November 2009

Enhancing Foreign Qualifications Assessment for Licensure

Chantal Guay, P. Eng., ing., M. Env.

A message from the CEO, Engineers Canada

In April, the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, announced the signing of three new agreements that will help facilitate international labour mobility between Canada and the European Union:

• The Environmental Career Organization of Canada will explore the development of a mutual certification framework for environmental workers in Canada and the EU;
• Engineers Canada will compare regulation and registration practices in the engineering field in Canada and the EU to identify opportunities for the alignment of practices and areas for future collaboration; and,
• The Public Policy Forum will help organize and host two reciprocal roundtables in Europe (2009) and Canada (2010) on foreign credential recognition and labour mobility, where experts will discuss effective ways to facilitate mobility and better align foreign credential recognition practices in key occupations of mutual interest in the regulated sector.

These new federal initiatives will likely increase the influx of international engineering graduates into Canada. The work of Engineers Canada’s constituent members in the area of foreign qualifications assessment is now even more relevant and timely.

Our constituent members have been working together for the past five years on the Engineers Canada-led From Consideration to Integration Program. With the intention of developing new processes and improving current processes, by which international engineering graduates are able to obtain an engineering licence without compromising public safety or lowering professional standards, we have been developing tools in support of our constituent members’ activities to better assess foreign qualifications for licensure.

These recommended tools touched on the experience of international engineering graduates, from licensing and employment to language standards, and included:

• International Institutions and Degrees Database
  This interactive tool helps make assessments for constituent members and allows them to enter information about programs and degrees and to share this information. The database consists of recognized non-Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board degrees and institutions that will be used in a consistent manner in the licensing system. The primary goal of the database is to develop criteria that will govern both how an institution is placed on the database and how that information is used to facilitate consistent assessments of international engineering graduates' applications for licensure in provinces and territories.
• Language benchmarking tools
  Currently under development, these tools will help constituent members to better evaluate their language proficiency in either English or French by establishing benchmarks.
• Alternative Methods of Licensure
  This project aims to simplify and clarify the process by which engineering work experience, including foreign work experience, is recognized and evaluated. The project is studying the use of a competency-based assessment method, and will define core competencies, identify the most suitable evaluation methods (exams, interviews, self-reporting, etc.), and develop a high level implementation plan for the adoption of a competency-based assessment system.
• Engineering and Technology Labour Market Study
  This study, started in 2006, provided accurate national labour market information to potential immigrants, new graduates and engineers in career change, thereby allowing them to make informed career decisions. This data will allow for the development and implementation of a continuously updated, regionally accurate labour market information system. Engineers Canada staff will now consider options to begin updating the system in 2009. A communications campaign to promote the study and its results is also under development.

As the leading national organization of the engineering profession, all of our work is conducted in the public’s interest. We are committed to continually working with our constituent members and the federal government on foreign qualifications assessment, and Canada’s engineering profession remains committed to making the profession equally accessible for both Canada-born engineers and for international engineering graduates. The profession will continue to work with the federal government towards reaching common objectives while keeping the safety of Canadians paramount.

© Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador