Practising engineering in Canada

Work experience requirement

As one of your requirements for licensure, you must demonstrate that you have applied your engineering education through engineering work for a specified amount of time. In most provinces and territories, you will need to prove that you have completed a minimum of four years of engineering work experience.

You can earn most of your required work experience outside of Canada, although at least one year of engineering experience in a Canadian environment is required for all applicants in all jurisdictions.

Demonstrating your experience

You will normally confirm this through presentation of your experience in a format acceptable to the regulator. These may include examinations, bridging programs, detailed references, interviews, or the demonstration of competency in a Canadian environment. You will generally be expected to report your engineering work experience obtained outside of Canada, as well as your Canadian work experience.

You may be required to do this by completing a “work experience record” that includes your employer’s name, the position you held, a description of the engineering work you did, and the name and signature of your supervisor. It is best that your supervisor was an engineer. If he or she was not, check with the provincial/territorial engineering regulator.

Alternatively, you may be required to undergo a “competency-based assessment” (CBA). This process enables you to demonstrate how you qualify for registration, by having you use specific examples from your work history to prove that you meet key competencies. To get a better understanding of CBA, you can visit the competency assessment website and read a full explanation of all of the competencies and the assessment process.

What to expect

Engineering regulators use different formats for documenting work experience, so it is best to contact them for specific expectations.

In general, your engineering work experience should demonstrate that you possess the core engineering competencies required for licensure.

• Technical Competence
• Communication
• Project and Financial Management
• Team Effectiveness
• Professional Accountability
• Social, Economic, Environmental and Sustainability
• Personal Continuing Professional Development

To protect the public interest, the engineering regulator you’ve applied to will assess your required year of Canadian engineering work experience. This serves two purposes:

• to ensure you are familiar with Canadian engineering practices, codes, and standards, as well as other cultural, technical, and business practices
• to confirm the level of engineering work experience undertaken outside of Canada

Additional information

To learn more about bridging programs, please visit finding a job.