The Provincial/Territorial Architectural Licensing Authorities in Canada (Licensing Authorities) have the mandate to ensure both public safety and professional skilled delivery of architectural services in their respective jurisdictions.  Mechanisms have been established to ensure the competence of architects, both when they enter the profession and throughout their professional careers.  The licensing/registration examination is one of these mechanisms.

In 2006, the Alberta Association of Architects (AAA), the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) and the Ordre des architectes du Québec (OAQ) agreed to develop a new Canadian licensing/registration examination, over which they would have complete control, including control of its development, updates and administration. 

The Examination for Architects in Canada (ExAC) which, to date, all of the Canadian Licensing Authorities have adopted, with the exception of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia, was developed to test the minimum standards of competency acquired by an Intern during the Internship period, to ensure both public safety and the professional and skilled delivery of architectural services.

ExAC based on international standards

The first priority of the Licensing Authorities that developed the ExAC, was to create an examination in French and English, that meets international standards for the development, administration, scoring and reporting of licensing examinations. 

Test Consultants were part of the development teams throughout the entire process.

Development and validation teams of Canadian architects, are guided by the Test Consultants:

• Develop/update the General and Specific Objectives
• Write/update questions based on the specific objectives
• Validate and review the questions to ensure appropriateness of content for all Canadian jurisdictions
• Evaluate question's overall quality in terms of clarity
• Evaluate levels of difficulty, and
• Verify adherence to specific objectives and to standards of practice in the writting of examination questions.
  

In addition, the items are being tested by Canadian architects.  Data is collected to determine the quality of the questions and a standard setting procedure is conducted to establish the cut score. For more information consult the Technical and Statistical Report.

The ExAC, which is composed of four sections, covers the following topic areas as set out in the Internship in Architecture Program

      Section 1

• Programming
• Site and Environmental Analysis
• Cost Management
• Coordinating Engineering Systems
• Schematic Design
• Design Development

      Section 2 

• Code Research

    Section 3 

• Final Project

      Section 4 

• Bidding and Contract Negotiations
• Construction Phase – Office
• Construction Phase – Site
• Project Management

The principal sources of the examination content are the:

• Canadian Handbook of Practice for Architects(CHOP)
• Internship in Architecture Program (IAP)
• National Building Code 2005 edition

Consult the General and Specific Objectives. These objectives define the areas and level of knowledge wich are used to demonstrate competency in the architectural profession. The objectives are a guide for Interns to use in preparation for the examination.

Consult the References and Resources downloadable file for a list of texts, documents and Internet links which will assist you in preparing for the ExAC.

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