Dates & Deadlines
Royal College 2023 Academic Certification Applications
As announced recently (see attached), the RCPSC Application for Academic Certification deadline is February 28, 2022. Please submit applications by Friday, February 17th as the Dean’s Office internal deadline.
Additional information included in email version of newsletter sent Feb 8, 2023 with attached email RCPSC 2023 Academic Certification DUE February 28, 2023, initially sent out Jan 16, 2023.
FoM HR Roundtable
A reminder that there will be HR Roundtable on Creating Inclusive Environments on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 from 2:00-3:30 pm. Please RSVP via this link, by Friday, February 17, 2023. This will be an opportunity for you to meet and speak with Dr. Neila Miled, Anti-Racism Advisory in the Faculty of Medicine Office of Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) and raise any questions you may have. Please feel free to forward the invitation to anyone who may be interested in your unit.
Updates & Reminders
NEW! Federal ‘Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act’
As announced recently (attached), there is a new federal ‘Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act’ that came into effect on January 1, 2023 and has a period of two years. The effective date of this Act means that any non-Canadians who have already been recruited and are currently working for UBC would not be eligible for home ownership until 2025 or until they meet one of the exemptions from the Act. This may impact the non-Canadian faculty members who are eligible and been approved for down payment assistance program and/or PIRL.
NEW! Private Health Coverage Requirements for Temporary Foreign Workers LMIA
As announced recently, there are new amendments to Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) with Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) which include the requirement of a Private Health Coverage for emergency medical care effective the date of their arrival in Canada and during the period for which the TFW is not covered by their provincial health insurance system. Please ensure your new hires are informed at the time their appointments are initiated.
Important details around this new requirement is attached to the email newsletter version sent Feb 8, 2023, with email subject line Private Health Coverage Requirements for Temporary Foreign Workers LMIA originally emailed out on Jan 18, 2023.
The new IRCC regulations do not apply for TMP with LMIA exemptions or returning Canadian citizens who need to satisfy MSP waiting periods. However, it’s important that they obtain private health coverage during any MSP waiting periods. Updated FOM Offer Letter Templates and Checklist for Full-Time Faculty have been posted on MedNet, please use current templates and checklist to prepare offer letters for new full-time faculty hires.
IRCC Inspections & Offer Letters
As announced in the previous month’s newsletter, updates have been made to Faculty Relations and FoM’s offer letter templates as a result of changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations which impose requirements on employers of foreign workers. Please refer to the Faculty Relations Updates page for full details.
Please ensure that your offer letters for Postdoctoral Research Fellows, Research Associates, Visiting Faculty and some term positions are prepared in the current template from the Faculty Relations page. The following FoM offer letter templates have also been updated on Mednet.
- FoM Full-Time Faculty – Research Stream
- FoM Full-Time Faculty – Educational Leadership Stream
- FoM Full-Time Faculty without Review
- FoM Part-Time Faculty without Review
- FoM Clinical Fellow (NUF) – unpaid at UBC
If you are preparing a Clinical Fellow (Paid) offer letter for a foreign national, please email the draft offer letter to Andie Sha for review so we can ensure the appropriate immigration language is included.
Reappointment for Foreign Workers on Maintained Status
Faculty Relations advised that a foreign national on maintained status will have an initial reappointment period of six months and the subsequent reappointments will need to be processed on a monthly basis.
Updates to How to Complete Offer of Employment
The IRCC Offer of Employment – completion guide for Postdoc & Visitor appointments has been updated and can be found on the Recruiting Foreign Academics webpage. Updates include additional wording (indicating various locations) for Postdoctoral Fellows, new NOC codes, and the updated declaration and electronic signature. Please ensure to read it before entering the next OOE in the IRCC portal. Note that it is important to have the appointment letter signed prior to entering the offer of employment in the IRCC portal.
Selecting the Correct Earnings Type
It is important that the correct earnings/allowance type is selected in Workday. This is particularly true in the case of Postdoctoral Fellow appointments as they could potentially be in receipt of several different types of earnings/allowances. Having the correct earnings type will ensure the correct benefit and tax deductions are taken. An incorrect earnings type could have a negative impact not only on the Record of Employment (ROE) should the employee require one for Employment Insurance (EI) Benefits through Service Canada, but also on UBC Supplemental Employment Benefits (SEB) for Mat/Parental/Adoption Leave.
Retroactive Earnings/Compensation Changes
Retroactive changes to compensation plans may only occur within the tax year. Changes to a prior year may not be made. If a department chooses to process an appointment for a postdoc prior to the fellowship earnings being transferred to UBC and they temporarily pay from a UBC source the earnings should still be coded as ‘Faculty & Postdoc Fellowship’. Once the fellowship earnings are received by UBC it is just a matter of updating the cost center retroactive to the appointment start date. The earnings type will not need to be updated. This will help to ensure that appointments with start dates near the end of the year will be coded correctly on the individual’s tax slip. Please refer to the Faculty Relations Updates page for full details.
Extraordinary Expense Fund (EEF) & Postdoctoral Fellow Appointments
All Postdoctoral Fellows appointments (Employees, UBC paid Award Recipients & externally funded Award Recipients) are covered under the EEF, which provides Maternity, Parental & Adoption Leave and Sick Leave benefits. All grant accounts are subject to contributions to the EEF. Details of the EEF, the contribution rates, eligibility requirements and what is covered is found on the Human Resources website.
Externally Funded Postdocs
A reminder that postdoctoral fellows in receipt of external funds paid directly to them need to have an appointment in Workday with their external funds recorded in Canadian dollars as an External Funding Allowance. Providing an appointment will ensure that these individuals are covered under UBC’s liability insurance and are covered under the Extraordinary Expense Fund (EEF).
Kids & Company 2022/23 Childcare Back-up Passes
As part of UBC’s membership with Kids & Company, Faculty of Medicine has been allocated limited number of passes for their back-up child care program. The back-up child care program assists parents and guardians when there is a lapse or breakdown in their regular child care arrangements.
For full details, please refer to attachment in email newsletter sent Feb 8, 2023 with email from Sandy Liu, subject line Kids & Company 2022/23 Back-up passes – Medicine originally emailed out on Feb 6, 2023.
If your faculty member or staff requires a back-up pass, please contact Jessy Lee in the Faculty Affairs team so a request can be submitted for you from the Dean’s Office.
Faculty HR Team Update
There have been changes in the portfolio assignment of the Faculty HR Team recently – all the best to Irish Krolikowski, welcome back to Andie Sha and Tammy Louis, and big thank you to Yichen Zhang.
Details included in attachment in email newsletter sent Feb 8, 2023, subject line Update on the Faculty HR Team – January 2023 originally emailed out Jan 27, 2023.