13(1)Upon an application for certification as bargaining agent for employees in a unit, the Board shall determine whether the unit in respect of which the application is made is appropriate for collective bargaining and the Board may before certification, if it deems it appropriate to do so, include additional employees in, or exclude employees from, the unit, and the Board may, before determining the unit, take such steps as it deems appropriate for the purpose of ascertaining the wishes of the employees as to the appropriateness of the unit.

13(2)Upon an application for certification within subsection (1), any group of employees, who exercise technical skills or who are members of a craft by reason of which they are distinguishable from the other employees and commonly bargain separately and apart from other employees through a trade union that according to established trade union practice pertains to such skills or craft, shall be deemed by the Board to be a unit appropriate for collective bargaining if the application is made by a trade union pertaining to such skills or craft, and the Board may include in such unit persons who according to established trade union practice are commonly associated in their work and bargaining with such group; but the Board is not required to apply this subsection where the group of employees is included in a bargaining unit represented by another bargaining agent at the time the application is made, or where the group of employees is exercising a combination of technical skills or is required to perform the skills in whole or in part of more than one craft as part of a work crew or team, the other members of which are also required to perform in similar fashion.

13(3)Where the Board has certified a trade union as the bargaining agent for a unit of employees that comprises members of a fire department and other employees and where that bargaining agent makes an application to the Board for a separate certification for a unit of employees comprising only those members of a fire department, the members of the fire department shall be deemed to be a unit appropriate for collective bargaining.