The ExAC Committee

Background

Early in 2007, the three Licensing Authorities concluded a collaborative agreement to jointly develop a new Canadian licensing/registration examination for the architectural profession.  After months of intensive work, the Examination for Architects in Canada (ExAC) came into being.  A protocol was established to allow the other Provincial and Territorial Licensing Authorities in Canada to adopt the ExAC for admission to the profession in their respective jurisdictions.

All Licensing Authorities in Canada, with the exception of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia, have offered the ExAC since 2008.

• Alberta Association of Architects (AAA)
• Architects’ Association of New Brunswick (AANB)
• Architects Association of Prince Edward Island (AAPEI)
• Manitoba Association of Architects (MAA)
• Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Architects (NLAA)
• Nova Scotia Association of Architects (NSAA)
• Ontario Association of Architects (OAA)
• Ordre des architectes du Québec (OAQ)
• Saskatchewan Association of Architects (SAA)
• Northwest Territories Association of Architects (NWTAA)

The Licensing Authorities created the Committee for the ExAC (CExAC), which is made up of a representative of each of the following six regions, provided they are participants:

• Atlantic (AANB, AAPEI, NLAA, NSAA) - Donald Sterrit
• Quebec - Nathalie Dion
• Ontario - Sean O'Reilly (Chair)
• West (MAA, NWTAA, SAA) - Jim Wagner
• Alberta - Jane Pendergast
• British Columbia – currently not a participant

The ExAC Committee Structure

• Representatives of the ExAC Committee are selected by the Board/Council of the participating Provincial and Territorial Licensing Authorities.
• A chairperson is elected from amongst the representatives.  

The ExAC Committee Administration

Coordination of the Committee and its secretariat are provided jointly by the OAA and the OAQ, who have designated at least one member of their staff.

The Committee meets at least twice a year to update the examination objectives and the bank of questions.  The Committee makes updates through a process analogous to the one followed by the three initiating Provincial Licensing Authorities in developing the first examination, which includes the following: 

• Writing of the questions by architects or other professionals or experts chosen for their knowledge of the practice, and who have first received training in this from a Consultant in statistical test analysis.
• Commitment to confidentiality from collaborators, consultants and writers.
• Security protocol for both the writing of the items and the exchange of information.
• Writing supervised by Consultants in statistical test analysis.
• Items sent to the OAQ for translation.
• Approval of items by the Consultants in statistical test analysis (English and French).
• Approval of the bank of items by the Committee.
• Production of the updated examination is completed jointly by the OAA and the OAQ, in collaboration with their respective Consultants.
• Delivery and administration of a pilot examination, when recommended by the test consultant, prior to the official examination, in accordance with the Committee's conditions and procedures.
  

© Participating Provincial/Territorial Architectural Licensing Authorities, 2011.         Privacy and Legal

	A word about the raise in ExAC fees
	Success rates - ExAC 2010
	General and specific objectives 2011
	References and resources 2011
	EXAC preparation guide 2011
	Equivalencies ARE-ExAC
	Examples of questions
	Alternate forms of project   delivery
	Functionnal programming
	Mastering the Business   of Architecture
	Technical and statistical report for the 2010 ExAC
	Technical and statistical report for the 2010 ExAC: Executive Summary

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