Innovation Fall 2024

R EGULATORY NEWS

applications are changing needs of various industries as well as immigration policies. Applications come from almost everywhere in the world. On the engineering side, most applications are consistently received from Iran, the US, India, the UK and China. On the geoscience side, more fluctuations are seen, but most applications come from the US, Australia, the UK, and South Africa. Specific criteria of ICRA The provincial government’s goal with the legislation is to remove barriers for internationally trained professionals so they will be able to help fill the high volume of expected job openings in BC over the next 10 years. One of the criteria in the ICRA is to remove mandatory, time-based Canadian work experience requirements. With the Professional Governance Act, Engineers and Geoscientists BC’s Bylaws were amended to remove this requirement and incorporate a Canadian environment competencies assessment. The ICRA also specifies that regulators eliminate English language testing requirements that are considered repetitive in nature, charge similar fees for international and domestic applicants, and provide transparency through new data-collection and reporting requirements. Engineers and Geoscientists BC currently provides flexibility in English language proficiency assessment, and mutual recognition agreements with professional regulators in other countries. Oversight The BC government will be appointing a superintendent of international credential recognition to

oversee the fair recognition of international credentials, addressing any systemic or procedural issues. The superintendent will also have the authority under the ICRA to issue orders for compliance and impose administrative penalties as needed.

Support materials

To assist applicants, Engineers and Geoscientists BC developed the competency assessment platform (competencyassessment.ca/) so applicants can record their progress and have their competency requirements validated and assessed. Engineers and Geoscientists BC also developed the Working in Canada seminar (competencyassessment. ca/CanadianCompetencies/WorkingInCanadaSeminar) , which is a 56-hour, online and self-paced series of training modules that correspond to Canadian environment competencies and, in certain cases, can supplement an applicant’s knowledge in an area in which they have not achieved the required level. See also: Canadian Environment Competencies – Guide for Applicants and Accessors ( competencyassessment.ca/reference-documents/ Canadian-Environment-Experience-Competencies Guide-for-Applicants-and-Assessors.pdf )

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Fall 2024

Innovation