PROGRESS AND RENEWAL
In 2017, APEGA continued to renew, develop, and improve registration tools and processes. Even before we launched competency-based assessment, we were seeing reduced processing times for applications. The most time-consuming and complicated applications are those from internationally trained applicants. Average processing times in this category dropped 18 per cent in 2016 and 15 per cent in 2017.
confirm the assessment by applying direct knowledge of the technical details of the applicant’s work experience. After that, the application will be assessed by two experience examiners at APEGA who are professional engineers. An experience examiner is an APEGA staff member or a volunteer with extensive experience in the applicant’s discipline. Next, the application will be presented to the APEGA Board of Examiners (BOE) for a decision. Made up of volunteers (most of them professional members but also including public representatives), the board decides whether to register an applicant, or defer or refuse the application. WHY CBA? CBA is a way to ensure that APEGA’s experience requirements uphold and protect the public interest while providing a fair, transparent, and efficient application process for applicants. It’s a tool for the BOE to use to determine whether candidates meet Alberta qualification standards.
Here’s how it worked before. We asked professional member and engineering licensee applicants to describe at least 48 months of previous work tasks on a document called the Work Experience Record (WER) . After an applicant’s references verified the work experience, the BOE determined what level of expertise each task demonstrated. Back-and-forth with staff often resulted, because applicants needed assistance to document their work experience in a way that the board would understand. This extended processing times. CBA will help us meet targets for foreign qualification recognition set by the federal Forum of Labour Market Ministers. Federal, provincial, and territorial ministers asked regulators like APEGA to achieve initial foreign qualifications decisions within six months. The previous target was one year, which we were already well within.
QUESTIONS? registration@apega.ca
26 | PEG SUMMER 2018
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