Obtaining Professional Registration in Canada

Engineers P.Eng Designation

As a professional engineer immigrating to Canada you are required as part of your immigration process to have your experience and education evaluated by the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (www.ccpe.ca).

Once you have landed you can apply to register as a Professional Engineer in Canada. To do this you must apply to the Professional Engineering Association in the province in which you intend to practice. See www.peng.ca for a list of these associations and information on getting registered as a Professional Engineer.

To find out more about the following cities and Immigration Canada visit:

City of Toronto

City of Edmonton

City of Calgary

City of Vancouver

Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Technologist/Technicians - AScT, CET and RTech designations

You are not required to be registered as a Technician or Technologist in Canada in order to find work. However, for some positions employers may request that the person be registered or be eligible for registration so there are definite advantages to acquiring your designation. As with engineering associations you would register in the province in which you intend to work - see the Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists website (www.cctt.ca) for the provincial associations.

Trade Qualifications - Inter Provincial Trade Qualification (IPTQ) designation

For most trade jobs in Canada you are required to have an Inter Provincial Trade Qualification ticket (also called the Red Seal or Trade Ticket). While you may still be able to find work initially without a ticket you have far greater earning capacity in your trade if you have an IPTQ so it is definitely in your interest to obtain this. You must first apply to have your credentials/ apprenticeship training assessed and once deemed eligible you can apply to write the trade examination. See www.itac.gov.bc.ca and www.cicic.ca/professions for more information.

There is often a limit on how many times you can attempt to pass these exams so make sure you are aware of these.

In order to help you get through the trade exam local technical colleges offer refresher courses for the trades. These courses have proved invaluable to new arrivals as they familiarise them with local terminology, building codes, electrical codes, gas codes and safety and health issues pertaining to their trades and you have a far greater chance of passing the exam first time if you have taken one of these courses.