a group buy option. The current price on the book is $30 USD + shipping, but if we are placing a bulk order, we may be able to reduce the price.
Any books purchased under this bulk order will be ordered to Integrated Pest Supplies. You would then be responsible to arranging pick up.
If you are interested, please advise us as soon as possible, as this offer is subject to availability of the handbook, and the level of interest.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us should you have any questions about this.
As you all know, COVID-19 has made it impossible to conduct an in-person AGM this year.
We will be holding the Annual General Meeting for the Structural Pest Management Association of British Columbia via Zoom on Wednesday April 14th. The meeting will begin promptly at 4:00p.m. Zoom information has been sent out to members via email.
We will be electing the new Executive for the 2021 to 2022 term, excluding the President, who holds office for a 2 year term. An email was sent in February asking for anyone who wanted to stand for the board this year to submit their name. Because of the meeting format, we will not be able to accept last minute nominations this year.
A special resolution will be introduced and voted on at the AGM as well. Please review this attachment in your email and be prepared to vote on this during the meeting.
For those who will be unable to attend the meeting, voting by proxy is permitted. If you are planning to appoint a proxy, please fill out the proxy form (which was sent to all our registered members by email) and submit it to the board prior to the meeting via email at info@spmabc.com.
Only members in good standing will be eligible to vote. Only one representative for each company may speak at the meeting.
Just one more reminder to let you know there is still time to sign up for the Professional Pest Management Module 1 training from KPU, which will be delivered online this year.
For those of you needing extra credits towards recertification, this course will offer 5 overall credits.
Please see our previous post which contains more details.
For more information or any questions regarding the course please contact fsh.ps@kpu.ca.
I know many of you have been eagerly await this update, so I am happy to finally confirm that the following sessions for the CPMA conference have been approved for recertification credits:
Session Date
Session Time
Session Title
Approved Credit
February 22, 2021
9:40 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. PST
How COVID-19 Has Permanently Altered the Candidate/Employee/Employer Relationship
1 credit Professionalism
February 22, 2021
11:00 a.m. – 12:05 p.m. PST
Vancouver Rodent Project Update
1 credit Pest Management
February 22, 2021
12:10 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. PST
Health Canada Regulatory Update – Business Information
0.5 credits Act and Regulations
February 23, 2021
8:30 a.m. – 9:35 a.m. PST
Cockroach Control: Where We’ve Come from and Where We’re Going
1 credit Pest Management
February 23, 2021
9:40 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. PST
When is a Pest a Pest: Understanding Arthropod Diversity in Structures
1 credit Pest Management
February 23, 2021
11:00 a.m. – 12:05 p.m. PST
Ant Identification: Learning to Identify Ants Like A Pro!
1 credit Pest Management
February 23, 2021
12:10 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. PST
Health Canada Regulatory Update – Applicator Information
0.5 credits Act and Regulations
February 23, 2021
12:50 p.m. – 1:20 p.m. PST
Caution: Slippery When Wet! – Avoiding Slips, Trips, and Falls in the Workplace
0.5 credits Human Health & Safety
If you have not already done so, and wish to participate, you may register for sessions at the link below.
If you are seeking a credit which is not listed above (I know many of you have expressed a concern for application technology credits) and your renewal is coming up this year, we would recommend seeking an online course to satisfy that requirement. I have included below a list of online training websites with training sessions that are available for recertification credits.
KPU will once again be offering the Professional Pest Management Module 1 training this year from Feb. 18-20, however, this time, due to COVID-19, it will be delivered online.
KPU Professional Pest Management | Module 1
The Professional Pest Management (PPM) course was designed for industry professionals and anyone interested in learning more about pest management. The content was created by Dr. Cameron Lait, a respected entomologist and co-chair of KPU’s School of Horticulture. This course is recognized by the Structural Pest Management Association of BC (SPMABC) and students who successfully complete Module 1 will receive five credits towards their pest applicator license recertification.
Course Format
Module 1 includes online lectures, lab demonstrations and quizzes delivered over three days. Students will need access to a computer with a microphone and web cam, as well as high speed internet to participate in classes. Students are encouraged to review lecture slides prior to each class and be prepared to discuss. There will be a brief quiz at the beginning of each class to review material from the previous day. At the end of the three-day training, there will be an exam to test your knowledge of all of the content covered.
Content Module 1
Basic insect biology
Taxonomy/identification
Survey of important structural pest orders and families
Pest behaviour
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) philosophy and practices
Basic pesticide chemistry, safety and regulations
Professionalism and safety protocols at the work site
Documentation
Course Outcomes
Participants who successfully complete the course will reliably demonstrate the ability to:
Identify key morphological features of arthropods
Understand basic insect biology
Understand integrated pest management principles
Recognize insect behavior as related to structural pest management
Manipulate live or preserved specimens without damage
Identify arthropods from live or preserved specimens to Order or Family using a range of resources and keys
Recognize the hazards associated with the use of chemical pesticides
Due to COVID-19, the CPMA will be hosting its annual conference virtually this year. We have put together a great lineup of speakers and topics. As always, there will be a Management Day and a Technician Day. For Provinces where continuing education credits are permitted; we have submitted the sessions for approval.
The CPMA is committed to providing for its members, and this year we are offering the virtual sessions at a very affordable rate of $75 for the Management Day and $50 for the Technician Day (includes tax). An a-la-carte option is available on demand the first week in March at $25.00 a session.
Let’s please support the CPMA by showing up in strong attendance from the SPMABC members as always!
