Recording Experience
You may record experience gained after you have been appointed to Intern Technologist status with the OAA. Under certain circumstances Student Technologists may also record up to 1,000 hours of experience.
All experience must be recorded in the Experience Record Book (ERB), reviewed and signed/certified by the Supervising Professional and Mentor [ADD link], and submitted to the OAA for review and approval. All experience hours are subject to review to ensure they meet the required professional standards. Experience may be documented in the online ERB or the ERB (pdf).
Intern Technologists must complete a minimum of 5,580 hours of appropriate and varied work experience in specific categories, on at least three different building types, gained in an acceptable employment situation.
The OAA Technology Program Guide provides direction on acceptable employment situations, definitions of the experience categories, and the currency requirement. It is important to regularly review the Guide when unsure about the categories of experience within the ERB.
Currency of Experience
At least 940 hours of the experience must be completed within the three years before the date on which you make application for the limited licence.
All Intern Technologists must complete a minimum of 5,580 hours of architectural experience as outlined in the Guide. If fewer than 940 hours of that experience is obtained on projects within Canada, the Intern Technologist must familiarize themselves with Canadian practice by completing all four modules of the Practice of Architecture in Canada course offered by the Regulatory Organizations of Architecture in Canada (ROAC) prior to application for limited licence.
Ontario Practice Competency Self-Assessment
At the time of creating each Experience Record Book submission, Intern Technologists are encouraged to determine if any activities within the ERB experience for that period may be applicable to any of the 10 key competencies in the OTP Ontario Practice Competency self-assessment submission.
International Experience Gained Prior to Enrolment in the OTP
Internationally educated individuals may submit post-graduate international architectural experience gained prior to enrolment in the OTP for review.
If any international experience gained while not in the OTP forms part of the experience submission at the time of making application for limited licence, the applicant will be required to attend for an assessment interview with the OAA Experience Requirements Committee (ERC). Refer to the Guide for further details.
All individuals enrolled in the OAA Technology Program should be aware the ERB is now online. It is the expectation of the OAA that all submission will be made via this portal.
Should Intern Technologists need to submit a PDF version of their ERB), please note that it has been updated. In addition to minor formatting and style changes, the new version offers more space to include experience information that will assist in the review process, including an additional page where participants in the program must elaborate on activities undertaken for each of their projects. The ERB itself can now accommodate up to 10 projects.
It is important ERB submissions receive a comprehensive assessment to ensure the Program requirements are being met. To accomplish this, it is the expectation that experience submissions include thorough activity descriptions. This will enable reviewers to perform their assessment of the submissions and support any ensuing dialog. For more information, review the Guide to the OAA Technology Program Experience Record Book.