Filipino engineers are equipped with valuable technical experiences they took with them when they migrated to Canada. These experiences can be credited in pursuing their professional engineering license.
Recently, the APEGA defined a new procedure in documenting and submitting your Experience Record that forma part of your application package. If you started your application before May 2, 2018 – these changes do not apply to the applicant.
The information provided in this article are lifted from the APEGA website (www.apega.ca) and internationally educated engineers that wish to apply must follow these new procedures.
The Work Experience Requirement for registration in the Province of Alberta as Professional Engineer is very crucial in the approval of your license. The Applicant must complete two forms to confirm their work experience: the Work Record Validator List (WRVL) and the Competency-Based Assessment Tool (CBAT). The WRVL measures the duration of an applicant’s experience, while the CBAT captures the content.
The WRVL is used to confirm that you have obtained at least 48 months of professional-level engineering experience and the WRVL may be referenced by a manager, Human Resources staff, or other person who can confirm your work chronology. This reference does not need to have in-depth technical knowledge of the work that you performed.
The CBAT is used to confirm that you have achieved proficiency in the 22 competencies and indicators required for registration as a Professional Engineer. You can provide multiple indicators to support each competency. Each competency must also be validated by a professional member or senior practitioner who took technical responsibility for your work and witnessed you perform the specified indicators.
Competency-Based Assessment Tool (CBAT)
When completing your CBAT – on each page of the form, you will need to provide:
• at least one situation in which you proved competency
• several actions you took within the situation that support your competency
• the outcome of your actions. This should include a basic summary of the solution, product, process, or other outcome of the situation and your actions
APEGA’s Board of Examiners will assess your competence on the information you and your validators provide—and nothing else. In writing your CBAT, you should write it in first person (“I” not “We”) to show that you really take the ownership of your statements in the CBAT.
The competencies that the board of examiner will look at in your experiences are listed below and they define it as crucial to the professional practice of Engineering.
They are based on your decisions, behaviors, or applications of skill or knowledge, in response to different employment situations.
Each competency is evaluated against a score from 0 to 5.
•0 demonstrates no awareness for the competency
•5 shows a mature level of practice
You will assess yourself on each key competency. You must meet a minimum score of 1 on each key competency while also meeting the minimum overall average level for each competency category.
Applicants need to include specific details of their personal work experience for each competency. A copy and paste of the provided indicators will not be accepted.
Competency Category 1 – Technical Competence
1. Regulation, Codes, and Standards
2. Project and Design Constraints
3. Risk Identification and Mitigation
4. Application of Theory
5. Solution Techniques
6. Safety Awareness
7. Systems and Their Components
8. Project and Life Cycle
9. Quality Control
10. Engineering Documentation
Competency Category 2 – Communication
1. Oral Communication
2. Written Communication
3. Reading and Comprehension
Competency Category 3 – Project and Financial Management
3.1 Project Management Principals
3.1 Finances and Budget
Competency Category 4 – Team Effectiveness
4.1 Resolve Differences
Competency Category 5 – Professionalism
5.1 Professional Accountability
Competency Category 6 – Social, Economic, Environmental and Sustainability
6.1 Public Impacts and Safeguards
6.2 Engineering and the Public
6.3 Role of Regulatory Bodies
6.4 Sustainability and Practice Guidelines
6.5 Promotions of Sustainability
For most Engineers, it seems the procedure and the outcomes mentioned above are not achievable and cannot be easily understood – the only hindrance is how we write and document it. One thing is certain, you were responsible for all the outcomes in your performance as an engineer wherever you practice it before coming to Canada, but you do not know how to compose and write it the way the APEGA wants you to document those experiences.
Work Record Validator List (WRVL)
The Work Record Validator List (WRVL) is a high-level, chronological overview of your experience. It includes brief details of your employment positions, responsibilities, and experience.
Each WRVL page must include:
•The name of the employer you worked for and the position you held there
• The country the work was performed in
•Your start date, your end date, and the total months you worked for the company
You must provide at least 48 months of engineering experience supported by validators and references. However, you are encouraged to provide all your relevant experience.
Work Record Validators
A validator is a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) who took technical responsibility for your work. Validators will be asked to review your self-assessment and provide a score and commentary for each competency that was assigned. Validators will also be asked to provide overall feedback about your suitability and readiness for registration.
A validator must have first-hand knowledge of the examples you provide and be able to comment on the quality and competency of your work. Supervisors, mentors, managers, colleagues, or clients are all possible validators for your application. You must provide at least three validators who can rate and validate the indicators that you provide for each of the 22 key competencies.
Colleagues or mentors that you did not directly work with do not qualify to be validators, because validators need to have taken technical responsibility for your work.
If your validator is not registered with an engineering regulatory body in another Canadian jurisdiction, please identify the following:
•Professional designation
•Registration country
Work Record References
A reference is a person who can confirm your position and the duration of your experience with a company. This person can be your manager, a colleague, or a human resources staff member. Your reference does not need to have technical knowledge of your work and does not need to have been your direct supervisor.
You need at least one reference for each employer you have worked for. A reference can also be a validator.
Detailed guidelines to complete these forms and procedure are outlined in the APEGA website. Flowchart of the Application process is also provided in their website.
Yes, it is given that the procedure is somewhat complicated and needs to be fully understood. You also need to understand why other internationally educated applicants from other countries were able to complete this process and how they eventually gained their Professional Engineering License. An engineer who graduated from a Canadian University or elsewhere in the world uses the same path in gaining their P. Eng.
For more information on Licensing Procedure, please refer to the APEGA website at www.apega.ca
