Professional mobility is relatively open in Canada for architects and engineers. Generally, a licensed architect or engineer in good standing in their home jurisdiction can apply for reciprocity in another jurisdiction in Canada. However, unlike in the United States, the Regulatory Organizations of Architecture in Canada (ROAC)1 and Engineers Canada do not have programs in place to facilitate comity.2 Instead, it is up to the individual to contact the jurisdiction in Canada to determine eligibility and apply.
For foreign architects, ROAC maintains mutual recognition agreements (MRAs)3 with the United States, Mexico, and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and is expected to ratify an agreement with Europe in the near future.4 ROAC’s MRA with the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) allows U.S. architects in good standing with at least 2,000 hours of post-licensure experience to be eligible for reciprocal licensure in Canada.5
There is no similar countrywide MRA for U.S. engineers in Canada. However, Engineers Canada has negotiated MRAs with both the Nevada and Texas State Boards of Professional Engineers.6 Engineers Canada also maintains MRAs with Australia, France, Hong Kong, and Ireland, as well as multilateral agreements with APEC and the International Engineering Alliance.
Lastly, under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and which remains the case under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the United States, Canada, and Mexico established an expedited process for service providers to obtain temporary entry business visas for travel between each country. A host of professionals are eligible for this streamlined process, including architects, engineers, and landscape architects.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI), which measures certain countries’ trade restrictiveness by services sector on a scale of relative openness, Canada is relatively open in the AEC services market. Canada’s STRI score for AEC services in 2022 was 0.201, 0.174, and 0.198, for architecture, engineering, and construction services, respectively, on a zero to one scale (with zero representing an open market and one representing a market completely closed to foreign services providers).7 In comparison, for architectural services, the average STRI score in 2022 was 0.25, ranging from 0.11 to 0.65. For engineering services, the average STRI score in 2021 was 0.23, ranging from 0.07 to 0.50. And for construction services, the average STRI score in 2021 was 0.23, ranging from 0.12 to 0.45. In short, Canada was above-average in openness for all AEC services sectors.
Similar to the United States, the Government of Canada (GOC) has made investing domestically a top priority. In 2016, the GOC unveiled the Investing in Canada Plan to invest over $139 billion CAD ($104.25 billion USD) in key infrastructure sectors through 2028. As of June 2022, over 81,000 projects, with combined investments of over $122 billion CAD ($91.5 billion USD), have been approved for communities across the country.8 Additionally, in 2017, the GOC established the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB), with appropriations of $35 billion CAD ($26.25 billion USD) over 11 years for the purpose of supporting the GOC’s infrastructure priorities by attracting and co-investing with the private sector.9 In October 2022, the GOC announced a new infrastructure plan through the CIB. This three-year plan earmarked $10 billion CAD ($7.5 billion USD) of CIB’s appropriations for five priority areas. Specifically, for the AEC sectors, it will focus on clean energy, broadband, retrofitting large-scale buildings’ energy efficiency, irrigation projects for the agriculture sector, and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.10 As of June 2022, the CIB has approved $21.6 billion CAD ($16.2 billion USD) of investments.11
There are also opportunities in the AEC sector related to housing. In a note published in January 2022, the Bank of Nova Scotia reported that Canada has the lowest number of dwellings per capita in Canada compared to its G7 peers.12 The note goes on to say that Canada would need to build an additional 1.8 million houses to be comparable to the rest of the G7. Canada’s national housing agency, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), released a report in June 2022 which projected that, based on current rates of new construction, Canada would have close to 19 million houses by 2030.13 Based on Canada’s 2021 census, Canada currently has 16.2 million dwellings.14 However, CMHC concludes that Canada would need an additional 3.5 million housing units by 2030, beyond current trends, to achieve affordability for all.
To achieve this goal, in the 2022 federal budget, the GOC added over $10 billion CAD ($7.5 billion USD) in new funding to double the number of houses built over the next decade.15 This further supports Canada’s 10-year National Housing Strategy to invest over $72 billion CAD ($54 billion USD) to provide more affordable housing.16 The funding in the 2022 budget is intended to (1) incentivize cities to build more and create denser neighborhoods; (2) support affordable housing; (3) promote co-op housing; (4) accelerate retrofits and built more net-zero homes; and (5) support those experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
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1 The Canadian Architectural Licensing Authorities (CALA) was the signatory for many of Canada’s MRAs. However, the CALA no longer exists and was replaced by ROAC. Many of these MRAs have not been updated to recognize this change. For clarity, in this report we state the active regulator in Canada, i.e., ROAC.
2 In the United States, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), the organization made up of U.S. architecture licensing boards, has the NCARB Certificate, which is a program that allows U.S. architects to seamlessly obtain licensure in multiple jurisdictions. Similarly, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), the organization made up of U.S. engineering licensing boards, has the NCEES Record.
3 Note that while Engineers Canada, ROAC, NCARB, and NCEES negotiated the MRAs, it is up to the individual jurisdictions in Canada and the United States to determine whether to ratify and apply the agreement. Consult with your state licensure board and the Canadian regulatory body in the province you wish to conduct business for additional information.
4 See ROAC’s, “Professional Mobility” webpage. Retrieved on February 1, 2023.
5 See NCARB’s “Canada” webpage. Retrieved on February 1, 2023; see also ROAC’s, “Professional Mobility” webpage. Retrieved on February 1, 2023.
6 See Engineers Canada’s, “Agreements on International Mobility” webpage. Retrieved on February 1, 2023.
7 See OECD’s, “Architectural Services 2022,” dated February 2023 (OECD Architectural Services STRI); see also OECD’s, “Engineering Services 2022,” dated February 2023 (OECD Engineering Services STRI), and OECD’s, “Construction Services 2022,” dated February 2023 (OECD Construction Services STRI). All retrieved on March 20, 2023.
8 See GOC’s, “Investment in Canada Plan – Building a Better Canada,” dated December 16, 2022. Retrieved on February 1, 2023.
9 See CIB’s, “Annual Report 2017-18,” undated. Retrieved on February 1, 2023.
10 See Prime Minister of Canada’s, “Prime Minister Announces Infrastructure Plan to Create Jobs and Grow the Economy,” dated October 1, 2020. Retrieved on February 1, 2023; see also CIB’s, “Priority Sectors” webpage. Retrieved on February 1, 2023.
11 See CIB’s “Infrastructure Partnerships” webpage. Retrieved on February 1, 2023.
12 The Group of Seven (G7) consists of the countries of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdoms, and the United States. Also, see Scotiabank’s, “Housing Note,” dated January 12, 202. Retrieved on February 1, 2023.
13 See CMHC’s, “Canada’s Housing Supply Shortages: Estimating what is needed to solve Canada’s housing affordability crisis by 2030,” dated June 2022. Retrieved on February 1, 2023 (CMHC Canada Housing Supply).
14 See Statistics Canada’s, “2021 Census of Population Key Indicators by Geography: Canada,” dated November 25, 2022. Retrieved on February 1, 2023.
15 See GOC’s, “Making Housing More Affordable,” dated April 7, 2022. Retrieved on February 1, 2023 (Canada 2022 Budget).
16 See CMHC’s, “What is the strategy?,” dated May 2, 2018. Retrieved on February 1, 2023.
