Student Associate

A student of architecture may apply to the OAA to become a Student Associate, provided that the individual meets the eligibility requirements below. There is no cost to becoming a Student Associate and there are several benefits, including the ability to log experience hours and increased engagement with the OAA.

Eligibility Requirements

An individual must:

• be enrolled in a Canadian faculty, department, or school of architecture offering a professional degree in architecture accredited by the Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB); or
  
• be enrolled in a U.S. faculty, department, or school of architecture accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB); or
  
• be enrolled in the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) Syllabus Program; or
  
• be enrolled in a Canadian school of architecture that has candidacy status granted by CACB; or
• have completed any of the above degrees or courses of study and are awaiting CACB certification; and
  
• be a person of good character.
  

Recently introduced amendments to the province’s fair registration practices legislation mean new rules that affect the path to becoming licensed as an Architect in Ontario. To learn more, click here.

Application Process

If you meet the eligibility requirements, you can submit a completed Student Associate application to the OAA using the following: 

The approval process typically takes about one week to complete. Once approved, Student Associate status is valid until the end of the calendar year. The Student Associate status must be renewed annually; otherwise, the status will become lapsed.

Experience Hours

Student Associates enrolled in a CACB/NAAB-accredited architecture program may submit up to 760 hours to be credited toward the experience requirements of the IAP, with the following stipulations:

1. The experience hours were gained after July 1, 2019.

2. Student hours must be obtained both while the student is enrolled and attending an accredited program of architecture, and while completing the final two years of a CACB/NAAB-accredited Master’s Program.
   

3. Student Associates must have their academic institution complete the Declaration form to confirm their status in the M.Arch program of architecture.

4. Student Associate status is held with the OAA while gaining the experience.

5. Experience hours are obtained in an architectural practice, under the personal supervision and direction of an architect that otherwise complies with the “Acceptable Employment Situation” set out in the IAP Manual.

6. The supervising architect signs off on the experience.

7. A Mentor is required while the experience is gained.
   

RAIC Syllabus students who are Student Associates of the OAA may log experience toward their internship experience requirements. The OAA permits students in the program to accumulate for review all of the required 3,720 hours of architectural experience gained after enrolment in Part 2 of the program in order to satisfy the experience requirements of the IAP.

Key Documents

Refer to important documents below for more information:

Use of Student Associate Designation

The Architects Act governs the practice of architecture in Ontario, and its Regulation 27 (the regulations) further elaborates on the provisions established in the Act. Section 24 of the regulations define “prescribed classes of persons whose interest are related to those of the Association.” One such class of person is the Student Associate, which is defined as follows:

27. (1) Student associates are persons who are of good character, have paid the annual fees prescribed by the bylaws, are enrolled in Canada in faculties, schools, or departments of architecture or other courses of study that are considered by Council to be equivalent to such faculties, schools, or departments and are appointed as student associates by the Registrar.  
(2) A student associate is entitled to receive general information issued by the Association and to attend the annual and general meetings of the members of the Association, but is not entitled to vote at such a meeting.  
(3) Student associate status is valid for one year.  

In accordance with the above, an individual must be appointed a Student Associate by the Registrar after meeting the eligibility requirements.

Meet The OAA

On October 12, 2023, the OAA Interns Committee and Comprehensive Education Committee co-hosted the third Meet the OAA event over Zoom, helping introduce the Association (and its role as regulator of Ontario’s architecture profession) to students, while also sharing more information about the path to licensure in the province. It is available below for on-demand viewing.