Thank you to our SPMABC Board of Directors, Treasurer, and our Executive Secretary for providing the support and administration for another successful year running the SPMABC.
In 2024, we returned to in-person SPMABC conferences held at the Delta Hotel and Casino in Burnaby after Covid and the CPMA hosting their 2023 conference in Vancouver. The SPMABC had an extremely successful event with a fantastic lineup of speakers headlined by Faith Oi, and we saw above average attendance for our provincially organized conference, showing that SPMABC member companies see the amazing value of in-person continuing education!
2024 saw some turnover on the board once again. We said goodbye to James Liu, Timothy Mah, and long-time board member Mike Londry. A sincere thank you to each of you for your service. In return, we welcomed Adam Jirousek as our new Vice President, and board members Mat Neale and Todd Russell to our diverse volunteer team. We welcomed back Kurtis Brown as Treasurer, and Chris Dornan as our Supplier Representative, and myself, Matthew Gibbons as President. Additionally, to help keep us all in line, we had Kiley Crossby return as our Executive Secretary.
2024 brought an additional challenge with our board as Todd Russell is remote, operating his business out of Fort St. John and unable to attend our board meetings in person. As a result, we had to come up with creative solutions to make sure he was as included as possible while we held our in-person board meetings. Thankfully, we were able to meet the challenge head-on and were successful in having a very productive year!
As with 2023, we continued our meetings with the BC MOE (digitally), discussing the challenges that our member companies continue to face with regard to the rodenticide ban and continued rodent population growth in BC. And with Health Canada (in person) with their pesticide compliance team, further instructing them on how equipment in our industry can be utilized and its limitations. We also discussed compliance within our industry, stand-out items, and what both Health Canada and the SPMABC can do to continue our generally outstanding performance audits when they do occur.
Additionally, our board was able to pull together our 4 lower mainland meetings, 2 island meetings, and of course our annual conference for our SPMABC membership.
In 2024, we tasked our board of directors to research and identify potential alternative hotels to host our annual conferences moving forward due to significant increases in hosting costs. However, after completing our research, it was deemed that the Delta hotels in Burnaby were the best option for the size of our conference moving forward, and we have secured hosting our conference through 2026 at the Delta. For 2027, we expect to have the CPMA return to Vancouver, and we will once again reevaluate our hosting location for 2028.
This past year, we completely rebuilt our SPMABC website, which can be found at spmabc.com and spmabc.ca. This revamp was spurred by the NPMA stepping away from direct association management and the need to completely update the website as it was getting to be quite dated. Hope everyone enjoys the new look!
As we have all been battling with inflation, we as an association have felt the challenge for 2024. As a result of significantly increased costs from the hotels where our local meetings are held, we have had to increase our per meeting cost per attendee to $20, the first increase in a very long time. As a board, we have and will continue to search for cost savings where possible in an effort to keep member participation costs to a minimum yet still offering exceptional training opportunities.
Important changes to actives since Feb 2024
Active: Pyrethrins RVD2023-06
Example products: ON GUARD PC-5/2 (PCP 31036), PYROCIDE 300 (PCP 13779)
Cancelled uses:
Use of handheld or stationary foggers/misting equipment in residential area
Space spraying with liquid domestic products
Application on mattresses, bedding, furniture and clothing to control lice
Risk reduction measures:
Updated PPE
Limit to the amount of product handled per day
Limit to maximum application rates of commercial-use products:
for outdoor fogging against mosquitoes
for indoor broadcast surface sprays
for metered release devices
Updated re-entry intervals, especially after commercial application in residential areas:
Applicators must notify any person having access to the treated site of the re-entry interval to be observed
Active: Piperonyl butoxide RVD2023-07
Example products: PRO PROFESSIONAL 110 ULTRA-LOW VOLUME INSECTICIDE (PCP 15330), DRIONE INSECTICIDE DUST (PCP 15255)
Cancelled uses:
Application against lice on mattresses, bedding, furniture and clothing
Risk reduction measures:
Reduced application rate for surface treatments
Update to the personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements
Two-hour re-entry interval required after space spraying with a commercial liquid or pressurized product – The applicator must notify all persons having access to the treated area of the re-entry interval
As always, thank you for your continued support, it is a pleasure to lead this amazing team and it is an honor to serve the SPMABC.Matthew Gibbons SPMABC PresidentFebruary 2025