British Columbia Public Interest Advocacy Centre

About British Columbia Public Interest Advocacy Centre

The British Columbia Public Interest Advocacy Centre (BCPIAC) is a not-for-profit regulatory law firm in downtown Vancouver. It was founded in 1981 to represent individuals and groups who otherwise couldn't afford to take part in the government and regulatory proceedings that affected them. More than four decades on, BCPIAC still runs as a small public-interest office rather than a conventional practice, out of a suite on Granville Street.

Its current focus is energy poverty and the cost of utility service. BCPIAC's lawyers regularly intervene before the BC Utilities Commission on behalf of low-income and fixed-income residential ratepayers, in proceedings involving BC Hydro, FortisBC, Pacific Northern Gas, Creative Energy, and Corix. It has taken part in nearly every major public energy proceeding in the province since the 1980s. Beyond utility work, BCPIAC advises grassroots and anti-poverty organizations elsewhere in BC on human rights complaints, judicial review, and other public-interest litigation.

The centre is led by Leigha Worth, Executive Director and General Counsel, who joined BCPIAC in 2006, served as Executive Director from July 2011 to June 2013, and has since returned to lead the organization again. Senior staff lawyer Irina Mis joined in October 2018; a UBC law graduate, Mis earlier worked as a criminal prosecutor overseas after a civil law degree from Tomsk State University.