CBA

CBA vs. Traditional Experience Reporting

Published July 17, 2025 · Updated September 27, 2026

Canadian engineering regulators used to assess experience through time-based “traditional” reports: a job-by-job record of your duties and the months you spent in each role, usually confirmed by references from licensed engineers. Today every regulator outside Quebec assesses new P.Eng. applicants through Competency-Based Assessment (CBA), and Quebec’s OIQ uses its own competency-based supervised program. This article explains how the two approaches differ, when each regulator switched, and what is left of the old approach as of September 2026.

At a glance (as of September 2026)

New P.Eng. applicants can no longer choose traditional experience reporting anywhere in Canada.
The last transition ends on December 31, 2026, when Engineers Nova Scotia stops accepting detailed experience records from EITs in its Mentor Program.
Most regulators assess 34 competencies in seven categories; APEGA assesses 22 in six; Quebec’s OIQ assesses 6 competencies broken into 28 elements.
Validators have replaced references at most regulators, and eight Canadian-environment competencies have replaced the year of Canadian experience.
Minimum experience still applies: 24 months after your degree at PEO, 48 months at APEGA and APEGS.

What traditional experience reporting looked like

Under the old model you documented your engineering work job by job: employer, dates, position, the projects and duties you handled, and how your responsibility grew. Reviewers checked whether the experience added up to the required time (usually four years, including a year of Canadian experience) and whether it looked like professional-level work. References, typically licensed engineers who had supervised you, confirmed what you wrote.

The formats varied by regulator:

Logbooks and work logs: Engineers PEI, APEGNB and PEGNL.
Paper work-experience reports: APEGS.
Detailed experience records under a mentor program: Engineers Nova Scotia, where the old route also needed three references, two of them P.Eng.
A legacy intern program: EGM, which also required 48 hours of professional development, 48 hours of volunteer service and three references.
A time-based review: PEO before May 2023, with 48 months of experience including 12 months in a Canadian jurisdiction.

The weaknesses were well known. Time served says little about what an engineer can actually do, and free-form narratives were hard to compare from one applicant to the next. PEO itself said in June 2026 that its 1998 increase from two to four years of experience was “neither evidence- nor risk-based”. The year of Canadian experience was also a barrier for internationally trained engineers. British Columbia has banned Canadian-work-experience requirements since July 1, 2025, and Alberta’s ban takes effect on October 1, 2026.

How CBA works instead

In a CBA you write one example per competency, in Situation–Action–Outcome form and in the first person, and rate yourself on a 0–5 scale. Validators who know the work first-hand rate each example independently and confidentially, and the regulator’s assessors make the decision. If an example falls short, the assessor can ask you to revise it or add information for that competency.

EGBC pioneered the approach: its online reporting system launched in 2012 and grew into the shared Competency Assessment System that most regulators now use, with 34 competencies in seven categories. APEGA introduced its own CBA in April 2018 with 22 competencies in six categories, which NAPEG and Engineers Yukon applicants also complete. PEO uses the 34-competency framework in its own portal, and EGM, like most regulators, uses EGBC’s framework and guides. Quebec’s OIQ assesses 6 competencies, broken into 28 elements, through supervised practice.

What changed for applicants

Evidence per competency, not per job. Instead of describing each job, you choose your strongest example for each competency. The same project can support several competencies if the actions you describe differ.
Validators instead of references. PEO requires no references, and Engineers Nova Scotia, EGM and PEGNL say your validators’ feedback replaces them. APEGA (at least one reference per employer), APEGS (at least two professional references through the CBA system) and Engineers PEI (three references, for which validator feedback counts) still collect them.
Competencies instead of a year in Canada. Eight Canadian-environment competencies (1.1, 1.6, 1.9, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 5.1 and 6.2) went live in the shared CBA system in November 2020 as a replacement for the one-year Canadian-experience requirement, and APEGA adopted the same eight on July 18, 2026. PEO removed its Canadian-experience requirement on May 15, 2023 and uses six professional standards competencies instead. Engineers Nova Scotia still lists 12 months “in a Canadian environment (or equivalent)”, and the eight competencies count as the equivalent.
Minimum time still applies. CBA does not remove minimum-experience rules (APEGA and APEGS still require 48 months, and PEO 24 months after your degree), but it judges what you can do within that time rather than time served alone.

Aspect	Traditional experience reporting	Competency-Based Assessment
What you submit	A job-by-job record or logbook of duties and time	One Situation–Action–Outcome example per competency (34 at most regulators, 22 at APEGA)
What is measured	Time served and the nature of the work	Whether each competency and category reaches its minimum rating on a 0–5 scale
Who confirms it	References, usually licensed engineers	Validators with first-hand knowledge rate each example; separate references only at APEGA, APEGS and Engineers PEI
Canadian experience	Typically a year of work in Canada	Eight Canadian-environment competencies (at PEO, six professional standards competencies)
Minimum time	Usually 48 months	Still applies: 24 months after the degree at PEO, 48 months at APEGA and APEGS, 4 years at EGBC
Who decides	The regulator’s reviewers	Assessors; your self-ratings and your validators’ ratings are inputs

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When each regulator switched to CBA

The change happened over more than a decade, starting in British Columbia:

Regulator	CBA introduced	Traditional reporting for new applicants
EGBC	Online competency reporting launched in 2012 and was a “recommended” option by 2014	First-time applicants report through the Competency Assessment System
APEGA	April 2018, with its own 22-competency CBA (P.Geo. applicants since April 11, 2026)	Not for the P.Eng.; the limited licence (P.L.) still uses a Work Experience Summary Record
NAPEG and Engineers Yukon	May 2018, through APEGA’s CBA in myAPEGA	Not for the P.Eng.
Engineers PEI	2018	Logbooks not accepted after December 31, 2024
APEGS	Engineering January 1, 2019; geoscience January 1, 2021	Paper reports not accepted since January 1, 2024
OIQ (Quebec)	April 1, 2019, with its own CPI program	Junior-engineer permits lapsed by April 1, 2022
PEGNL	In effect September 1, 2021; mandatory for all applicants September 1, 2022	Logbooks replaced; limited licences also use the CBA since December 2025
APEGNB	January 1, 2022, for new MIT applicants	Not for the P.Eng.; limited-licence applicants still use detailed experience records
EGM	Mandatory for new interns from September 15, 2022	The old program applies only to legacy interns
PEO	May 15, 2023	None; applicants from before May 15, 2023 also submit a CBA, on PDF forms
Engineers Nova Scotia	Mandatory for all new applicants from July 1, 2025	Detailed experience records accepted from transitioning EITs only until December 31, 2026

For the systems each regulator uses today, see who uses CBA in Canada.

Can you still choose traditional reporting in 2026?

No. If you are a new P.Eng. applicant anywhere in Canada, you report your experience through your regulator’s CBA or, in Quebec, through OIQ’s CPI program. A traditional experience report prepared today is not something any regulator will accept from a new applicant. The only remnants are transitional or outside the P.Eng. route:

Nova Scotia’s transition: EITs already in Engineers Nova Scotia’s Mentor Program can submit detailed experience records until December 31, 2026. Anyone still in the program after that moves to the CBA and reports on 34, 26, 19 or 8 competencies, depending on how much approved experience they have. See the Engineers Nova Scotia CBA guide.
Legacy files: EGM’s old intern program still applies to interns who started under it. PEO’s applicants from before May 15, 2023 now also submit a CBA, on PDF forms.
Limited licences: APEGA’s Professional Licensee (P.L.) route uses a Work Experience Summary Record, and APEGNB’s limited licence uses detailed experience records. Limited-licence applicants at PEO, APEGS, EGBC, EGM, Engineers Nova Scotia and PEGNL use the CBA.

Quebec is less an exception than a different system. OIQ’s CPI program is also competency-based, but you document your work period by period and a single supervising engineer rates it against 28 elements, rather than a panel of validators rating one example per competency.

What this means for your application

Don’t prepare a traditional report. Put the effort into one strong example per competency instead.
Keep your employment history accurate. The CBA still records employers and dates, and minimum months are checked; APEGA, for example, declines applications with less than 48 months.
Reuse old records as notes. If you kept a logbook or experience record, mine it for projects, dates and decisions, then write each example to fit its competency.
Choose validators early. Most regulators need at least four (APEGA three, PEO one), often including your supervisor and licensed engineers. See how many validators you need.
If you trained abroad, focus on the eight Canadian-environment competencies. Each must reach its own minimum, whatever the category average. See how to write them with international experience.

For the full process, see how to apply for licensure through the CBA and examples of key competencies.

Frequently asked questions

Is the CBA harder than traditional experience reporting?

It asks for different evidence rather than more time. You still need your regulator’s minimum months, but instead of describing each job you must show, with a specific example, that you meet each competency at the required level. Notes on your own decisions and the codes you applied make those examples much easier to write.

I’m in Engineers Nova Scotia’s Mentor Program. What happens after December 31, 2026?

You can switch to the CBA voluntarily at any time before then. Anyone still in the Mentor Program after December 31, 2026 is moved to the CBA, and Engineers Nova Scotia staff assign 34, 26, 19 or 8 competencies depending on how much approved experience you have by that date. Confirm your own tier with Engineers Nova Scotia before the deadline.

Does Quebec use the CBA?

Not the validator-based CBA. OIQ’s CPI program requires at least 24 months of supervised practice, completed within five years, and a supervising engineer rates you on 28 elements, 8 of which must be shown in a Canadian context. OIQ also sets its own professional exam instead of the NPPE.

Official sources

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