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1998/99 Legislative Session: 3rd Session, 36th Parliament

FIRST READING

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

HONOURABLE ANDREW PETTER

MINISTER OF ADVANCED EDUCATION, TRAINING AND TECHNOLOGY

AND MINISTER OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS

BILL 73 – 1999

PRIVATE POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION

AMENDMENT ACT, 1999

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Section 1 of the Private Post-Secondary Education Act , R.S.B.C. 1996, c.

375, is amended

(

a) by adding the following definition:

"fund" means the Tuition Assurance Fund

established under

section 27.1; , and

(

b) by repealing the definition of "institution" and

substituting the following:

"institution" means a person who provides or

intends to provide post-secondary education, and includes, for the purposes of sections 4,

27.3, 27.4 (1) (

b) and 31, a person who provided post-secondary education; .

Section 3 is amended

(

a) in subsection (5) by striking out "and 23." and

substituting ", 23 and 27.1 (3) and (5)." , and

(

b) by adding the following subsection:

(7) The commission has the power, privileges and protection of a

commissioner under sections 12, 15 and 16 of the Inquiry Act for the purposes of

(

a) hearing and deciding claims under

section 27.4 of this Act,

and

(

b) investigating a matter under

section 36 (6) of this Act.

Section 4 is amended

(

a) in subsection (2) by repealing paragraphs (

a) and (

b) and substituting the

following:

(

a) for the purposes of conducting an examination or evaluation or

both, enter

(

i) any building that is used in the operation of an institution,

(ii) any building that was used in the operation of an

institution, if the executive director or the examiner has reasonable and probable grounds

to believe that records relating to the operation or administration of the institution are

in the building;

(

b) examine and make copies of any record of an institution

relating to its operation or administration, whether or not the institution has ceased to

operate; , and

(

b) by adding the following subsections:

(2.1) If all or part of a building referred to in subsection (2)

(

a) is used as living accommodation, the authority given by that subsection must not be

used to enter that building or that part of the building, as the case may be, except

(

a) with the consent of the occupant and for the purposes of

examining records relating to the operation or administration of the institution, or

(

b) with the authority of a warrant issued by the Supreme Court on

application by the commission and on being satisfied that there are reasonable and

probable grounds to believe that records referred to in paragraph (

a) are in that building

or that part of the building, as the case may be.

(2.2) A person must not hinder, obstruct, impede or otherwise

interfere with a person who is exercising authority under subsection (2).

(2.3) Whether or not the institution has ceased to operate, the

executive director may request any of the following to supply the executive director with

copies of records relating to its operation or administration:

(

a) the institution;

(

b) an officer or director of the institution;

(

c) a receiver, receiver manager, liquidator or trustee in

bankruptcy of the institution.

(2.4) A person to whom a request is made under subsection

(2.3) and who is in possession or control of records specified in the request must promptly

comply with the request.

Section 6 (1) (

a) is repealed and the following substituted:

(

a) if required by the executive director, security in a form and

amount satisfactory to the executive director, .

Section 19 (2) is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) An institution must pay all the costs, as determined by the

commission, of the following:

(

a) an investigation under this section, including the costs of an

accreditation team if one is appointed to investigate;

(

b) any re-examination under

section 4, if the executive director

considers it necessary for the purposes of auditing compliance with

section 27.2 to do

more than one examination during the term of a registration.

Section 24 is amended by renumbering the

section as

section 24 (1) and by

adding the following subsection:

(2) The report submitted under subsection (1) (

b) must include a

financial report on the operation of the fund.

7 The following sections are added:

Establishment and administration of Tuition Assurance Fund

27.1

(1) The Tuition Assurance Fund is established.

(2) The fund consists of the following:

(

a) payments made to the fund under

section 27.2 or 27.6;

(

b) money that becomes part of the fund under

section 27.7;

(

c) any additional source of revenue prescribed for the purpose of

this section;

(

d) interest on money deposited in the fund and any earnings of

investments made under subsection (5) of this section.

(3) The commission must administer the fund.

(4) Money paid into the fund, or received by the commission for

the fund,

(

a) must be held in trust by the commission for the purposes

listed in

section 27.3,

(

b) must be accounted for separately from other money of the

commission, and

(

c) is not subject to any process of seizure or attachment by any

creditor of the commission.

(5) The fund may be invested by the commission, but only

in the manner authorized by the Trustee Act .

Payments by institutions to the fund

27.2 An institution registered under this Act must make

payments to the fund through the commission at the times and in the amounts required by

the regulations.

Payments from the fund

27.3 Subject to the regulations, the commission may

authorize payments to be made from the fund for the following purposes:

(

a) refunding the tuition fees of a student if an institution

registered under this Act ceases to operate or for any other reason ceases to provide the

program for which the fees were paid;

(

b) paying costs incurred by the commission in administering the

fund, including the costs of

(

i) investigating and processing claims against the fund,

(ii) ensuring that claims can be met, and

(iii) recovering money paid in respect of a claim.

Claims against the fund

27.4

(1) A claim against the fund must

(

a) comply with the regulations, and

(

b) be filed with the commission within one year after the

institution to which the claim relates ceases to operate or for any other reason ceases to

provide the program for which the tuition fees were paid.

(2) The commission may do one or more of the following:

(

a) require that information in a claim be verified by a statutory

declaration;

(

b) receive and examine evidence and information on oath or

affirmation, by affidavit or otherwise as it considers proper, whether or not the evidence

is admissible in court;

(

c) examine records and make inquiries that it considers

necessary;

(

d) authorize persons to administer oaths and affirmations,

exercise the powers of the commission under paragraphs (

a) to (

c) and report the findings

to the commission.

(3) The commission has exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide

claims against the fund.

(4) A decision, order or ruling of the commission made under this

Act in respect of a matter that relates to the fund and that is within the commission's

jurisdiction is final and conclusive and is not open to question or review in court except

on a question of law or excess of jurisdiction.

(5) Despite subsection (4), the commission may reconsider its own

decisions.

(6) The commission may prorate payments among claimants if the

fund is insufficient to pay all claims.

Assignment of rights to the commission

27.5 Payments must not be made from the fund unless the

claimant has assigned to the commission all the rights in respect of the loss that gave

rise to the claim.

Repayment of money received from the fund

27.6

(1) If money is paid from the fund to a claimant, the

claimant must pay to the fund any money or the value of any other thing received by the

claimant from another source on account of the loss that gave rise to the claim.

(2) If the claimant fails to comply with subsection (1), the

commission has a cause of action against the claimant for the amount unpaid.

Money recovered belongs to the fund

27.7 Money recovered by the commission under this Act in

respect of a claim against the fund is part of the fund, but the commission may pay all or

part of the money to the claimant after deducting

(

a) the amount paid out of the fund in respect of the claim, and

(

b) any costs of recovery, including actual legal costs.

Section 35 (2) (

a) is amended by striking out "section 5,

27," and substituting "section 4 (2.2) or (2.4), 5, 27, 27.2, 27.6

(1)," .

Section 36 is amended

(

a) in subsection (2) by repealing paragraphs (

a) and (

d) and substituting the

following:

(

a) the requirements to be met by institutions seeking

registration or renewal of registration, including requirements regarding the provision of

security by specified classes of institutions;

(

d) statements, information or verification that must be supplied

by an institution and the person to whom, and the circumstances in which, the statements,

information or verification must be supplied; ,

(

b) in subsection (2) by adding the following paragraphs:

(

f) additional sources of revenue for the fund;

(

g) the payments, whether flat rate or graduated according to an

assessment of risk or otherwise, to be made by registered institutions to the fund and the

times when those payments become due;

(

h) the exemption of classes of registered institutions from the

requirement to make payments to the fund and the conditions of exemption;

(

i) the persons who may make, and the procedure for making, claims

against the fund;

(

j) the procedure for hearing and deciding claims against the

fund;

(

k) the persons to whom payments may be made under

section 27.3

(

a) and the maximum amount payable by the commission in respect of a claim. ,

(

c) by repealing subsection (3) and substituting the following subsections:

(3) The minister may prescribe different security requirements

under subsection (2) (a), different fees under subsection (2) (

b) and different amounts

and times under subsection (2) (

g) for different classes of institutions.

(3.1) A regulation under subsection (2) (

a) may impose security

requirements on a class of institutions even though institutions of that class are

required to contribute to the fund. , and

(

d) in subsection (6) by striking out everything after "this Act

applies" .

Commencement

10 This Act comes into force by regulation of the

Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: [Private Post-Secondary Education Act, amends

section 1]

(

a) adds a definition needed for the provisions of the Act

concerning the Tuition Assurance Fund, as proposed by this Bill;

(

b) expands the definition of "institution" to include,

for the purposes of certain provisions of the Act as amended by this Bill, institutions

that have ceased to provide post-secondary education.

SECTION 2: [Private Post-Secondary Education Act, amends

section 3]

(

a) authorizes the Private Post-Secondary Education Commission to

delegate to the executive director the commission's duty to administer the Tuition

Assurance Fund and its investment powers;

(

b) gives the commission the power, privileges and authority of a

commissioner under certain provisions of the Inquiry Act for the purpose of hearing

and deciding claims against the Tuition Assurance Fund. At present, the commission has

those functions only for the purpose of investigating matters assigned to it by the

minister under

section 36 (6) of the Act.

SECTION 3: [Private Post-Secondary Education Act, amends

section 4]

(

a) gives the executive director or an examiner the authority to

enter an institution and to copy records relating to its operation or administration,

whether or not the institution has ceased to operate;

(

b) provides that the right of entry does not apply to living

accommodation except with the consent of the occupant or the authority of a warrant,

prohibits interference with an authorized entry, gives the executive director the

authority to request copies of records relating to the operation or administration of an

institution, and requires compliance with the request.

SECTION 4: [Private Post-Secondary Education Act, repeals and replaces

section 6

(1) (a)] gives the executive director the discretion to require that an

application for registration or renewal of registration be accompanied by some form of

security.

SECTION 5: [Private Post-Secondary Education Act, repeals and replaces

section 19

(2)] clarifies that an institution must pay the costs of all re-examinations

necessary to ensure it is making the required payments to the Tuition Assurance Fund.

SECTION 6: [Private Post-Secondary Education Act, amends

section 24]

clarifies that the annual report of the Private Post-Secondary Education Commission must

include a financial report on the operation of the Tuition Assurance Fund.

SECTION 7: [Private Post-Secondary Education Act, enacts sections 27.1 to 27.7]

establishes the Tuition Assurance Fund, provides for its administration, for the making

and deciding of claims against the fund and for the recovery of money paid from the fund.

SECTION 8: [Private Post-Secondary Education Act, amends

section 35 (2) (a)] creates

new offences relating to contravention of sections 4 (2.2) and (2.4), 27.2 and 27.6 (1) of

the Act, as proposed by this Bill.

SECTION 9: [Private Post-Secondary Education Act, amends sections 36]

(

a) clarifies that the minister's power to make regulations

includes the power to require that security be provided, and statements or verifications

be supplied, by institutions;

(

b) and (

c) are consequential to the amendments relating to the

Tuition Assurance Fund and to the amendment empowering the minister to make regulations

requiring the provision of security, as proposed by this Bill;

(

d) is consequential to the amendments to

section 3 of the Act,

proposed by this Bill.

Copyright © 1999: Queen's Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada