What are the 34 competencies?
Most Canadian engineering regulators assess your experience against 34 competencies in seven groups. You show each one with examples from your own work, and your supervisor confirms them. Here is each one in a line, in our words.
1. Technical
- 1.1
- Regulations, codes and standards. You know the regulations, codes and standards that apply to your work, and you apply them.
- 1.2
- Materials, operations and design constraints. You understand the materials, operations and constraints that shape a design.
- 1.3
- Technical risk and solutions. You spot technical risks and propose ways to reduce them.
- 1.4
- Applying engineering knowledge to design. You use engineering knowledge to design solutions.
- 1.5
- Solution methods and verifying results. You understand how a solution was worked out and can check the results yourself.
- 1.6
- Safety. You are aware of safety risks in the work and design and act with safety in mind.
- 1.7
- Systems and their components. You understand whole systems, not only their separate parts.
- 1.8
- Project life cycle. You have seen a project through its stages, from feasibility to completion.
- 1.9
- Peer review and quality management. You understand quality control and take part in reviews of engineering work.
- 1.10
- Design intent in drawings and documents. You turn design intent into drawings, sketches and documents others can use.
2. Communication
- 2.1
- Speaking. You explain engineering clearly when you speak, to engineers and to others.
- 2.2
- Writing. You write clear technical documents suited to who will read them.
- 2.3
- Reading technical documents. You read and understand technical documents, drawings and specifications.
3. Project and financial management
- 3.1
- Project management principles. You understand how projects are planned and managed.
- 3.2
- Planning and running work. You take growing responsibility for planning and carrying out work.
- 3.3
- Working within resources. You manage expectations within the time, money and people available.
- 3.4
- Finances and budget. You understand the financial side of your work, such as budgets and estimates.
- 3.5
- Asking for and using feedback. You ask for feedback and act on it.
4. Team effectiveness
- 4.1
- Working with others. You work respectfully and well with people from other disciplines and backgrounds.
- 4.2
- Resolving differences. You work to resolve disagreements constructively.
5. Professional accountability
- 5.1
- Code of ethics. You act with integrity and follow your profession's code of ethics.
- 5.2
- Scope of practice and limits. You know the limits of your own competence and scope of practice.
- 5.3
- Conflict of interest. You recognise conflicts of interest and handle them properly.
- 5.4
- Professional accountability. You accept responsibility for your engineering decisions and their effects.
- 5.5
- Use of the seal. You understand when and how an engineer's seal may be used.
- 5.6
- Knowing your strengths and gaps. You know your own strengths and gaps as an engineer.
6. Social, economic, environmental, sustainability
- 6.1
- Protecting the public. You understand the safeguards that protect the public and the environment.
- 6.2
- Engineering and the public. You understand how engineering work affects the public, and what the public expects of it.
- 6.3
- Role of the regulator. You understand the regulator's role in the practice of engineering.
- 6.4
- Sustainability requirements. You know the sustainability requirements that apply to your work.
- 6.5
- Applying sustainability. Within your role, you consider sustainability in your engineering decisions.
7. Professional development
- 7.1
- Development activities. You take part in professional development activities.
- 7.2
- Knowing what to learn next. You know what you need to learn next.
- 7.3
- Development plan. You keep a plan for your professional development.
Ontario (PEO) has its own version of this assessment, Alberta (APEGA) assesses 22 competencies, and Québec (OIQ) has its own program. Gusset files against these 34 for now.
Sources: PEO, Navigating Competency-Based Assessment (2024); APEGNB, Competency-Based Assessment guidelines. Your regulator's current guide is the authority.
Gusset is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by any engineering regulator or NCEES.