Assessors

Assessing Applications

Each validated competency submission is reviewed by two assessors assigned by the regulator. An assessor’s role is to examine the examples provided and determine the competence level that has been demonstrated. Applicants must have met the required average competence level for each category to be granted registration.

For additional information and guidance on the engineering assessment system, please download the Engineering Competency Assessment Guide for Validators and Assessors.

For additional information and guidance on the geoscience assessment system, please download the Geoscience Competency Assessment Guide for Validators and Assessors.

Depending on which profession you are performing an assessment for, please note the following Competency Assessment terms:

Assessment Process

The online assessment process proceeds as follows:

1. Assessors will be notified by email once the application is ready for review, and will login to the competency assessment system.
2. The Assessor will examine the candidate’s education and employment history. No input is required from the Assessor in these sections, but they provide the Assessor with the opportunity to review chronological summaries of the applicant’s education and experience. The employment history section also provides Assessors with an opportunity to look for a progression of responsibility in the applicant’s experience.
3. The Assessor will then review the candidate’s competency self-assessment and determine for each key competency/work experience competency whether the example provided represents sufficient evidence that the competency has been demonstrated at the required level. While reviewing each example, Assessors will note the competence levels claimed by the applicant and validator. Based on the breadth, depth, and quality of the example provided, assessors will grade an applicant’s competency self-assessment by rating the examples provided on the six point (0-5) Engineering or Geoscience rating scale. Assessors also have the option of providing a comment for each competency. These comments are confidential and are not viewable to the applicant or validators.
4. The system will calculate the average Competence Level achieved for each category according to each Assessor.
5. In the “Supporting Documents” section, Assessors may review any supporting documents uploaded by the applicant. The inclusion of supporting documents is optional.
6. In the “Validator Overall Feedback” section, Assessors will review the feedback of the applicant’s Validators.
7. The Assessor will then be asked to confirm their final recommendation on whether the applicant has met the competencies at the required level for professional registration or licensure.

Interviewing to Assess Competency

In cases where further clarification or detail is required, a regulator may invite an applicant to attend an interview. These interviews provide applicants with an opportunity to present in person a summary of their experience, to expand further on their work, and/or to better explain their level of application of engineering or geoscience principles. The interview helps to determine whether a candidate has satisfied all of the experience requirements and has demonstrated a progression of experience and responsibility to a professional level. Competencies in which an applicant was rated below the required level may be areas of focus for the interview.

Canadian Competencies

The requirement for experience in a Canadian environment is assessed using Canadian environment competencies (for engineering) or Canadian Work-Environment Experience Competencies (CWECs).

The Canadian environment competencies are a subset of:

• Eight competencies for engineering applicants.
• Seven competencies for geoscience applicants.

• 1. Technical Category
  • 1.1. Regulations, Codes & Standards
  • 1.6 Safety Awareness
  • 1.9 Demonstrate Peer Review and Quality Control
• 2. Communication Category
  • 2.1 Oral Communication (in English/French)
  • 2.2 Writing (in English/French)
  • 2.3 Reading and Comprehension (in English/French)
• 5. Professional Accountability
  • 5.1 Code of Ethics
• 6. Social, Economic, Environmental & Sustainability
  • 6.2 Engineering and the Public

Geoscience
The seven Canadian Work-Environment Experience Competencies are:

• 1. Professionalism
  • 1.1 Comply with relevant legislation, regulations, and statutory reporting requirements
  • 1.4 Maintain constructive working relationships
  • 1.5 Apply ethical principles
  • 1.6 Respond to obligations and responsibilities to the public, to the natural environment, to clients, and to employers
  • 1.7 Contribute to health and safety in the workplace
• 4. Complementary
• 4.1 Deliver and comprehend oral communication
• 4.2 Deliver and comprehend written communication

In order to satisfy the Canadian environment experience requirement, all professional engineering and geoscience applicants are required to achieve each of the Canadian competencies at the specified minimum category level.

For more information, please refer to:

• Guide to Canadian Environment Competencies for Applicants and Assessors
• Guide to Geoscience Canadian Work-Environment Experience Competencies for Applicants and Assessors