ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER REGISTRATION IN CANADA

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1 ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER REGISTRATION IN CANADA Roger Toogood Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada Abstract: Engineers practicing in Canada must be licensed by the provincial association in the jurisdiction in which they work. Licensure is based on a combination of factors, primarily academic background and documented experience. This paper discusses two methods for meeting the academic qualifications for registration as a Professional Engineer. The first is the holding of a degree accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB). The accreditation process and requirements are described. The second method involves a syllabus of examinations determined by the Canadian Engineering Qualifications Board (CEQB). The general layout of the syllabus for all disciplines is given with details provided for the complete mechanical engineering syllabus only. While accreditation applies specifically to the engineering programs offered at Canadian universities, the discipline-specific syllabi are used for the evaluation of foreign trained applicants. These two methods represent extreme cases. For cases falling between, a subset of the CEQB examinations may be assessed to determine or confirm the academic preparation for professional registration. Keywords: accreditation, professional registration, engineering curriculum 1. Introduction All engineers practicing in Canada must be licensed. The attainment of the Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) designation grants both exclusive right to practice (no one may independently practice engineering with a license) and right to title (no one may call themselves an engineer without a license). Each Canadian province has been given the authority to govern the practice of engineering within its jurisdiction. In turn, each province has created a statutory arms-length provincial association to regulate the profession on its behalf. The associations are self-regulating in that their members determine standards for admission and practice of the profession, and procedures for monitoring member activities and enforcing discipline (for example withdrawal of the license) when necessary. In recent years, organizations in many countries around the globe have become very interested in the international mobility of practicing professional engineers. At the base of the several mutual recognition agreements between these organizations are the policies and procedures for granting professional status within each jurisdiction. Registration typically requires a combination of satisfactory education and acceptable experience. The nominal requirements in Canada are an accredited Canadian engineering degree and four years of engineering experience. For the past several years, however, there has been a huge influx of engineers to Canada with the result that fewer than half of those seeking registration satisfy the nominal educational requirement. Assessment of academic qualifications is therefore a major issue. This paper will describe the methods that have

2 been developed for the assessment of the engineering education of persons seeking registration. 2. The Regulatory System In Alberta, regulation of the profession is performed by the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists, and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA). The main players in the regulatory system in Alberta are shown in Figure 1. This is very similar to the systems used in other provinces in Canada. As can be seen, there are numerous interconnections between the provincial government, educational institutions, the provincial and national regulating associations and their various bodies, and the practicing members in industry. These interconnections and bodies are described in the following sections. Figure 1 The regulatory system for licensure of Professional Engineers in Alberta (see text for definitions) Each province provides funding for the universities via its Department of Advanced Education; there are very few private universities in Canada. The province has also, as stated above, ceded statutory authority to APEGGA for the regulation of the profession. Two Boards in APEGGA are tasked with setting standards and processing applications for licensure (the Board of Examiners) and monitoring the activities of its members (the Practice Review Board). The latter includes a program of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) whereby all members must demonstrate and document continued learning and growth, and several committees to monitor compliance, deal with complaints of poor practice, and enforce discipline of the members. Except for a core office and administrative staff, all activities are carried out by volunteer members (about 1% of the total membership of over 50,000 members). Each provincial association is a member of a national umbrella group, Engineers Canada (formerly the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers). This group is engaged in a

3 number of activities directed at the promotion, development, and maintenance of the profession within Canada. Two of the major functions of Engineers Canada are the operation of the Canadian Engineering Qualifications Board (CEQB) and the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB). These are discussed in the next two sections. 3. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) The task of the CEAB is the evaluation and review of the engineering programs offered at universities in Canada (and sometimes offshore). The CEAB visits and assesses these programs every six years. Due to the tight synergy between the provincial associations, academia, and the CEAB, students who graduate from programs that are accredited by the CEAB are automatically academically qualified for registration in any of the Canadian provincial associations. In recent years, this has accounted for about 35% of new engineering applicants. The accreditation is performed at the program level, that is, not the institution as a whole. Each program (and specialty within a program) is evaluated by a visiting team of academic and industry representatives. The visiting team spends up to three full days visiting each site. Material available to the visitors prior to arriving on campus includes the following:

4 Joint International IGIP-SEFI Annual Conference 2010, 19t h - 22 nd September 2010, Trnava, Slovakia Official publications such as university calendars Position statements by the administration (down to the level of program administrators) Course details (subject matter and content, resources, faculty assignments, statistical data such as pass/fail rates) Program details (classroom and laboratory hours) Course lecture notes (both faculty and student notes) Samples of student work on assignments, labs, and exams Faculty member profiles Details regarding program support (library, office staff, technical support)

5 During the visit, team members tour the facilities, conduct interviews (of faculty, support staff, and students), receive and review additional materials. At the end of the visit, a draft report is made available to the institution, which may respond to comments. A final report is presented to the annual meeting of the CEAB where the accreditation status of the programs is determined. One of the main assessment criteria involves the calculation of the number of Academic Units (AU s) in the program. One AU corresponds to one 50-minute lecture or a two-hour laboratory. The AU s are computed in five categories, with the minimum number of AU s in each category shown in Table 1. In addition, the total AU s in combined categories (such as mathematics and natural sciences) must exceed a minimum. The entire program must exceed a minimum total of 1950 AU s. A key point of the CEAB accreditation strategy is that the specific curriculum within a program is not specified in fine detail. This allows considerable flexibility in the development and delivery of a program. For example, programs may emphasize engineering science or engineering design as long as each category individually and in combination meets the minimum number of AU s. In addition, although visitors bring their various biases to the assessment (and knowledge of the syllabi described in section 4 below), the accreditation does allow considerable latitude in the curriculum content as long as the academic level achieved is appropriate. Thus, not all mechanical engineering programs in Canada have exactly the same courses. Generally speaking, undergraduate engineering degrees in Canada seek breadth of program over specialization and depth. Additional details on the accreditation requirements and process can be found using the web references at the end of the paper. Table 1. Minimum Program Requirements for CEAB Accreditation Note: 1 AU (Accreditation Unit) = 1 50-minute lecture or 2 hours of laboratory or tutorial Category Minimum AU s Mathematics 195 Natural Sciences 195 Engineering Science 225 Engineering Design 225 Complementary Studies 225 Combined Minimum AU s Combined Minimum AU s The Canadian Engineering Qualifications Board (CEQB) A second arm of Engineers Canada is the Canadian Engineering Qualifications Board (CEQB). This body is also made up of practicing professional members from both industry

6 and academia. The CEQB is charged with monitoring current industrial practices and tracking of emerging disciplines. The CEQB is centrally responsible for setting the academic and experience standards required for registration in any of the member associations. The CEQB has developed discipline-specific syllabi which can be used as an assessment tool for applicants without an accredited engineering degree. There are minor variations between the syllabi used in each province. The following discussion refers to the syllabi used in Alberta. The basic format of each of the syllabi is shown in Table 2. It consists of a total of 24 examinations, comprising preliminary and basic studies, complementary studies, core professional level subjects, and optional professional level subjects. Each examination includes the material that would be covered in from one to three university level courses. The preliminary and complementary studies examinations, Table 3, are common to all disciplines. The 16 basic studies exams are shown in Table 4. Between five and seven exams are compulsory and from one to three more must be chosen from a set of options. A few discipline-specific subsets are indicated in the table. The preliminary and basic studies subjects are generally taught in the first two years of an engineering program. The professional level (A-group and B-group) examinations for mechanical engineering are shown in Table 5, and correspond to courses at senior level. Further information on these examinations can be found at the web sites given in the references, including syllabi for other disciplines and details of exam coverage. Table 2. General Form of Academic Syllabus Examination Category Number of Examinations* Comments Prelim 4 Preliminary subjects. All disciplines, first year post-secondary level. BS 8 Basic Studies. Many common to all disciplines but with some discipline specific optional exams chosen from list. First and second year level. CS 3 Complementary Studies. All disciplines. A level 6 Professional level compulsory subjects. Discipline specific. Very few options. Senior level courses. B level 3 Professional level elective subjects. Discipline specific and chosen from extensive list. Senior level courses. Total 24 * - each examination covers material from one to three 35-hour university-level courses

7 Table 3. Preliminary and Complementary Studies Examinations Examination Topic Examination Topic Prelim - 1 Calculus CS - 1 Engineering Economics Prelim - 2 Computing CS - 2 Engineering in Society - Health, Safety, and the Environment Prelim - 3 Physics CS - 3 Management Concepts for Engineers Prelim - 4 Chemistry 5. The National Professional Practice Exam Finally, although not strictly an academic requirement, all applicants for registration must pass the National Professional Practice Exam. This is usually the last step before registration, typically taken after several years of experience. The exam covers aspects of professionalism (30%), professional practice (20%), regulatory authority requirements (9%), law and legal concepts (25%), and legislation governing the profession (16%). This exam is used by most provincial associations, with the remaining associations substituting a different assessment tool. Table 4. Basic Studies Examinations (2004 syllabus; 8 required) Examination Topic Discipline* (R = Required, O = optional) ChE Civil Elec Mec h Min BS - 1 Mathematics R R R R R BS - 2 Probability & Statistics R R R O R BS - 3 Statics & Dynamics R R R R R BS - 4 Electric Circuits & Power O O R O O BS - 5 Advanced Mathematics O O R O O BS - 6 Mechanics of Materials O R O R R BS - 7 Mechanics of Fluids R R O R R BS - 8 Digital Logic Circuits R BS - 9 Basic Electromagnetics R

8 BS - 10 Engineering Thermodynamics R O O R O BS - 11 Properties of Materials O R O R O BS - 12 Organic Chemistry R O BS - 13 Biology O BS - 14 Geology O R R BS - 15 Engineering Graphics O O O R O BS - 16 Discrete Mathematics O * - Required/Optional sets are defined (but not shown here) for agricultural, computer, engineering physics, environmental, geological, geomatics, industrial, metallurgical, petroleum, software engineering

9 Table 5. Mechanical Engineering Professional Exams (2007 syllabus) Group A Compulsory (all of A1 through A5, one of A6 & A7) Examination Mec - A1 Mec - A2 Mec - A3 Mec - A4 Mec - A5 Mec - A6 Mec - A7 Topic Applied Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer Kinematics and Dynamics of Machines System Analysis and Control Design and Manufacture of Machine Elements Electrical and Electronics Engineering Fluid Machinery Advanced Strength of Materials Group B Elective (any three) Mec - B1 Mec - B2 Mec - B3 Mec - B4 Mec - B5 Mec - B6 Mec - B7 Mec - B8 Mec - B9 Mec - B10 Mec - B11 Mec - B12 Mec - B13 Advanced Machine Design Environmental Control in Buildings Energy Conversion and Power Generation Integrated Manufacturing Systems Product Design and Development Advanced Fluid Mechanics Aero and Space Flight Engineering Materials Advanced Engineering Structures Finite Element Analysis Acoustics and Noise Control Robot Mechanics Biomechanics 6. Conclusions This paper has presented, in broad terms, the two major methods for assessing the academic qualifications for registration as a Professional Engineer in Canada with a focus on the situation in Alberta. Due to space limitations, discussion of many related issues is not possible here. For example, mutual recognition agreements with an applicant s home country, such as the Washington Accord, will have an effect on the process and outcome of their academic assessment. Also, it is possible to waive some or all assessed

10 examinations on the basis of a number of years of engineering experience or postgraduate education. Finally, in special cases applicants are able to verify their academic background by passing the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam produced by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) in the USA. Once they are academically qualified, all applicants must present four years of acceptable engineering experience. This must show a progression in technical capability and level of responsibility. At least one year of experience must be in Canada. The challenge in performing assessments for licensure is to remain fair and consistent, while maintaining the high standards required for licensure in the profession. In this way, both the applicants and the protection of the public are served. 7. References This is a selection of web sites that contain additional information on the CEAB, CEQB, the accreditation process, examination syllabi, and exams discussed in the paper. Engineers Canada < Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) < CEAB Accreditation Criteria and Procedures (2009) < f> Canadian Engineering Qualifications Board (CEQB) < CEQB Examination Syllabus < Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists, and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) < Syllabi for the various disciplines, including course descriptions < National Professional Practice Exam < National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) <