a-12 - Agrologists Act

Updated to 31 August 2024

This document has official status.

chapter A-12

Agrologists Act

The Minister Responsible for Government Administration and Chair of the Conseil du trésor is responsible for the administration of this Act. Order in Council 1638-2022 dated 20 October 2022, (2022) 154 G.O. 2 (French), 6513.

DIVISION I DEFINITIONS

1. In this Act and the regulations made thereunder, unless the context indicates a different meaning, the following terms mean:

(a)  “Order” : the Ordre des agronomes du Québec constituted by this Act;

(b)  “board of directors” : the board of directors of the Order;

(c)  “agrologist” or “member of the Order” : any person entered on the roll;

(d)  “permit” : a permit issued in accordance with the Professional Code (chapter C‐26) and this Act;

(e)  “roll” : the list of the members in good standing of the Order prepared in accordance with the Professional Code and this Act;

(f)  “section” : a regional corporation contemplated in Division IV.

1973, c. 58, s. 1; 1974, c. 65, s. 94; 1977, c. 5, s. 229; 2008, c. 11, s. 212.

DIVISION II ORDRE DES AGRONOMES DU QUÉBEC

2. All the persons qualified to practise the profession of agrologist in Québec shall be a professional order called the “Ordre professionnel des agronomes du Québec” or the “Ordre des agronomes du Québec”.

1973, c. 58, s. 2; 1977, c. 5, s. 229; 1994, c. 40, s. 183.

3. Subject to this Act, the Order and its members shall be governed by the Professional Code (chapter C‐26).

1973, c. 58, s. 3.

DIVISION III THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2008, c. 11, s. 212.

4. The Order shall be governed by a board of directors called the “Board of directors of the Ordre des agronomes du Québec”.

1973, c. 58, s. 4; 1977, c. 5, s. 229; 2008, c. 11, s. 212.

5. The board of directors shall consist of the president and vice-president of the Order, one delegate from each section and four other members appointed by the Office des professions du Québec in the manner provided in the Professional Code (chapter C-26).

1973, c. 58, s. 5; 1974, c. 65, s. 109; 2008, c. 11, s. 212; 2017, c. 11, s. 95.

6. The president and the vice-president of the Order shall be elected by a general vote of the members of the Order.

The Professional Code (chapter C-26) shall apply to such election.

1973, c. 58, s. 6; 2008, c. 11, s. 212; 2017, c. 11, s. 96.

7. The president of each section shall be the delegate to the board of directors from his section.

If the president of a section is unable to attend a meeting of the board of directors, the council of the section shall designate another member of the section to replace him.

1973, c. 58, s. 7; 2008, c. 11, s. 212.

8. The members of the board of directors appointed by the Office des professions du Québec shall be chosen at the same time as the elections for president and vice-president are held.

Their term shall be the same as that of the president and vice-president.

1973, c. 58, s. 8; 1974, c. 65, s. 109; 2008, c. 11, s. 212.

9. If the president is absent or unable to act, he shall be replaced by the vice-president.

1973, c. 58, s. 9; 1999, c. 40, s. 12.

10. The board of directors may:

(a)  (subparagraph repealed);

(b)  require an annual financial report from the sections;

(c)  (subparagraph repealed);

(d)  put under trusteeship those sections which do not make suitable or beneficial use of their funds; require from the officers of such sections a report on the use of their funds and, if necessary, order an inquiry;

(e)  have returned to it the books, records and property of the sections abolished by the board of directors in accordance with this Act and dispose of them, the board of directors then assuming the obligations of such sections;

(f)  impose the following penalties on a section which fails to make the report required under subparagraph b or to submit to the disallowance effected under section 22 of a by-law: deprivation of the right of representation on the board of directors or the placing under trusteeship of the section;

(g)  (subparagraph repealed);

(h)  (subparagraph repealed).

1973, c. 58, s. 10; 1989, c. 23, s. 1; 1994, c. 40, s. 185; 2008, c. 11, s. 153, s. 212.

10.1. The board of directors may, by regulation,

(1)  determine how the proceeds of the assessments are to be distributed among the sections;

(2)  abolish a section that does not make suitable and beneficial use of its funds; require from the officers of such a section a report on the use of its funds and, if necessary, order an inquiry;

(3)  impose the following penalty on a section that fails to make the report required under subparagraph b of the first paragraph of section 10 or to submit to the disallowance of a by-law effected under section 22: abolition of the section.

Section 95.2 of the Professional Code (chapter C-26) applies to a regulation adopted pursuant to the first paragraph.

1994, c. 40, s. 186; 2008, c. 11, s. 154, s. 212.

DIVISION III.1 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

1994, c. 40, s. 186; 2008, c. 11, s. 212.

10.2. Where an executive committee is constituted under section 96 of the Professional Code (chapter C-26), the president and vice-president of the Order shall be members of the committee by virtue of office.

Another member of the executive committee shall be designated by a vote of the members of the board of directors from among the members appointed by the Office and two other members shall be designated by a vote of the members of the board of directors from among the elected members.

1994, c. 40, s. 186; 2008, c. 11, s. 212; 2017, c. 11, s. 97.

DIVISION IV SECTIONS

11. The Order shall be divided into sections the territorial limits and the names of which are determined by regulation of the board of directors.

The territorial limits of the sections shall be determined by referring to the description and the map of the boundaries in Schedule I to the Décret concernant la révision des limites des régions administratives du Québec (chapter D-11, r. 1).

Section 95.2 of the Professional Code (chapter C-26) applies to the regulation adopted pursuant to the first paragraph.

1973, c. 58, s. 11; 1989, c. 23, s. 2; 1994, c. 40, s. 187; 2008, c. 11, s. 154, s. 212.

12. Each section shall constitute a separate and autonomous legal person composed of the agrologists enrolled therein.

1973, c. 58, s. 12; 1999, c. 40, s. 12.

13. (Repealed).

1973, c. 58, s. 13; 1989, c. 23, s. 3.

14. Each section shall be administered by a council consisting of a president, a vice-president and a number of councillors not to exceed eight determined by the regulations of the section, which shall fix their term.

1973, c. 58, s. 14.

15. The election of the president, vice-president and councillors shall be held before 1 May.

The council shall fix the mode and procedure of the election and appoint a member of the section as returning officer.

Voting must be by secret ballot at a place designated by the council.

Only members of the Order who have their professional domicile in the territory of the section may vote and shall be eligible.

1973, c. 58, s. 15; 1974, c. 65, s. 95; 1994, c. 40, s. 188; 2008, c. 11, s. 155.

16. The president shall preside at the meetings of the section and the sittings of the council. In case of a tie-vote, the president, or in his absence the vice-president, or the acting president chosen in their absence, shall have a casting vote.

1973, c. 58, s. 16.

17. If the president is absent or unable to act, he shall be replaced by the vice-president.

1973, c. 58, s. 17; 1999, c. 40, s. 12.

18. The council of a section may make by-laws for the carrying out of its affairs and the administration of its property, and on any matter of general interest to the members of the section, except matters within the competence of the Order.

1973, c. 58, s. 18.

19. (Repealed).

1973, c. 58, s. 19; 1989, c. 23, s. 4; 1994, c. 40, s. 190.

20. Unless otherwise ordered, the by-laws of the councils of sections shall come into force on the day they are passed.

1973, c. 58, s. 20.

21. The secretary of each section shall send the secretary of the Order a certified copy of every by-law passed by the council of the section, within ten days after it is passed.

1973, c. 58, s. 21.

22. Within four months after the secretary of the Order receives a by-law of a section, the board of directors may, after a prior notice to the section concerned, disallow such by-law by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members present.

The board of directors shall exercise such right of disallowance if the by-law of the council of any section is inconsistent with a regulation of the board of directors or the general interest of the Order.

Disallowance by the board of directors shall be retroactive to the date of the by-law of the section, and shall nullify every act that might have been done under it.

1973, c. 58, s. 22; 2008, c. 11, s. 212.

23. When a section is placed under trusteeship or is abolished, all its powers shall vest in the board of directors.

1973, c. 58, s. 23; 2008, c. 11, s. 212.

DIVISION V PRACTICE OF THE PROFESSION AND TEMPORARY PERMIT

1994, c. 40, s. 191.

24. Every act performed for remuneration, which has as its object the communication or propagation of or experimentation with the principles, laws and processes relating to cultivation of agricultural plants, or to the raising of farm animals, or to the organization or general development of arable soils or the administration of an agricultural undertaking constitutes the practice of the profession of agrologist.

1973, c. 58, s. 24.

25. (Repealed).

1973, c. 58, s. 25; 1994, c. 40, s. 192.

26. The board of directors may issue a temporary permit, on the conditions it determines, to any person who does not fulfil the conditions for the issue of a permit, provided that the person holds a diploma recognized as valid by the Government or a diploma considered equivalent by the board of directors, or that his training is recognized as equivalent by the board of directors.

Such permit shall be valid for not more than five years and for specific employment.

1973, c. 58, s. 26; 1994, c. 40, s. 193; 2008, c. 11, s. 212.

27. (Repealed).

1973, c. 58, s. 27; 1994, c. 40, s. 194.

DIVISION VI ILLEGAL PRACTICE OF THE PROFESSION

28. Subject to the rights and privileges expressly granted by law to other professionals, no person shall perform any act described in section 24 unless he is an agrologist.

This section shall not apply to acts performed:

(a)  by an artisan, workman or farmer as such;

(b)  by any person who was performing such acts in carrying on his occupation before 1 January 1961;

(c)  by an agricultural technician or technologist working under the supervision of an agrologist;

(d)  in scientific research;

(e)  by any person in accordance with the provisions of a regulation adopted pursuant to paragraph h of section 94 of the Professional Code (chapter C-26).

1973, c. 58, s. 28; 1994, c. 40, s. 195.

29. Every person who contravenes section 28 is liable, for each offence, to the penalties provided in section 188 of the Professional Code (chapter C-26).

1973, c. 58, s. 29.

DIVISION VII

This Division ceased to have effect on 17 April 1987.

30. (This section ceased to have effect on 17 April 1987).

1982, c. 21, s. 1; U. K., 1982, c. 11, Sch. B, Part I, s. 33.

REPEAL SCHEDULE

In accordance with section 17 of the Act respecting the consolidation of the statutes (chapter R-3), chapter 58 of the statutes of 1973, in force on 31 December 1977, is repealed, except sections 30 to 38 and 40, effective from the coming into force of chapter A-12 of the Revised Statutes.