Every Intern Architect in Canada follows the same national path: a CACB-certified degree, 3,720 hours in the Internship in Architecture Program (IAP) and the ExAC. The last mile is provincial. Each regulator adds its own rules on local experience, courses, interviews, time limits and residency, and those rules decide when you can actually call yourself an architect. This guide from Examitect, an independent ExAC prep platform unaffiliated with any regulator, compares all eleven regulators and the two territories without one, from the official pages and Appendix B documents as they read in October 2026.
| Regulators | Eleven, working together through ROAC |
|---|---|
| Education | CACB academic certification |
| Experience | IAP, 3,720 hours, plus local hours set by each regulator |
| Exam | ExAC in every jurisdiction; Ontario and Alberta also accept the NCARB ARE |
| Provincial extras | Courses, interviews, oral exams, declarations |
| No regulator | Yukon and Nunavut |
Architecture is regulated by province and territory, but the eleven regulators set their entry standards together through the Regulatory Organizations of Architecture in Canada (ROAC). ROAC's member list names the AIBC, AAA, SAA, MAA, OAA, OAQ, AANB, NSAA, AAPEI, ALBNL and the NWTAA. Three standards are shared by all of them.
The Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB) calls education certification "the first of three mandatory step[s] towards licensure". Graduates of the twelve accredited Canadian M.Arch programs are certified automatically when their school submits its graduate list. Foreign graduates and RAIC Syllabus diploma holders apply through the CACB's other modes of certification. Our guide for foreign-trained architects covers those routes in detail.
The national IAP Manual (4th edition, revised July 2022) says "ROAC requires a minimum of 3720 hours (2 years)". The hours are split into category minimums plus 760 flexible hours:
| IAP category | Minimum hours |
|---|---|
| A. Design and Construction Documents | 2,200 |
| B. Construction Administration | 520 |
| C. Management | 240 |
| Additional hours in any area | 760 |
| Total | 3,720 |
You record the hours in the Canadian Experience Record Book (CERB), signed by a supervising architect who directs your work day to day. The Manual also requires a mentor from outside your workplace in every jurisdiction "with the exception of Québec". Each regulator publishes its own Appendix B with local rules, and that document is where most of the differences in this guide come from. Our post on Category B construction administration hours shows how the category minimums play out in practice.
The ExAC is "adopted by all of the architectural licensing authorities in Canada" (Preparation Guide 2026, p.3). The eligibility page asks for Intern status in good standing, full CACB certification (provisional is not accepted) and at least 2,800 IAP hours approved or submitted by the experience deadline, which was June 30 for 2026. The 2026 sitting is November 2 and 3: four three-hour sections over two days. The ExAC is national and does not test province-specific law, which is one reason regulators add their own courses and interviews. See ExAC structure and timing for the format.
This table sets out the requirements that sit on top of the national baseline, as each regulator publishes them in October 2026. "Local hours" means recent experience on projects in that jurisdiction, counted back from your application for registration.
| Jurisdiction | Regulator | Local hours | Extra steps before licensure | Exam |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | AIBC | 940 on BC projects within 3 years | Four AIBC courses and the Oral Examination | ExAC only |
| Alberta | AAA | 940 on Alberta projects within 2 years | Registration interview; Architects Act course | ExAC; ARE currently accepted |
| Saskatchewan | SAA | 940 on Saskatchewan projects within 2 years | Three years as an intern, set by statute | ExAC |
| Manitoba | MAA | "Currency of experience", no published hour count | Sworn knowledge declaration; three character references | ExAC only |
| Ontario | OAA | 940 within 3 years, any location | OAA Admission Course; Ontario practice competency self-assessment | ExAC or ARE |
| Québec | OAQ | 940 in Canada | Proof of French; two courses after joining the roll | ExAC only |
| New Brunswick | AANB | 940 within 3 years | AANB Admissions Course; possible interview | ExAC only |
| Nova Scotia | NSAA | 940 in Nova Scotia within 2 years | Pre-licensure interview | ExAC only |
| Prince Edward Island | AAPEI | 940 in PEI within 3 years | PEI residency for Registered Members; oral exam on request | ExAC; by-laws also name the ARE |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | ALBNL | 940 in NL within 3 years | Interview on request; undertaking on provincial law | ExAC |
| Northwest Territories | NWTAA | 940 in any of the three territories within 3 years | Northern Reading Requirement after registration | ExAC |
| Yukon and Nunavut | None | Not applicable | Hold a licence from another Canadian jurisdiction | Not applicable |
The 940-hour figure is not a coincidence. It is roughly a quarter of the IAP, which PEI's Appendix B equates to six months of full-time work, and most Appendix B documents use it as the measure of current local experience. If you plan to register somewhere other than where you work, check this row first.
The Architectural Institute of British Columbia regulates under the Professional Governance Act, not a standalone Architects Act, since its transition in 2023. The Architects Regulation reserves the titles "architect", "intern architect" and "architectural technologist". BC's IAP page accepts a provisional CACB certificate to start the internship, and you do not have to be employed to apply.
BC also runs a route no other province has: the Broadly Experienced Applicant, for people with 15 years of architectural experience in Canada over the past 25, at least 10 of them in BC. It still requires the four courses and the Oral Examination. If you are studying for the BC Building Code course, our explainer on the BC Energy Step Code covers one of the biggest provincial differences from the NBC.
The Alberta Association of Architects regulates under the Architects Act (RSA 2000, c. A-44) and is the only regulator in this guide that also licenses interior designers. Its Appendix B (September 2024) is one of the strictest:
Alberta also licenses at two levels: the architect holds a Certificate of Practice and the practice holds a Permit to Practice. New registrants have their names posted for 15 days before they can use the title.
The Saskatchewan Association of Architects works under The Architects Act, 1996, which requires "at least 3 years of work experience under the direction of a person(s) approved by Council". The SAA Appendix B (December 2025) adds three things that catch candidates out:
You must be employed, with a supervising architect and an independent mentor in place, to apply as an intern. We found no Saskatchewan-specific exam, course or interview in the SAA's published material. Firms need a Licence to Practice with liability insurance of at least $250,000 per occurrence.
The Manitoba Association of Architects regulates under The Architects Act (C.C.S.M. c. A130). Manitoba has no admission course or interview. Instead, applicants swear a declaration that they have "read thoroughly and have acquired detailed knowledge" of the Act, the MAA By-law and Code of Ethics, the Builders' Lien Act, and the Manitoba Building Code and Energy Code. Other Manitoba rules:
The MAA does not publish its Appendix B online, and its application form asks only for "satisfactory currency of experience", so ask the MAA how many recent hours it expects.
The Ontario Association of Architects regulates under the Architects Act (R.S.O. 1990, c. A.26) and Regulation 27. Section 13 of the Act sets the personal conditions for a licence: good character, at least 18 years of age, and Canadian citizenship, permanent residence or membership in a recognized organization of architects. The OAA Appendix B 2026 sets the experience rules:
The OAA Admission Course is a "mandatory prerequisite for licensure in Ontario". It runs online three times a year in eight modules, from ethics and the Construction Act to OBC code analysis and contract administration, and you must pass all eight in a single session. You can take it at any time during your internship; the OAA stresses it "is not a preparatory course" for the ExAC. Ontario accepts the ExAC or the NCARB ARE.
A licence is not the right to offer services. Section 11 of the Act requires a Certificate of Practice, which in turn requires professional liability insurance through Pro-Demnity. Ontario also issues a limited licence to Licensed Technologists, reached through a separate technology program rather than the IAP.
The Ordre des architectes du Québec regulates under the Architects Act (RLRQ c. A-21) and the Professional Code. The internship follows the national IAP, but a Québec regulation fixes its shape:
The defining Québec rule is language. Article 35 of the Charter of the French Language lets professional orders issue permits only to people with "une connaissance appropriée" of French for their profession. Three years of secondary or post-secondary education in French satisfies it; otherwise you pass the OQLF exam. The OAQ's page on mastery of French applies this to every route, including transfers from other provinces. Our guide to writing the ExAC in French covers the exam side.
Québec has no admission course before the permit. Instead, new architects complete a 14-hour course on the legal context of practice and office management, plus a course on sustainable and resilient living environments, within two years of joining the roll. Firms do not hold a permit; they are declared to the OAQ, and every architect is covered by the order's professional liability insurance fund.
The New Brunswick, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador Appendix B documents are close to identical: 940 recent hours within three years, CERB submissions within eight weeks of the last entry, and retired mentors allowed if they retired five years ago or less. The differences are in the final step.
The Architects' Association of New Brunswick regulates under the Architects Act (S.N.B. 1987, c. 66), and practising requires a Certificate of Practice. Its Appendix B (July 2026) recognizes the ExAC only and asks for at least 600 hours in at least two occupancies. The AANB Admissions Course is mandatory and has three online modules: The AANB, Practice Management, and Construction Documents and Administration. Modules 2 and 3 "must be taken after the ExAC", and there is no pass or fail score. Appendix B adds that "Interns may also be subject to an interview." An older by-law also calls for six months of the internship to be served in New Brunswick, so confirm how the AANB applies it today.
The Nova Scotia Association of Architects regulates under the Architects Act (2006) and the Architects Regulations. Nova Scotia is the Atlantic outlier:
Every type of architectural business in Nova Scotia needs a Corporate Permit, and licensed architects carry at least $250,000 per claim in liability insurance.
The Architects Association of Prince Edward Island regulates under the Architects Act (R.S.P.E.I. 1988, c. A-18.1). Registration and the right to practise are separate: "Registration as an architect does not entitle an architect to practice", so you also need a Certificate of Practice. Two PEI rules stand out:
AAPEI's by-laws and intern application still name the NCARB ARE alongside the ExAC, but its Appendix B checklist lists only the ExAC, so confirm before relying on an ARE pass. Council may also request an oral examination.
Newfoundland and Labrador separates licensing from advocacy. The Architects Licensing Board of Newfoundland and Labrador (ALBNL) licenses under the Architects Act, 2008; the NL Association of Architects is the professional association, and a licence makes you a member automatically. NL rules worth knowing:
NL also protects more words than most provinces: "architect", "architecture" and "architectural" are all restricted, and the Board's practice bulletin restricts titles such as "Architectural Technologist" as well.
The Northwest Territories Association of Architects is the only territorial regulator. It works under the Architects Act (S.N.W.T. 2001, c. 10), and the NWTAA joined the national group as its eleventh signatory in 2001. Its Appendix B asks for "at least 940 hours of experience in any one of the 3 territories" under an NWTAA-licensed architect, within three years, so work in Yukon or Nunavut counts. Two NWT-specific requirements follow registration:
The Act requires applicants to be Canadian citizens, permanent residents or "otherwise lawfully permitted to work in Canada". Firms need a firm permit unless they are sole practitioners practising under their own name.
Neither territory regulates the profession. The NWTAA's Nunavut and Yukon page says they "currently do not have an Architects Act or similar legislation", and that the NWTAA has no jurisdiction outside the Northwest Territories. In practice, architects working there hold a licence from a Canadian province or the NWT. There is no local intern program either: interns working in Yukon or Nunavut register with a regulator elsewhere, such as the NWTAA, and their northern hours count toward the NWTAA's 940.
Most candidates think about the hours. Fewer think about the clocks, and those are the rules that can cost you years of work. These are the ones published as of October 2026:
| Rule | Where | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| ExAC attempts | Everywhere | Three consecutive attempts to pass all four sections; after that you rewrite every section |
| 10-year internship | Alberta | Complete all experience and exam requirements within 10 years |
| 10-year intern membership | Nova Scotia | Intern membership ends 10 years after admission |
| 10-year ExAC deadline | Newfoundland and Labrador | Pass the ExAC within 10 years of completing the IAP |
| 5-year internship | Québec | Complete the internship within five years of entering the register |
| 6-year exam window | Québec | Pass all ExAC sections within six years |
| 3-year minimum | Saskatchewan | At least three years as an intern before registration |
| Late logbooks | Alberta, Saskatchewan | Logbooks more than six months late (AB) or hours older than 12 months (SK) are not accepted |
There is a quieter cost too. Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba raise intern dues to the full architect rate after five years, and Saskatchewan raises its intern fee after five years as well. In our experience, the retake rule is the one that catches people out most often: not registering for the next sitting counts as a failed attempt. If you are rebuilding after a section, our ExAC retake plan walks through it.
You do not rewrite the ExAC to move. ROAC's Canadian Reciprocity Agreement lets an architect in good standing in one jurisdiction apply to another, showing knowledge of that jurisdiction's architecture laws and paying the same fees as local applicants. The receiving regulator can still apply its own conditions: Québec requires French, PEI separates resident and reciprocal members, and Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and the NWT offer single-project licences for visiting architects working with a local architect. For architects licensed in the United States, the updated NCARB and ROAC agreement took effect on January 15, 2026 and covers all eleven Canadian regulators; our foreign-trained architects guide covers it and the other international agreements.
Most regulators run continuing education on a two-year cycle that starts on July 1. These are the current published requirements:
| Regulator | Requirement per two-year cycle |
|---|---|
| OAA (Ontario) | 70 hours, at least 25 structured, including climate action |
| AAA (Alberta) | 70 learning hours by June 30, 2028 |
| MAA (Manitoba) | 70 hours, at least 25 structured; interns included |
| NWTAA | 70 hours, 25 structured, plus Living Well Together training |
| AIBC (BC) | 36 Learning Units, including 2 Core units on Indigenous history and reconciliation |
| OAQ (Québec) | 40 hours, including 4 in environment, energy and sustainable development |
Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador also use 70-hour cycles, but had not posted their 2026 to 2028 guides when we checked, and the NSAA and AAPEI figures we found were out of date. Check your regulator's continuing education page for the current numbers.
The provincial rules are easiest to meet when you plan for them from the first CERB entry, not the last. Use this sequence.
That regulator's Appendix B governs your internship, so register with it, not just with the one where your office happens to be.
Note the local-hours window, the submission deadline, any occupancy rule and any time limit. Put the deadlines in your calendar.
Observer hours, in-house or government work, part-time work and foreign experience all need pre-approval in most jurisdictions, and none of them can be added retroactively.
You do not need to finish the IAP first. Writing the exam while you finish your hours keeps you inside the retake and time-limit windows.
Courses, oral exams and interviews run on fixed schedules, a few times a year. Booking them late is the most common reason licensure slips by months.
Our IAP to ExAC timeline shows how these pieces line up month by month. The rules change often (Ontario added provisional intern status in July 2026), so recheck your regulator's pages before each submission. When you are ready to start studying, the free ExAC study plan is a good place to begin.
The ExAC is the same national exam in every province and territory, written on the same days in English or French. It does not test provincial law, which is why regulators such as the AIBC, OAA and AANB add their own courses, oral exams or interviews.
British Columbia has the AIBC Oral Examination, and Alberta and Nova Scotia hold a pre-registration interview. New Brunswick says interns may be interviewed, Newfoundland and Labrador interviews on request, PEI may request an oral exam, and Ontario's Experience Requirements Committee interviews some applicants, for example those with foreign experience.
Most regulators ask for 940 recent hours on local projects: within three years in BC, PEI, NL and the NWT, and within two years in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. Ontario dropped its Ontario-hours rule in favour of a competency self-assessment, and Québec asks for 940 hours anywhere in Canada.
Ontario's Regulation 27 accepts the ExAC or the ARE, and Alberta's Appendix B says the ARE is currently accepted but may be discontinued. BC, Manitoba, Québec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia recognize only the ExAC. Confirm with your regulator before relying on an ARE pass.
Yes. Article 35 of the Charter of the French Language requires appropriate knowledge of French for an OAQ permit. Three years of secondary or post-secondary education in French counts; otherwise you pass the OQLF exam. For people trained outside Québec, a temporary permit valid for up to one year can be issued while they meet the requirement.
No one. Neither territory has an architects act or a regulator. Architects working there are licensed in another Canadian jurisdiction, and experience gained there counts toward the NWTAA's requirement of 940 hours in any of the three territories.
No. Under ROAC's Canadian Reciprocity Agreement, an architect in good standing applies to the new regulator, shows knowledge of its architecture laws and pays the usual fees. The receiving regulator can add its own conditions, such as proof of French in Québec.
It depends on the regulator. Alberta and Nova Scotia allow ten years, Québec five years for the internship, and Newfoundland and Labrador ten years from completing the IAP to pass the ExAC. Ontario sets no limit, but several provinces raise intern dues after five years.