The following jurisdictional scan examines foreign credential recognition in Australia, as well as in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. The scan will first identify high-level policies towards foreign credential recognition, and then specifically policies for the profession of engineering. The findings will inform strategic directions for the province of Ontario, Canada.
The paper has selected Australia, and the provinces of British Columbia (B.C.) and Alberta due its similarities to Canada and the province of Ontario. Both Australia and Canada have a federalist system of government with delegated authority to provincial or state and territorial governments for regulation of trades, profession, and foreign …show more content…
While there is one main regulatory body to assess engineers, there are also bodies for specialized fields of engineering. In 1919, the Institute of Engineers Australia (now Engineers Australia) was formed to amalgamate the existing twelve engineering societies across Australia (Encyclopedia of Australian Science 1919). While the Institute pushed for statutory registration of the profession, only the jurisdiction of Queensland passed a legislation to require registration of practicing engineers (Boyce 2003). In other jurisdictions, engineers can voluntarily register on Engineers Australia’s National Engineering Register, which is “widely recognized by local authorities and most State and Territory governments” (National Engineering Registration Board …show more content…
Engineers Australia also acts as one of the assessment entities for Queensland’s Board of Professional Engineers (2016). The highest designation for a professional engineer is the Chartered Professional Engineer (C.PEng), and requires three years of work experience. This has been described as a “competency-based approach”, as there is no time-based requirement for local experience, but only demonstration of local engineering knowledge through a written submission and interview (Augustine