Members of the Legislative Assembly are provided with office space, equipment, services, and supplies to support their work at the Parliament Buildings. This section contains information on setting up and managing a legislative office, including obtaining telecommunications equipment and other services.
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The caucus of each recognized political party and Independent Members are provided with resources to support Members in carrying out their parliamentary functions. Operating and capital budgets for caucuses and Independent Members are approved by the Legislative Assembly Management Committee on an annual basis. Budget allocations are formula driven and subsequently adjusted to reflect any mid-year changes in a caucus (e.g., in the event of the resignation of a Member, a cabinet shuffle which changes the number of Ministers and Private Members in a caucus, or following a provincial general election). Funding for caucus and Independent Member budgets is provided from the Legislative Assembly’s annual Vote 1 budget, as approved by the Legislative Assembly Management Committee and submitted to the Minister of Finance for inclusion in the annual provincial Estimates.
Each caucus determines the number of staff to be hired, their classifications, salaries, and other terms and conditions of employment. The costs are charged to the global caucus budget, which is under the control of the Caucus Chair. This budget cannot be exceeded and is based on a formula established each year by the Legislative Assembly Management Committee.
The same conditions apply to Independent Members in the management of a legislative office.
Members and caucuses are assigned workspace within the Parliament Buildings according to Policy 6020 – Precinct Space Management. Standard workspace furniture and related equipment are provided by Precinct Services. Standard IT resources are provided to Members and caucus staff in accordance with Policy 7405 – IT Resource Allocation for Members and Employees of a Member or Caucus.
The Information Technology Department arranges for telephone, wireless, and print services. Requests for service should be coordinated through caucus staff, and the costs are covered by centralized funds overseen by the Speaker. Specialized equipment may be purchased with caucus funds at the discretion of the Caucus Chair. All items remain the property of the Legislative Assembly.
Each Member is provided with personalized letterhead, business cards, envelopes, and other stationery from centralized funds. For information on how to order personalized stationery please refer to the Office Furniture and Supplies section under Managing Your Constituency Office.
Generic office supplies are available through the Procurement Stock Room managed by Precinct Services. Orders should be coordinated through caucus staff.
Members are permitted to send an unlimited amount of personally addressed mail to support their parliamentary responsibilities. The cost of postage is paid from centralized funds overseen by the Speaker. The intent of this service is to permit Members to correspond with their constituents and other individuals. Please note that bulk mailings are a communications expense that must be paid from the constituency office allowance. Once a year, Members are also entitled to a budget of $200 to send holiday cards to their constituents paid from centralized funds.
The Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms is responsible for the receipt and dispatch of courier items, as well as security screening of incoming courier items at the Legislative Assembly. All external delivery drivers and companies must drop the couriered item off at the courier office in the back of the building located at 431 Menzies Street, as they are not permitted to make deliveries to or pick up items within the Parliament Buildings. The Mail Room will facilitate the delivery to the appropriate location within the Parliament Buildings. Members and staff can contact the Mail Room for assistance.
Desktop Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephones are provided in the Parliament Buildings. The cost of the equipment and usage is paid from centralized funds.
The Information Technology Department supports Members and their staff with legislative office data management and the disposal of technology-related equipment.
Email and OneDrive files stored are on Legislative Assembly servers and backed up by the IT Department, using a combination of daily, weekly, and monthly data backups to ensure that lost data can be restored.
Hardware Failure
Members and their staff must contact the IT Service Desk for support regarding failure, damage, or loss of any Legislative Assembly-provided IT resource. In the case of a device failure, the IT Department will have the technology repaired or replaced.
Use of Email Accounts
A Member must use their Legislative Assembly email account when conducting Legislative Assembly business and auto forwarding a Legislative Assembly email account outside of the Legislative Assembly email system is prohibited.
When conducting business as part of, or on behalf of, the Executive Council, a Member should use their account issued by the Government of British Columbia. Members should be aware that if they use their Government of British Columbia email for Legislative Assembly business, these communications may be subject to release in a Freedom of Information Request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.