Negotiations between the European Union and Canada have resulted in a draft Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) which, for the first time, will recognize professional qualifications of architects on both sides of the Atlantic.
However, there is one final step required: the revised text of the draft needs to be approved by the individual architectural regulators in Canada.
Any MRA with the EU needs endorsement from provincial and territorial regulators. The Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) is the largest provincial regulator of architects in Canada.
“The OAA has been part of a long set of negotiations between the Regulatory Organizations of Architecture in Canada (ROAC) and the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) over a number of years to reach an agreement for mutual recognition of license between Canada and the European Union member states,” said OAA executive director Kristi Doyle in a statement to the Daily Commercial News.
The agreement, signed March 10, will remove most of the bureaucratic obstacles for EU architects seeking to provide their services in Canada and vice-versa for Canadian architects, allowing them to work more freely.
“A draft mutual recognition agreement was reached, which was then subject to further negotiation between the Canadian government and the European Union as it was to be a direct appendix to CETA — the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement,” Doyle explained in the statement. “That process has now concluded, but there remains a final step — the revised text of this draft now needs to be approved by the individual architectural regulators in Canada.
“This is because CETA is a federal document, but the responsibility for the licensing of architects in Canada remains with the provincial and territorial architectural regulators, like the OAA in Ontario,” continued Doyle. “I am anticipating this final approval stage will take place over the course of the coming months and conclude this fall. An announcement will be made by ROAC once there is final approval by the individual architectural regulators.”
Once the MRA comes into effect, architects meeting certain qualification- and experience-based criteria will have their qualifications recognized by the European and Canadian authorities.
Both EU and Canadian architects will have to register with the local authorities to get permission to work and EU architects in Canada will additionally have to complete a one-off 10-hour course.
“The MRA is planned to come into effect in early 2023, and once it does, it will be a regulatory breakthrough for the EU,” states a release issued by the European Commission. “This MRA is the first of its kind which the EU has negotiated. Its successful conclusion could lead to more MRAs, and the creation of new business opportunities, in the future.”
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