Your Dues Sustain Self-Regulation

Your annual dues enable the continued integrity and sustainability of the self-regulation of the engineering and geoscience professions in Alberta. As a strong regulator, APEGA must be financially capable of handling risks that arise during regulatory activities, such as ensuring title protection and compliance. Protecting the public interest through these actions is paramount for APEGA and our registrants.

Registrant and permit holder dues account for 79 per cent of APEGA’s annual revenue and principally fund APEGA’s regulatory work, which includes supporting our statutory boards and committees and developing and enforcing practice standards and guidelines.

APEGA’s Registrar and CEO, Jay Nagendran, P.Eng., explains he is privileged to see his annual dues at work each and every day. “It is through annual dues that we have maintained a century-long tradition of upholding excellent standards and maintaining public trust. As a registrant and an APEGA employee, I see, at a granular level, how annual dues enable us to be a regulatory leader and defender of public safety.”

APEGA sets a high standard for regulation through Council. These representatives, elected by our members, follow rules of governance to lead our organization, ensuring we operate at the highest standards of knowledge and experience. Registrant and permit holder dues fund a fair and transparent election and reporting process through our annual general meeting and annual report.

Registrant- and permit holder–funded initiatives grow the professions

APEGA’s registration process, including application reviews, processing, and examinations, is funded by annual dues. APEGA’s examination and application processes ensure we only license skilled and competent engineers and geoscientists to practise in Alberta, upholding our mandate to protect the public interest.

We depend on annual dues to create information technology systems, such as the myAPEGA portal, that are safe and secure, and that provide the most user-friendly experience for our registrants and permit holders. The myAPEGA portal is an APEGA-led innovation—created with feedback from our registrants and permit holders—that enables you to securely access and update all of your information and meet and track your professional obligations with ease.

Our professional development opportunities provide professionals with consistent, high-quality learning opportunities to fulfil their mandatory continuing professional development requirements. This includes our annual Nexus conference, webinars, and courses about professional practice requirements and guidelines. APEGA’s Science Olympics, Rock & Fossil Clinic, and Ethics Workshop encourage and sustain the next generation of professional engineers and geoscientists.

“I see the growth of each professional engineer and geoscientist as the growth of our professions as a whole. Current professionals and those of the future must have opportunities to create successful, innovative, and rewarding careers. It is through continuing education that we all grow to build a greater Alberta,” says Nagendran.

APEGA maintains daily operations using annual dues, investments, program fees, affinity programs, application fees, and income from events, and the organization seeks additional financial support to leverage growth through opportunities such as government grants. These grants enable us to complete research on equity, diversity, and inclusion in the professions, provide learning opportunities, and move towards our 30-by-30 goal of increasing representation and diversifying perspectives in engineering and geoscience.

Adding value for our registrants

By providing comprehensive member discounts and benefits, we offer cost savings in many areas of our registrants’ lives, including their insurance, cellphone provider plans, travel expenses, health and wellness activities, and learning and career development, among others.

We know an important part of succeeding as a profession is celebrating our great achievements, as individuals and as a collective. That is why we have events such as Member Milestones celebrations, the Summit Awards, and member appreciation and fellowship evenings to ensure that those achieving remarkable goals in the professions are recognized by their association and their peers.

It is also important to recognize each registrant and their contributions each day, explains Nagendran. “Thank you to all of our registrants for their dedication to public safety. Each professional engineer and geoscientist earns the continued trust of the public. It is you, collectively, moving us forward on our journey of self-regulation.”

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