What Are the 34 Engineering Competencies?

The 34 competencies at a glance

Category	Competencies	Minimum category average
1. Technical Competence	10 (1.1–1.10)	3
2. Communication	3 (2.1–2.3)	3
3. Project and Financial Management	5 (3.1–3.5)	2
4. Team Effectiveness	2 (4.1–4.2)	3
5. Professional Accountability	6 (5.1–5.6)	3
6. Social, Economic, Environmental and Sustainability	5 (6.1–6.5)	2
7. Personal Continuing Professional Development	3 (7.1–7.3)	3
Total	34

In the lists below, an asterisk (*) marks a Canadian-environment competency with its own minimum rating. The short names are based on APEGS’s guide, and the descriptions summarize the official wording.

1. Technical Competence (10 competencies, minimum average 3)

No.	Competency	What you need to show
1.1*	Regulations, Codes and Standards	Knowledge of the Canadian regulations, codes and standards, and local engineering practices, that apply to your work. Minimum 3.
1.2	Project and Design Constraints	Designing to fit the purpose within constraints such as cost, materials, time and operations, and managing impacts on other disciplines.
1.3	Risk Identification and Mitigation	Analyzing technical risks and proposing ways to reduce them.
1.4	Application of Theory	Applying engineering knowledge, theory and calculations to design solutions.
1.5	Solution Techniques	Understanding the techniques and software you use, and verifying the results independently.
1.6*	Safety Awareness	Knowledge of Canadian safety regulations, codes and standards, and building safety into your work. Minimum 3.
1.7	Systems and Their Components	Understanding how the parts of a system interact and affect the whole.
1.8	Project and Process Lifecycle	Exposure to the stages of a project, from concept and feasibility through implementation.
1.9*	Peer Review and Quality Control	Using peer review and quality management as practised in Canada, including checks of your own and others’ work. Minimum 3.
1.10	Engineering Documentation	Turning design intent into drawings, sketches, specifications and other design documents.

2. Communication (3 competencies, minimum average 3)

No.	Competency	What you need to show
2.1*	Oral	Speaking effectively with team members, clients, contractors and the public in English or French. Minimum 3.
2.2*	Writing	Writing effectively for the same audiences in English or French. Minimum 3.
2.3*	Reading and Comprehension	Reviewing key documents in English or French, understanding what they require and summarizing the key points. Minimum 3.

3. Project and Financial Management (5 competencies, minimum average 2)

No.	Competency	What you need to show
3.1	Project Management Principles	Awareness of planning, budgeting, scope, schedule and change management.
3.2	Level of Responsibility	Taking on increasing responsibility for project planning and implementation.
3.3	Expectations vs. Resources	Managing expectations in light of the resources available, and meeting deadlines.
3.4	Financial and Budgets	Understanding the financial aspects of your work, such as budgets, cost comparisons and contracts.
3.5	Response to Feedback	Asking for feedback and showing how you responded to it.

4. Team Effectiveness (2 competencies, minimum average 3)

No.	Competency	What you need to show
4.1	Work Respectfully	Working respectfully with other disciplines and people, and integrating their input.
4.2	Resolve Differences	Working to resolve conflicts and differences in a team.

5. Professional Accountability (6 competencies, minimum average 3)

No.	Competency	What you need to show
5.1*	Code of Ethics	Applying the Code of Ethics of your jurisdiction in the Canadian engineering environment. Minimum 3.
5.2	Awareness of Limitations	Knowing your scope of practice and its limits, and asking for help when you need it.
5.3	Conflict of Interest	Understanding how conflicts of interest affect your practice.
5.4	Professional Liability	Awareness of the professional accountability and liability involved in your work.
5.5	Use of Stamp and Seal	Understanding when and how the stamp or seal is used. Awareness is enough.
5.6	Strengths and Weaknesses	Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses and how they apply to your role.

6. Social, Economic, Environmental and Sustainability (5 competencies, minimum average 2)

No.	Competency	What you need to show
6.1	Public Impacts and Safeguards	The safeguards that protect the public, and ways to reduce adverse impacts.
6.2*	Engineering and the Public	The relationship between your engineering work and the public. Minimum 2 (aim for 3).
6.3	Role of Regulatory Bodies	How regulatory bodies, and the professions whose work overlaps with engineering, shape your practice.
6.4	Sustainability and Practice Guidelines	Awareness of sustainability clauses in the practice guidelines for your area.
6.5	Promotion of Sustainability	Applying and promoting sustainability principles in your own work, within your influence.

7. Personal Continuing Professional Development (3 competencies, minimum average 3)

No.	Competency	What you need to show
7.1	Professional Development Activities	Completing professional development, such as courses, self-directed study, or technical and association committees.
7.2	Identify Training Needs	Identifying the gaps in your knowledge and skills.
7.3	Professional Development Plan	A plan to close those gaps and stay current in your field.

For writing advice by category, see our guides to the technical, communication, project and financial management, team effectiveness, professional accountability, sustainability and professional development competencies, or the overview of the seven categories.

The 8 Canadian-environment competencies

Eight competencies test whether you can practise in a Canadian setting: 1.1, 1.6, 1.9, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 5.1 (each at least 3) and 6.2 (at least 2). Engineers Canada launched them in the shared CBA system in November 2020 to replace the old time-based Canadian-experience requirement. They are used by EGBC, APEGS, EGM, Engineers Nova Scotia, APEGNB, Engineers PEI, PEGNL and, since July 18, 2026, APEGA. Each one must reach its own minimum, whatever the category average.

Examples from outside Canada can count. For 1.1, the indicators ask you to identify the Canadian codes, standards or guidelines that apply and explain how they would have been applied if the work had taken place in Canada, and Engineers PEI’s May 2026 interpretation statements expect a specific code and section. The communication competencies ask for communication in English or French. If a Canadian-environment competency is rated 1 or 2 and you are otherwise ready, assessors on the shared system can assign units of the online Working in Canada Seminar (APEGS applies its own rules; its guide says candidates may be assigned portions of the seminar). Our guide to the 8 Canadian environment competencies shows how to write them from international experience.

PEO’s six professional standards competencies

PEO uses the same 34 competencies in its own portal but sets the special minimums on six of them, which it calls professional standards competencies: 1.1, 1.6, 1.9, 2.3 and 5.1 (each at least 3) and 6.2 (at least 2). Every other competency needs at least 1, and the category averages are the same as elsewhere: 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 2 and 3. PEO has not required Canadian experience since May 15, 2023, and its August 2026 guide says the assessors’ ratings alone determine readiness for licensure.

How the competencies are rated

Each example is rated on a 0–5 scale three times: by you in your self-assessment, by the validator who confirms it, and by the regulator’s assessors. Only the assessors’ ratings decide the result. A 3 means you are ready to take on professional engineering responsibility, a 1 reflects training-level exposure, and applicants are not expected to reach 4 or 5. No competency should be rated 0: most regulators state a minimum of 1 on every competency, and at APEGS a 0 fails the whole category. For more detail, see how the CBA scoring scale works.

The same 34 competencies for every discipline

The 34 competencies are the same for every discipline; what changes is the content of your examples. A structural engineer and a software engineer answer the same competency 1.4 with very different work. EGBC also publishes discipline-specific indicators, for example for civil municipal, electrical, structural and software work, on competencyassessment.ca (see what indicators are and where to find them).

Some skills you might expect to see are not separate competencies. Innovation and problem-solving are assessed within 1.4 (applying engineering knowledge to design solutions, where one indicator is developing a design that a standard solution could not achieve) and 1.5 (understanding solution techniques and verifying results). Knowledge of laws and codes sits in 1.1 and 6.3, and ethics in 5.1 and 5.3.

How to write an example for each competency

• Write one example per competency, 34 in total, using the Situation, Action and Outcome fields.
• Write in the first person (“I”, not “we”) and describe only your own work. PEO’s August 2026 guide also rules out hypothetical situations and work done by colleagues or your team.
• Reuse a project if it fits, but make the Action and Outcome specific to each competency. Whole examples may not be repeated.
• Stay within your regulator’s character limits (Situation / Action / Outcome): APEGS, EGM, Engineers Nova Scotia and PEGNL 300 / 1,200 / 300; APEGA 400 / 1,800 / 400; PEO’s PDF form 300 / 1,650 / 300.
• Choose validators with first-hand knowledge of each example; see how many validators each regulator requires.

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.

If you want a structured way to work through all 34, CBA Pro interviews you about your own work, one competency at a time, and turns your answers into a draft for you to review. It shows you where information is still missing.

Not every regulator uses the 34

Regulator	Framework	Where you complete it
PEO	34 competencies, 7 categories	PEO’s own portal
EGBC, APEGS, EGM, Engineers Nova Scotia, APEGNB, Engineers PEI, PEGNL	34 competencies, 7 categories	competencyassessment.ca, the shared system run by EGBC
APEGA, plus NAPEG and Engineers Yukon applicants	22 competencies, 6 categories	myAPEGA
OIQ (Quebec)	6 competencies, 28 elements	OIQ’s own program, rated by a supervising engineer

Geoscientists use a separate framework of 29 competencies in four categories; see the 29 geoscience competencies.

APEGA’s 22 competencies

APEGA’s engineering framework has six categories, with minimum averages of 3, 3, 2, 3, 3 and 2:

• Technical Competence (10): 1.1 Regulations, Codes and Standards; 1.2 Technical and Design Constraints; 1.3 Risk Management for Technical Work; 1.4 Application of Theory; 1.5 Solution Techniques – Results Verification; 1.6 Safety in Design and Technical Work; 1.7 Systems and Their Components; 1.8 Project or Asset Life Cycle; 1.9 Quality Assurance; 1.10 Engineering Documentation.
• Communication (3): 2.1 Oral, 2.2 Written, and 2.3 Reading and Comprehension, all in English.
• Project and Financial Management (2): 3.1 Project Management Principles; 3.2 Finances and Budget.
• Team Effectiveness (1): 4.1 Promote Team Effectiveness and Resolve or Mitigate Interpersonal Conflict.
• Professional Accountability (1): 5.1 Professional Accountability.
• Social, Economic, Environmental and Sustainability (5): 6.1 Protection of the Public Interest; 6.2 Benefits of Engineering to the Public; 6.3 Role of Regulatory Bodies; 6.4 Application of Sustainability Principles; 6.5 Promotion of Sustainability.

There is no professional development category. Since July 18, 2026, 1.1, 1.6, 1.9, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 5.1 (at least 3) and 6.2 (at least 2) are APEGA’s Canadian-environment competencies, in place of its old Canadian-experience requirement. APEGA’s character limits are 400 / 1,800 / 400. See APEGA’s 2026 CBA changes.

OIQ’s 6 competencies and 28 elements

Quebec’s OIQ does not use validators or the 34-competency system. Its candidates complete at least 24 months of supervised practice, and a supervising engineer rates 28 elements grouped into six competencies: technical (10 elements), communication (3), project management (6), teamwork (2), acting professionally (4) and professional development (3). Every element must reach its minimum level (3, or 2 for project management and professional development), and 8 of the 28 elements must be shown in a Canadian context. See how OIQ assesses engineering experience.

Official sources

• PEO — CBA Applicant Guide (August 2026)
• APEGS — Competency Assessment Guide for Candidates and Validators (Version 23, November 21, 2025)
• EGBC — Competency Assessment Guide for Engineering Applicants and Trainees (revised April 2024)
• Competency Assessment system — Engineering competencies and generic indicators report
• Competency Assessment system — Canadian Environment Competencies Guide (revised April 2024)
• APEGA — 22 Key Competencies and Indicators for Engineering Applications
• OIQ — Compétences à maîtriser pour l’obtention du permis d’ingénieur (June 2022, in French)