Provincial and Territorial legislation has given each provincial and territorial professional regulatory association both the authority and the responsibility to establish standards of admission and competence for candidates seeking to become licensed to practice architecture in their respective Jurisdictions.
ROAC has worked collectively to develop and adopt nationally recognized standards of Competence. These standards are embodied in the Canadian Standard of Competency for Architects , which establishes consistent criteria that candidates must meet regardless of their chosen path to licensure. For more information about licensure/registration, review the Conditions for Licensure of Architects in Canada
Roadmap to Licensure
Within Canada, the required professional competence is normally obtained and demonstrated through a combination of formal education, supervised experience and professional examinations. The regulators have collectively agreed to endorse a variety of pathways to licensure in order to allow broad yet comprehensive and robust access to the profession for candidates from diverse circumstances. These include options for domestic candidates and foreign candidates, and are included in the Roadmap to Licensure diagram below.
Each pathway to licensure was developed by ROAC. Candidates to the profession typically progress through the Domestic Professional Education Pathway. The other pathways to the profession are the Syllabus Work/Study Program and options for candidates with Foreign Professional Education. In some cases, ROAC has empowered an agent to administer components of the pathway on its behalf.
General information about Education, Certification, the Internship in Architecture Program, Examination and Licensure is provided in the following sections. However, all registration and licensing authority rests with the provincial and territorial regulatory associations. Interested individuals should contact their provincial or territorial regulatory association for more information.