-
Professional engineer application changes
The Engineering Application Process
To apply for licensure as a professional engineer in Alberta, follow these steps.
- Create a myAPEGA account and complete the questionnaire to determine your application type.
- Complete steps 1 to 5 and upload the required information.
- Enter your work experience in the online forms as per Step 6 of the application process.
- Complete the Competency Self-Assessment Worksheet. This optional but highly recommended worksheet enables you to compare your work-experience competencies against APEGA’s requirements.
- Complete the draft Work Record Validator List. List all relevant engineering experience, references, and validators to be used in the Competency-Based Assessment Tool. Once you have submitted the draft list, you will not have access to it again until you have paid the application fee.
- Complete the draft Competency-Based Assessment Tool. Once you have submitted it, you will not have access to it again until you have paid the application fee.
- Pay the application fee within 90 days of starting your application, otherwise the information you provided will be deleted and you will need to restart the process.
- After paying the application fee, review the information you provided in the WRVL, confirm its accuracy, and submit the finalized form.
- Once you have submitted the finalized WRVL, review the information and scores in the CBAT, confirm their accuracy, and submit the final form.
- After you have submitted the finalized WRVL and CBAT, the references and validators you listed will receive the Modified Reference Questionnaire and the Validator Response Form. Your application cannot proceed until APEGA receives the completed questionnaire and response form from your references and validators, so you may want to follow up with them.
- APEGA requires you to submit all questionnaires, response forms, and academic records within 90 days of paying the application fee. If these are not submitted on time, your application will be withdrawn.
Click to view the process as an infographic
Once all responses are complete and APEGA has received all academic records, your application will be placed in the queue to be assigned to an APEGA staff member. An APEGA staff member will process your submissions and determine if there are any additional requirements outstanding.
When your application has been deemed administratively complete, the application will be forwarded for formal review.
Work Experience Requirements
The work experience portion of your application is composed of two components: the WRVL and the CBAT. The WRVL measures the duration of your experience, while the CBAT captures your experience and competencies.
These electronic forms are accessible through your myAPEGA portal and are only available once you have started your professional engineering application. You must complete and submit both for your application to be considered complete. You will also need references and validators—in most cases, your references can also serve as your validators.
Work experience history and competencies must be verified in two ways.
- References confirm you were employed for a given period and position.
- Validators review and score the competencies in the CBAT that you have claimed for that position.
| Role | Responsibility | Professional Background | Number Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reference | Confirms employment, duration, and position(s) |
| At least one for each position |
| Validator | Validates and scores each listed competency | Expected to be a professional engineer or a practitioner* in engineering who has reviewed your work *Practitioner: Someone who is not a professional engineer but who has an engineering degree and four or more years of professional engineering experience. | At least three |
Competency Self-Assessment Worksheet
Before completing the Work Record Validator List (WRVL) and the Competency-Based Assessment Tool (CBAT), you may choose to complete a Competency Self-Assessment Worksheet (CSAW) to compare your competencies with APEGA's minimum requirements. This will help you determine whether to continue your application or wait until you have gained further experience in the required competencies.
You can download a fillable PDF version of the CSAW, but it won’t provide scoring. To receive a system-generated summary report, you must complete the CSAW after starting your licensee or professional membership application. This is available in the online application system of the myAPEGA portal.
Once you have submitted the CSAW, you cannot edit it or copy and paste the text into your CBAT. You may wish to save this content in a separate document for future use before submitting.
Log In to myAPEGA to Fill Out the Online CSAW Download the Printable CSAW (PDF)
Download the CSAW Guide (PDF)
Work Record Validator List
The WRVL is a high-level, chronological overview of your work experience and is the first form to be completed in the competency-based assessment process.
It confirms that you have obtained at least 48 months of professional-level engineering experience, as legally mandated by the Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act and APEGA’s General Regulation (Div. 5 13(1)(e)(i)). It can be referenced by a manager, human resources staff member, or other person who can confirm your work chronology. This reference does not need to have in-depth technical knowledge of the work you performed.
Unlike the CBAT, which proves proficiency in 22 key technical competencies, the WRVL focuses on your career timeline and overall professional-level work experience. It includes dates of employment, employment position titles, responsibilities, and reference information. You must complete the WRVL before you complete the CBAT.
Each WRVL page must include the:
- name of your employer and the position you held
- country you performed the work
- start date, end date, and number of months you worked with the company
You must provide at least 48 months of engineering experience supported by validators and references. When completing your WRVL:
- include all relevant experience
- list your employment history in chronological order and provide contact information for your validators and references
- do not list periods of unemployment, education, parental leave, or non-engineering experience—gaps should be no longer than seven years
- be aware that if you have no acceptable engineering work experience in the last seven years, you will be assessed additional work experience
In each position overview, explain how and where you personally applied engineering theory through design, design review, analysis, and problem solving. Briefly describe the engineering problem you solved, focusing on your specific contribution to the work, structure, or process. Include the calculations or analysis you performed and any engineering principles you applied.
Avoid using examples where you performed routine maintenance, testing, construction, or assembly unless you are describing a problem for which you provided an engineering solution.
Click the Save All button at the bottom of each page to ensure the information transfers into the CBAT.
Work Record References
As part of your application to become a professional member with APEGA, you must provide references in your WRVL who can confirm your professional work experience. You must provide a minimum of 48 months of work experience, and all experience submitted towards this requirement must be verified by a reference.
A reference is a person who can confirm your position and the duration of your experience with a company. You must provide at least one reference for each employer.
Your reference may also be a manager, colleague, or human resources staff member. They do not need to have technical knowledge of your work and do not need to have been your direct supervisor.
Modified Reference Questionnaires
APEGA sends a Modified Reference Questionnaire (MRefQ) to each reference identified on your WRVL.
References should review your work record, including the:
- dates you worked for the company
- details you have provided about your work experience
- validator you identified for that work record
This information is included on page 3 of the questionnaire.
References are strongly encouraged to provide comments in the MRefQ to assist APEGA in reviewing the application. The reference must complete each MRefQ they receive from APEGA.
If a reference is waiting for an outstanding MRefQ, they should check their spam, junk, and quarantined email folders. Because the questionnaire is sent from an automated email address, it may be flagged by email filters.
The Modified Reference Questionnaires are confidential.
Each WRVL page must include a reference and a validator. The reference verifies your employment timeline, while the validator verifies the work experience used to demonstrate competencies, if they are selected to validate one or more competencies.
If you are providing two or more validators for the same position, create a separate WRVL page for each validator by copying the position details onto additional pages. Each page must contain the information for only one validator.
Competency-Based Assessment Tool for Engineering Applicants
The CBAT is a digital form designed to capture your understanding and achievement of the 22 competencies and indicators required for registration as a professional engineer or licensee.
Eight of these competencies (1.1, 1.6, 1.9, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 5.1, and 6.2) are designated as Canadian environment competencies. They demonstrate knowledge and experience of Canadian regulations, codes, standards, quality control, safety awareness, professional accountability, and communication.
The CBAT must be completed after you have finished and submitted your WRVL.
Any work experience used in the competency demonstration must be entered in the WRVL. Only validators listed in the WRVL can be selected to validate competencies in the CBAT.
DOWNLOAD THE ENGINEERING CBA GUIDEWhat are Competencies?
Competencies are skills or knowledge that APEGA has identified as crucial to the professional practice of engineering. They are based on your decisions, behaviours, and applications of skill or knowledge and are divided into six categories:
1. Technical Competence
2. Communication
3. Project & Financial Management
4. Team Effectiveness
5. Professional Accountability
6. Social, Economic, Environmental & Sustainability
To demonstrate your level of skill in each key competency, you must draw examples from your previous engineering experience to include in your CBAT. When completing each page of the form, provide the following details.
- Situation: At least one situation in which you have proven the competency
- Actions: Several actions you took within the situation that support your competency
- Outcome: An outcome of the summary of your actions. This should include a basic summary of the solution, product, process, or other outcome of the situation and the actions
The CBAT includes skills and behaviours called indicators. Indicators are:
- generalized examples that help you illustrate how you have achieved a given competency
- not required to be fully met for you to be deemed competent
- a framework provided by APEGA to help you determine which aspects of your work experience apply to each key competency
- a tool for identifying potential gaps in your experience
Include specific details of your work experience for every competency. Do not copy and paste the generic indicators provided.
APEGA’s Board of Examiners (BOE) will assess your competency using only the information you and your validators provide. Focus on:
- describing your technical and theoretical skills and knowledge and how they contributed to actions that positively or negatively affected the outcome
- providing details about the decisions you made
- writing in first person (“I” statements instead of “we”) to show ownership of your actions
Validators for Engineering Applicants
Validation of work experience must be completed by a validator who:
- verifies that your description of the individual work scenario for a specific competency is accurate
- assesses your level of competence for the identified key competencies, relative to entry to independent practice
- has direct knowledge of your technical and professional work, achieved through reviewing and assessing your work
- assesses your competencies and verifies that the work descriptions are adequate and represent work completed by you
You need at least three validators for the CBAT.
Each validator will be asked to score and comment on your ability in each assigned competency and must therefore have:
- direct knowledge of your work
- provided suitable professional supervision throughout the work period being validated
- reviewed your work
An indirect manager providing a high-level review may not have adequate familiarity with your work.
If your validator is a professional licensee engineer, the experience they validate must fall within the same scope of practice they are registered under. You can confirm their scope of practice using the member directory.
If, at the time of validation, the validator is not registered as a professional engineer with a Canadian engineering regulatory body, and they are validating any of the Category 1 competencies, they must provide a current, detailed résumé that includes their:
- relevant education, including program and graduation dates
- work history, including employment dates, duties, and responsibilities
- applicable professional designations, past and present
They can email their résumé to [email protected] with your name and APEGA ID in the subject line. They can submit their information within the email body or as an attachment (such as a PDF or Word document).
Validation of Work Experience
-
- For technical competencies (Category 1)
The validator is expected to hold a professional engineer designation from a Canadian engineering association. Validators with a different professional designation may be considered if their designation has a practice area or scope of practice that includes the applicable competency. This includes professional licensees, professional technologists, professional geoscientists, and professional engineers with an American engineering association.
- For non-technical competencies (categories 2–6)
A validator who is a professional engineer or who is otherwise a practitioner in engineering is preferred but not required.
- For technical competencies (Category 1)
-
- For technical competencies (Category 1)
If the validator does not hold a professional engineer designation with a Canadian engineering association, they are required to be a practitioner in engineering with equivalent credentials to a professional engineer. This means they have a bachelor's degree or equivalent in an engineering discipline and at least four years of engineering work experience.
Validators should clarify their engineering credentials by providing their résumé.
- For non-technical competencies (categories 2–6)
A validator who is a professional engineer or who is otherwise a practitioner in engineering is preferred but not required.
- For technical competencies (Category 1)
-
- Family members or relatives
- Validators who don’t have direct knowledge of the applicant’s work
The acceptability of the validator is at the discretion of APEGA’s BOE. A validator’s qualifications, including education and experience, are assessed based on the date the validation forms are completed, not when the competency was demonstrated.
Any validator who is not a professional engineer must explain how they are a practitioner in engineering. If they are not registered with a Canadian engineering jurisdiction, they must submit a current and detailed résumé to APEGA.
You are responsible for ensuring appropriate validators are used and all required information is provided. Failure to provide an appropriate validator may result in your application being deferred or refused. APEGA recommends that you discuss your application and get feedback from your validators before submitting your application.
Validator Response Forms and Validator Overall Reference Forms
APEGA requires validators to complete two forms: the Validator Response Form (VRF) and the Validator Overall Reference Form (VORF).
The VRF is sent to validators at the beginning of the application process. Validators evaluate each assigned competency against the situation, actions, and outcome you have provided and then assign a score based on the example.
Comments are only required for scores of 0, 1, 2, and 5. However, validators are strongly encouraged to provide comments for all scores to assist the APEGA in reviewing your application.
Validators must complete one VRF for each competency you have assigned to them, with a minimum of one and a maximum of 20.
Validators will receive the VORF once all VRFs have been received and reviewed. The VORF asks broader questions about their professional experience with you.
The validators will be asked to confirm:
- their designation and discipline
- their relationship with you
- how long they have known you, including the dates you worked together
- whether they have reviewed your technical work
- your demonstration of good character
- your knowledge and understanding of APEGA’s Code of Ethics
- your awareness of the social implications of your work
- your communication abilities
The VRFs and the VORF are confidential and will not be released to you unless your application has been refused and you have requested a Section 32 appeal. In the case of an appeal, the Registration department is required to provide all application documentation to the Appeal Board and the applicant.
Competency-Based Assessment Tool Evaluation Criteria
Scoring
Each competency will be evaluated on a scale from 0–5.
- 0 demonstrates no awareness for the competency
- 5 demonstrates a mature level of practice in the competency
Read More About Competency Scoring
Details of Examples
Application of theory in your respective discipline must include:
- selecting solutions and solving problems
- preparing and checking designs and interpretations
- providing evidence of sound technical judgement and practices
- demonstrating familiarity with the use and application of pertinent technologies, procedures, systems, and programs
Although the experience can include collecting and analyzing information and data, these should not be major components.
Practical experience must include:
- being exposed to work-site operations
- recognizing limitations in designs, interpretations, or recommendations, and understanding the application of pertinent codes and regulations
- understanding the interdependence of disciplines, systems, and activities, and developing working relationships
The BOE will consider increased technical competency and increasing levels of responsibility when evaluating your experience.
If you need any forms to be resent to your references or validators, please email the APEGA staff member assigned to your application. APEGA staff cannot accept requests by telephone or in person.
To maintain the integrity of the application process, APEGA conducts quality assurance audits and may independently verify reference responses by phone, email, or other means. These measures help ensure that work experience and references provided in applications are accurate. If concerns arise regarding the accuracy or authenticity of information submitted, APEGA will review the matter in accordance with its established processes.
Different Experience from Degree
If your experience is in a field other than your degree (e.g., a mechanical graduate working in civil engineering) the BOE may require you to obtain:
- substantial academic upgrading
- experience beyond the 48-month requirement
- both academic upgrading and additional experience