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 from each of the three Licensing Authorities, guided by the Test Consultants:

• developed the general and specific objectives
• wrote items based on the specific objectives
• validated and reviewed the items to ensure appropriateness of content for all Canadian jurisdictions, and

  - overall quality in terms of clarity

  - levels of difficulty

  - adherence to specific objectives and to standards of practice in the writing of examination  items. 

In addition, the items are being tested by Canadian architects.  Data will be collected to determine the quality of the questions and a standard setting procedure will be conducted to establish the cut score.   

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

• Programming
• Site and Environmental Analysis
• Cost Management
• Coordinating Engineering Systems
• Schematic Design
• Design Development
• Final Project
• Bidding and Contract Negotiations
• Construction Phase – Office
• Construction Phase – Site
• Project Management
• Code Research

The principal sources of the examination content are the:

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

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.

© Participating Provincial/Territorial Architectural Licensing Authorities, 2008.         Privacy and Legal

	A word about the raise in ExAC fees
	Explanatory note concerning the management of printing errors
	Success rates - ExAC 2009
	Request for review
	General and specific objectives
	References and resources 2010
	EXAC preparation guide 2010
	Equivalencies ARE-ExAC
	Examples of questions
	Alternate forms of project   delivery
	Functionnal programming
	Mastering the Business   of Architecture
	Technical and statistical report for the 2009 ExAC
	Technical and statistical report for the 2009 ExAC: Executive Summary

The most current version of Adobe Reader is required to view publications on this website.