RUCBC - British Columbia

In 1993 the Public Sector Employers Act led to the establishment of the University Public Sector Employers' Association (UPSEA). The four member universities of RUCBC (University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria and University of Northern British Columbia), as well as Royal Roads University and Thompson Rivers University, are designated as one of the seven public sectors identified in the legislation. The purposes of the Act are "to ensure coordination of human resource and labour relations policies and practices among public sector employers, and to improve communication and coordination between public sector employers and representatives of public sector employees."

The legislation establishes coordination at the provincial level through the Public Sector Employers' Council that includes representation from each of the seven public sectors. UPSEA is the university sector level association established by a 1998 Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Presidents. The membership of UPSEA is the six university presidents and two senior provincial government representatives and it is distinct from RUCBC. However, they are linked operationally because the Presidents are members of both organizations and because the Vice President of RUCBC is also the Executive Director of UPSEA. A number of committees have been established under UPSEA to review issues such as Pay Equity, Costing of Contracts, Executive Compensation and Benefits Analysis.