internationally educated graduates

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academic requirements

 

 

• The Canadian Engineering Accreditation System

• Mutual Recognition Agreements

• Confirmatory Examinations

• Waiving Confirmatory Examination

• Engineering Economics

• Member-in-Training

• Examination Candidates
  

The Canadian Engineering Accreditation System

In Canada, the Canadian engineering education system is carefully monitored to ensure that Canadian undergraduate engineering programs meet the academic requirements necessary for the practice of the profession of engineering. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) carefully and rigorously reviews undergraduate engineering programs in Canada. As part of this review process the CEAB sends visiting teams to Canadian engineering university to thoroughly review every engineering programs in depth. If the program meets the high standards that have been set for accreditation, the program becomes CEAB accredited. For you to become licensed as a Professional Engineer or Foreign Licensee, your academic background must be equivalent to a CEAB accredited degree in engineering.

Mutual Recognition Agreements

There are some countries in the world that have developed engineering education accreditation systems similar, but not identical, to the Canadian accreditation system. Canada has entered into mutual recognition agreements with eight countries:

• United States

• United Kingdom (1989)

• Ireland (1989)

• Australia (1989)

• New Zealand (1989)

• Hong Kong (1995)

• South Africa (1999)

• France

• Japan (2005)

If you have an undergraduate degree in engineering from one of these eight countries after the dates shown and if your degree is listed on the list of approved programs from that country, you will likely not be assigned any technical engineering exams by APEGGA, with the possible exception of engineering economics.

Confirmatory Examinations

As part of APEGGA’s core responsibility to protect the public, APEGGA has the responsibility and obligation to ensure that all individuals have the required skills and education to practice engineering in Alberta before they are licensed. Because it is not possible to send visiting teams to every engineering university in the world to determine whether those programs meet the standards that have been set for Canadian accreditation, APEGGA initially assigns confirmatory examinations. They are called confirmatory examinations because if you pass those examinations you are confirming to APEGGA that the quality and level of your academic training is at the level required to practice engineering in Alberta. Confirmatory examinations are technical examinations in your specific discipline. For further information please refer to the Examinations section.

Most of the applications APEGGA receives from internationally educated graduates come from individuals who are graduates of engineering programs listed on the Canadian Engineering Qualification Board’s (CEQB) List of international engineering degrees (the List).

If your degree is on the List, APEGGA will initially assign you three confirmatory examinations. APEGGA will also assign you an examination in engineering economics if you have not taken an equivalent course. APEGGA will then determine if these examinations can be waived.

There are some engineering programs in the world that are not found on the CEQB list. If you have an undergraduate degree in engineering that is not found on the List, APEGGA will assign you 8 confirmatory examinations plus engineering economics.

If APEGGA determines that your academic background is not equivalent to a Canadian undergraduate degree in engineering, geology or geophysics, and does not cover the breadth of academic training found in Canadian undergraduate programs, you might be assigned a large number of examinations (up to 24) to make up the deficiencies.

For internationally educated graduates in geology and geophysics similar considerations apply. However, internationally educated graduates in geology and geophysics are not assigned engineering economics because engineering economics is a requirement only for engineers.

For more information, please contact the APEGGA Registration Department.

Waiving Confirmatory Examinations

If you are assigned confirmatory examinations, APEGGA may waive those examinations on two bases:

• An acceptable post-graduate degree

• Acceptable work experience
  

Acceptable Post-Graduate Degree

APEGGA may waive your confirmatory examinations if:

• You have a Masters or PhD degree from an accredited Canadian engineering university or from a mutual recognition agreement listed university; and

• The Masters or PhD degree is in the same or very closely related discipline to your undergraduate degree; and

• The Masters or PhD degree contains sufficient engineering design and analysis content acceptable to the APEGGA Board of Examiners.

APEGGA may waive your confirmatory examinations if all three of the conditions above are met. If you have a Masters or PhD degree that is not from a CEAB or mutual recognition agreement listed institution, APEGGA will not waive your confirmatory examinations on that basis.

For internationally educated graduates in geology or geophysics, similar considerations apply.

For further information please contact the APEGGA Registration Department.

Acceptable Work Experience

APEGGA may waive your confirmatory examinations if:

• You have at least 10 years of acceptable, high-level engineering or geoscience experience showing increasing technical competency and increasing levels of responsibility; and

• You provide APEGGA with references with first-hand knowledge of your work experience covering this ten or more year period.

If you are assigned 8 confirmatory examinations you will need to provide evidence of 20 years of acceptable, high-level engineering or geoscience experience for APEGGA to waive all 8 confirmatory examinations.

For further information please contact the APEGGA Registration Department.

Engineering Economics

This section applies only to engineers; it does not apply to geologists and geophysicists.

It is a requirement in Alberta that all individuals must have taken an acceptable engineering economics course before they can become registered as a Professional Engineer of Foreign Licensee. APEGGA will review your transcripts to determine whether you have taken such a course. If you have not taken such a course, you will have to complete the engineering economics requirement by either writing the APEGGA examination or taking an acceptable university course equivalent.

You must have taken a course equivalent to Canadian free-market engineering economics. The required APEGGA course is 98-CS-1 Engineering Economics. The course description for this course is:

98-CS-1 Engineering Economics Basic concepts of engineering economics through understanding of the theoretical and conceptual financial project analysis. Types and applications of Engineering Economic Decisions. Capital, cash flow, and the time value of money concepts. Nominal and Effective Interest rates when considering loans, mortgages, and bonds. The application of Present Worth Analysis, Annual Equivalent Analysis and Rate of Return Analysis in evaluating independent projects, comparing mutually exclusive projects, analyzing lease vs. buy alternatives and making decisions. After - Tax Financial Analysis requiring an understanding of Capital Cost Allowance (Depreciation) and Corporate Income Tax. Measurement of inflation, incorporation of inflationary effects. Understanding methods of Financing and Capital Budgeting. Break-even, sensitivity and risk analyses. Prime Text Contemporary Engineering Economics: A Canadian Perspective. (2nd edition)Park, Chan S., Pelot, R., Porteous, Kenneth C., and Zuo, Ming J. M.J. Addison Wesley Longman (2001). Hardcover ISBN 0201613905. Supplementary Text Engineering Economics in Canada (2nd Edition) Fraser, Niall M., Berhnardt, Irwin, Jewkes, Elizabeth M. Prentic Hall (2000). Hardcover, ISBN 0130138444. Engineering Economics Second Canadian Edition, Riggs, James L., Bedworth, David D., Randhawa, Sabah U., Khan, Ata M. McGraw-Hill Ryerson (1997). Hardcover, ISBN 0075526662

 

If your undergraduate degree was obtained outside Canada and if you have taken a course that is equivalent to 98-CS-1, please identify the course name(s) and number(s) as they appear on your transcripts and provide APEGGA with copies of course descriptions for these courses. If APEGGA assigns you an examination in engineering economics, it is because you have not taken a course equivalent to 98-CS-1. As a result, you can complete this requirement either by writing the APEGGA examination or by taking an approved university equivalent.

If you have not previously taken a course equivalent to engineering economics and are enrolled in a Canadian Masters or PhD program, you can satisfy the engineering economics requirement by taking an approved equivalent course as part of your Masters or PhD degree.

APEGGA may also waive the engineering economics examination if you have sufficient acceptable engineering economics related work experience.

Please refer to Complementary Studies Course Equivalents for a list of approved engineering economics course equivalents from the University of Alberta and University of Calgary.

Please contact the APEGGA Registration Department for further information.

Member-in-Training

A Member-in-Training is either an Engineer-in-Training (E.I.T.), a Geologist-in-Training (Geol.I.T.), or a Geophysicist-in-Training (Geoph.I.T.).

There are two requirements that you must meet to become enrolled as a Member-in-Training with APEGGA:

• Academic Requirements

• Good Character and reputation.

Examination Candidates

If you have been assigned technical examinations by APEGGA, such as confirmatory examinations or engineering economics, and those examinations have not been waived, you cannot become enrolled as a Member-in-Training, Professional Member or Foreign Licensee, with APEGGA. If you have been assigned technical examinations, you have not yet satisfied APEGGA’s academic requirements and cannot become enrolled as a Member-in-Training or licensed as a Professional Member or Foreign Licensee. In such case you will be enrolled as an Examination Candidate with APEGGA and will be required to complete the required examinations.

For more information, please contact the APEGGA registration department.