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CBA and P.Eng. Licensing Changes in 2026: Province-by-Province Roundup

Published September 27, 2026

If you are applying for a P.Eng. in Canada, the last two years brought real changes, mostly to the rules around the competency-based assessment (CBA) rather than to the CBA itself. Ontario (PEO) cut its minimum experience to 24 months and now requires the NPPE before you apply. Alberta (APEGA) replaced its Canadian-experience requirement with eight mandatory competencies. Nova Scotia made the CBA mandatory and stops accepting its old experience records after December 31, 2026.

Below is every change we could confirm in regulators' own documents from 2024 to September 2026, what it means for you, and the dates still ahead.

At a glance (as of September 2026)

PEO: 24 months of experience after your bachelor's degree is conferred (since July 1, 2026). Co-op no longer counts toward the minimum, and the NPPE must be passed before you apply (since October 24, 2025).
APEGA: since July 18, 2026, eight Canadian-environment competencies replace the Canadian-experience requirement for engineering applicants. The 48-month minimum is unchanged.
Engineers Nova Scotia: the CBA has been mandatory for new applicants since July 1, 2025, and detailed experience records end on December 31, 2026.
Fees: APEGNB (July 15, 2026) and Engineers Nova Scotia (applications after October 1, 2026) added $50 CBA fees, and EGBC's first-time application fee is now $525.
Mobility: engineers already licensed in Canada do not need a CBA, and five provinces set new deadlines for their files in 2025 and 2026.

Timeline of changes, 2024 to 2026

Date	Regulator	What changed
Jan 1, 2024	APEGS	Paper experience reports end; licensees from IPEA and APEC member countries count as "equivalent" validators
Apr 2024	EGBC	Revised CBA guides (adopted by EGM in October 2024); using AI or third parties to create or embellish examples is prohibited
Dec 31, 2024	Engineers PEI	Logbooks no longer accepted; all EITs report through the CBA
Mar 26, 2025	Nova Scotia law	Engineers from a "reciprocating jurisdiction" are entitled to a licence within 10 business days
Jul 1, 2025	Engineers Nova Scotia	CBA mandatory for all new applicants
Jul 1, 2025	BC law	Ban on Canadian work-experience requirements; EGBC already used the eight Canadian-environment competencies
Aug 25, 2025	Newfoundland and Labrador law	PEGNL must decide labour-mobility applications within 20 business days
Oct 24, 2025	PEO	NPPE must be passed before you submit your licence application (O. Reg. 238/25)
Nov 21, 2025	APEGS	Guide version 23: at least two Professional References, a licensed professional responsible for each Canadian-experience competency, no discretionary validator exceptions, results within 90 days
Dec 2025	PEGNL	Limited-scope licences (Eng.L./Geo.L.) now assessed through the CBA
Dec 16, 2025	PEO	Canadian P.Eng. mobility: decision within 10 business days, no CBA
Jan 1, 2026	Ontario law	Written assessment decisions within 10 business days, with competency gaps explained when the decision is negative
Jan 30, 2026	EGBC	21 Registration and Reinstatement Policies, covering validators, currency of experience, pre- and postgraduate credit and interviews
Mar 12, 2026	EGM	CBA Competency Interpretation Statements (posted April 27)
Apr 11, 2026	APEGA	P.Geo. applicants move to the CBA (29 geoscience competencies)
May 2026	Engineers PEI	Interpretation Statements; competency 1.1 must cite a specific Canadian regulation, code or standard and its section
May 31, 2026	New Brunswick law	Mobility applicants are deemed registered while APEGNB decides
Jun 2026	NPPE	A second camera (phone or tablet) is required for the remotely proctored exam
Jul 1, 2026	PEO	Minimum experience cut from 48 to 24 months, counted from degree conferral (O. Reg. 126/26); co-op no longer counts toward it
Jul 1, 2026	EGBC	First-time application $525, BC practice seminar $325, NPPE $300
Jul 11, 2026	PEI law	Licence within 10 business days for engineers from reciprocating jurisdictions
Jul 15, 2026	APEGNB	New fee schedule with a $50 CBA fee
Jul 18, 2026	APEGA	Canadian-experience requirement for engineering replaced by eight mandatory Canadian-environment competencies; files already in progress keep the old rules
Aug 2026	PEO	New applicant and validator guides: Canadian work validated by a P.Eng. licensed when the work was done; no hypothetical or team examples; full responsibility for AI-assisted content
Sep 14, 2026	Engineers PEI	New Manual of Admissions consolidating existing policy

What the main changes mean for you

Ontario (PEO)

Treat 24 months as the earliest you can apply, not a target: PEO says applicants need three to four years on average to show all 34 competencies at the required ratings. Pass the NPPE before you submit, and line up validators early: for work in Canada, each must have been a P.Eng. licensed in Canada when you did the work. PEO's EIT program is still closed to new applicants. See PEO's 24-month rule explained, what EIT 2.0 means and what to do if PEO proposes to refuse your licence.

Alberta (APEGA), Engineers Yukon and NAPEG

New engineering applicants no longer need a year of Canadian experience. Eight of APEGA's 22 competencies (1.1, 1.6, 1.9, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 5.1 and 6.2) now carry their own minimum scores of 3, or 2 for 6.2, and you can meet them with international work. From October 1, 2026, Alberta law also bars regulators from requiring work experience gained in Canada unless the Minister approves it for public health or safety. Engineers Yukon and NAPEG applicants complete APEGA's CBA; we found no statement from either on the July change, so northern applicants should confirm how it applies to them. More in APEGA's 2026 CBA changes and the Yukon and NAPEG guide.

Saskatchewan (APEGS)

Version 23 of the APEGS guide tightened validation. You still need at least four validators, at least two of them licensed in Canada or equivalent. Any competency based on Canadian experience now needs a licensed professional who took responsibility for that work, and the Director of Registration can no longer accept a validator who falls outside the rules, so plan replacements early.

British Columbia (EGBC) and Manitoba (EGM)

EGBC published its registration rules as 21 formal policies in January 2026. Policy 4.D confirms at least four validators covering at least four years, one of them your supervisor. EGM uses EGBC's April 2024 guides and added its own interpretation statements in March 2026; read them before you write.

Atlantic Canada

Engineers Nova Scotia EITs still in the Mentor Program move to the CBA after December 31, 2026, reporting on 34, 26, 19 or 8 competencies depending on how much experience has been approved by then. Nova Scotia (from October 1, 2026), APEGNB and PEGNL all list a $50 CBA fee, and PEGNL now uses the CBA for limited-scope licences too. See the guides for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Quebec (OIQ)

OIQ does not use validators. Its CPI program rates 6 competencies and 28 elements through a supervising engineer over at least 24 months, and those core rules have not changed since 2019. See how OIQ's CPI program compares with the CBA.

AI and your examples

AI can help you organize your notes and check your own draft for gaps, but your examples must be your own work and you remain responsible for them. EGBC, EGM, Engineers Nova Scotia and Engineers PEI prohibit using AI (or third parties) to create or embellish examples; APEGS and PEO hold you fully responsible for the accuracy and authenticity of anything AI helped with. Details in what each regulator allows.

Engineers already licensed in Canada

No regulator asks a Canadian-licensed engineer for a CBA, and Ontario, Nova Scotia, PEI, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador set new deadlines for these files in 2025 and 2026 (see the table above). The federal Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act, in force January 1, 2026, covers federal jurisdiction only. See 2026 mobility timelines.

Coming up: October 2026 to 2027

October 1, 2026 (Alberta): Bill 10's ban on Canadian work-experience requirements comes into force.
October 1, 2026 (Nova Scotia): the $50 CBA fee applies to EIT and Eng.L. assessment applications made after this date.
October 5, 2026 (BC): EGBC launches the new version of its BC practice seminar. The current version only counts if you are registered by October 1, 2027.
October 20, 2026 (Quebec): last day to register for an OIQ professional exam based on the current content.
November 2 to 4, 2026: next NPPE sitting. A revised NPPE blueprint, estimated for mid-2026, had not been published by late September.
November 23, 2026 (Quebec): OIQ's revised theoretical component takes effect, with about 55% of the content revised. A new exam version follows in 2027.
December 31, 2026 (Nova Scotia): detailed experience records end, and remaining Mentor Program EITs move to the CBA.
About March 2027 (Alberta): APEGA expects to move to the Professional Governance Act. No change to the 48-month requirement has been announced.

What did not change

The CBA's basics are unchanged. Each example is rated from 0 to 5, you write one Situation–Action–Outcome example per competency in the first person, and the assessors decide; validator ratings are confidential inputs. Most regulators use 34 competencies in seven categories. APEGA and the northern regulators that use its CBA have 22 competencies in six categories. Minimum validator counts are one at PEO, three at APEGA and four at the other CBA regulators. See how many validators each regulator requires.

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Frequently asked questions

Is PEO's 24-month rule already in force?

Yes. It took effect on July 1, 2026 under O. Reg. 126/26. The 24 months start when your bachelor's degree is conferred, co-op and other pre-graduation work no longer count toward them, and PEO says applicants need three to four years on average to show all 34 competencies.

Does any province still require a year of Canadian experience?

Not as a fixed period you must serve. Engineers Nova Scotia still describes "12 months in a Canadian environment (or equivalent)", and meeting the eight Canadian Environment Competencies in the CBA counts as the equivalent. OIQ requires 8 of its 28 elements to be shown in a Canadian context. Elsewhere, Canadian-environment competencies do the job (PEO uses six "professional standards competencies"), although APEGA files started before July 18, 2026 keep the old rules.

Did the competencies themselves change in 2026?

Not in the 34-competency framework: PEO's August 2026 guides kept the same competencies, categories and minimum ratings. APEGA kept its 22 competencies but made eight of them mandatory Canadian-environment competencies. APEGS (June 2025), EGM (March 2026) and Engineers PEI (May 2026) published interpretation statements that explain what assessors look for.

Is there a national licence or a national CBA now?

No. Engineers Canada does not license engineers; the 12 provincial and territorial regulators do, and each licence is valid only where it was issued. The May 2024 National Statement of Collaboration aligns practices but created no national licence or national CBA.