Founded in 1889, the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) is an independent regulatory body that serves and protects the public interest by overseeing the architectural profession in Ontario, as mandated by the Architects Act. The Association licenses Architects and Licensed Technologists (OAA members), establishes and enforces standards for professional practice and ethics, and ensures ongoing education to maintain competency. By upholding stringent qualification standards and supporting continuous professional development, the OAA helps ensure its members create safe, accessible, and functional buildings that meet the needs of a diverse society.
Through the accountability the OAA requires and the guidance it provides to its members, the Ontario Association of Architects helps shape sustainable, vibrant, and resilient communities across the province. In its commitment to fairness, responsive regulation, and the protection of the public interest, the OAA inspires excellence in architecture that serves society.
At the end of 2023, there were 4,924 Architects and 1,961 practices in Ontario. Additionally, 1,991 Intern Architects, 624 Student Associates, and 236 Retired Members held status with the OAA.
An Ontario in which architects are valued contributors to society, by creating a safe and healthy built environment that performs at the highest levels and elevates the human spirit.
The principal object of the Association is to regulate the practice of architecture and to govern its members, holders of certificates of practice (CoPs), and holders of temporary licences in accordance with the Architecture Act (the Act), Regulation 27 (the regulations), and the OAA Bylaws in order that the public interest may be served and protected.
For the purpose of carrying out its principal object, the Association has the following additional objects:
1. To establish, maintain, and develop standards of knowledge and skill among its members.
2. To establish, maintain, and develop standards of qualification and standards of practice for the practice of architecture.
3. To establish, maintain, and develop standards of professional ethics among its members.
4. To establish and maintain, or to assist in the establishment and maintenance of, classes, schools, exhibitions or lectures in, and to promote public appreciation of, architecture and the allied arts and sciences.
5. To perform such other duties and exercise such other powers as are imposed or conferred on the Association by or under any Act.
In response to the recommendations of the OAA’s 2021 operational review, the OAA engaged the firm of Kathy McLaughlin & Associates to develop a five-year strategic plan for the Association and its governing Council. This process began with a detailed consultation process, which produced a situation analysis that confirmed the OAA’s mandate, clarified its vision, and allowed for the creative work of identifying strategic goals and priorities for the coming years.
In reviewing the OAA’s mandate, Council reconfirmed a clear commitment to focus on the primary objective of the OAA as a professional regulator—a mandate legislated for provincial regulators like the OAA by the provincial government and coming directly from the Architects Act.
The five-year strategic plan includes the OAA’s commitment to address two very important environmental and social governance themes over the next five years (to 2027): Climate Action and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. These will act as lenses through which the OAA’s work will be viewed in order to ensure it positively aligns with the principles.
The plan also has four clear foundational goals that will be pursued over the coming years: Regulatory Leadership, Governance and Operations, Member Competency, and Public Education. Each goal has a statement defining what successful progress will look like, along with the important initiatives that will be pursued to get there. Each goal has a set of measurable targets to allow continual monitoring or progress.
OAA Council has committed to leveraging its investment in this new strategic plan by adopting a discipline to operationalize the plan by aligning staff and Committee work, as well as all new initiatives, toward these strategic goals. A new decision-making framework has been adopted to ensure continued alignment. This strategic plan will be reviewed annually to ensure it remains current and relevant. To learn more, click here.