Registration Process
Multiple Registration and Corporate
Registration


This application package is for engineers registered/licensed elsewhere in Canada and the U.S.A. who wish to practice in Alberta. Geoscientists are not yet covered under the Inter-Association Mobility Agreement (IMA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

APEGGA is a signatory to both the IMA and NAFTA, which are designed to facilitate the mobility of engineers within Canada and North America. Mobility can be facilitated by improving and/or reducing the documentation required and the registration process. APEGGA has made changes in both areas. Registration fees and annual dues for foreign applicants have also been reduced to the same level as Canadian applicants.

Authority for registration is vested in the Board of Examiners whose membership consists of professional engineers, geologists and geophysicists and public members. It recognizes the decisions made by other jurisdictions but

1) retains the authority to review and approve all applications in Alberta. Staff has, however, been given more authority to recommend registration to the Board for those applicants already registered elsewhere in Canada and the USA and;

2) retains the authority to investigate any application in further depth where it appears the application has been approved under a different set of conditions than those that would have been in place in APEGGA at the time of the applicant’s initial registration and;

3) where the applicant has been previously assigned one or more requirements by the Board, and, in the process of becoming registered by another Association, those requirements have not been satisfied by the other Association, the Board will normally require that they be satisfied before approving the application.

Board members serve as either academic examiners or experience examiners. The academic and experience examiners meet monthly with a public member to consider applications. The experience examiners meet every 2 months as a group to discuss complex cases. At least twice yearly this same group of academic and experience examiners, reinforced with additional professionals and public members, meets to discuss policy issues.

PROCESS

1) All applicants must submit:

The following applicants must also submit transcripts:

2) Upon receipt of the documentation above, APEGGA will acknowledge receipt of it in writing.

3) APEGGA will then obtain:

  • three references for US applicants not registered elsewhere in Canada (NCEES Record may substitute). No references are required for Canadian or US applicants registered elsewhere in Canada.
  • confirmation of registration and the basis for registration from your home Association/Ordre/State Board.
  • Copies of these questionnaires are included in this package for information only.

    4) When the documentation is complete the application is referred to the Director, Registration. He may refer the application directly to the Board with a recommendation to register, thereby avoiding an independent academic and experience review, if he is satisfied that the applicant meets the criteria for registration.

  • A US applicant with an unaccredited degree, and who is not Registered Elsewhere in Canada will  be referred to an academic and possibly experience examiner.
  • Files are couriered to both academic and experience examiners twice per month for their review.

    5) The Board of Examiners reviews the recommendations of the Director, Academic Examiners and Experience Examiners and makes its decision.

    6) You are advised of the Board’s decision in writing.

    7) If applicable, two weeks after the NPPE deadline, you will be sent further information on the time, location and the admission slip for the examination.

    Normally, this process will take from 2 weeks to 2 months from receipt of all documentation. If time is of the essence, a Temporary Letter of Authority may be requested. It is valid for three months and may be issued, prior to Board approval, if satisfactory confirmation is received from the home association AND the applicant has an accredited degree or the applicant has an unaccredited degree but is registered in another Canadian jurisdiction.  Until a professional stamp is issued you may affix a copy of the Temporary Letter to your drawings as confirmation that approval is pending.

    MULTIPLE REGISTRATION

    APEGGA grants multiple registration in engineering, geology and geophysics. You may qualify in more than one by being academically and experientially qualified in each. A General Application for Registration is available from either the Edmonton or Calgary office.

    CORPORATE REGISTRATION

    A partnership, corporation, firm or association of persons wishing to practice engineering, geology or geophysics in Alberta must be issued a corporate license by APEGGA, commonly referred to as a Permit to Practice. An application package for a Permit to Practice is also available from either the Edmonton or Calgary office. In the interest of time, a Permit to Practice may be issued on the basis of a Temporary Letter of Authority which has been issued to the member who will be taking responsibility for the practice of the profession in the firm.

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