Your World Education Services Evaluation states that Your Philippines’ Engineering Degree is Equivalent only to 3 Years Diploma in Canada, what is the next step?

Your World Education Services Evaluation states that Your Philippines’ Engineering Degree is Equivalent only to 3 Years Diploma in Canada, what is the next step?


In the past issues of the Alberta Filipino Journal, I discussed ways and procedures on how to be a Professional Engineer in Canada as Internationally Educated Engineers. I will say that the roadmap to your licensure in Canada is not easy but it is worth it when you eventually gain it. Many Filipino Engineers are aware of these procedures and some of these Filipino Engineers may have been able to start their applications but eventually halted the process when they eventually received the World Education Services (WES) Education evaluation.

Part of the procedure of application is your education credential evaluation, which aims to confirm that your Philippines’ academic degree is equivalent in length and in content with the Canadian Education System in Engineering. Sad to say, if you are a graduate of the “not so popular” Tertiary Institutions in the Philippines, your 5 years of hardwork for your Engineering Degree is only equivalent to 3 years of a Community College Diploma (or worse, 2 years) in Canada.

Many Filipino Engineers who received this Credential Evaluation from WES tend to stop and eventually not continue their application process. The 3-year Community College Diploma equivalency decision of the WES will mean the following:
a. You cannot continue to apply as “Engineer” because you are not an Engineer, and
b. The community college diploma equivalency of your education from the Philippines is tantamount to vocational course you took as equivalent to TESDA offered courses.

This is a sad fact that the Engineering Education in the Philippines is not directly recognized in the Canadian Education system for Licensure to Practice the Profession. There are some exceptions to this, some of which is that you graduated from a prestigious University in the Philippines or have made exerted efforts to become recognized abroad through the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and the Washington Accord for which the Philippines is a Provisional Signatory.

Now, what are your next steps if you received this “not so good” evaluation of your Engineering Education?
1. The APEGA will give you a chance to challenge several technical exams. These technical exams cover your Basic Engineering Subjects of Engineering Mechanics, Strength of Materials, Fluid Mechanics, etc. There are costs associated to each exam and you need to pass a minimum of 5 subjects. This will also depend on the instruction to be given by APEGA.
2. After passing a majority of your Technical Exams, you have to take the Fundamentals of Engineering Exams offered by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) – you need to pass this.
3. You can enroll in University courses that relate to the lacking subjects as recommended by the Board of Examiners of APEGA. This will be at a Bachelor Level either at the University of Alberta, University of Calgary, NAIT or SAIT. You need to be accepted as a student in these schools and need to pass the courses as a regular student.
4. You can continue your application NOT as Engineer but as Technologist through the ASET.
If you decide to challenge the exams, the timetable is about 2 years but it will also depend on how eager you are to complete the exams. Each Technical Exam costs about $350 Canadian.

The challenge for everyone of us is how to come back to our table and study those subjects we have studied several years ago. As part of the Filipino community in Canada who sees and experiences the challenges of each Filipino, I want to remind you that we sometimes neglect the most important part of us, and that is the importance of our vocation to be whatever we want to be.

As an academic, I am hungry to share my knowledge. I am in the process of setting up online review for Engineering, where “busy” people can sit at their working table and study at their convenience. This is my way of following my vocation. Stay tuned and continue to follow us in the Alberta Filipino Journal.

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