Things have just been made easier for Australian and New Zealand APEC-registered architects wishing to practice in Canada, thanks to a recent tri-lateral agreement regarding licencing laws made between the three countries.
The mutual recognition arrangement will allow for fast-track cross-border registrations of senior architects between the three economies that were already on board the APEC Architect scheme.
The reciprocal exemption means that Australia or New Zealand APEC architects are entitled to registration in Canada without further assessment—except for some country-specific processes—and vice versa for Canadian architects looking for work in Australia.
Australia already has similar agreements with Japan and Singapore, and in September 2014 signed its first foreign architect through the APEC Architect process - Japanese graduate architect Megumi Sakaguchi, who works for PTW in Sydney.
Fourteen ‘economies’ in total have committed to the APEC Architect scheme and the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia (AACA) says the framework facilitates access for APEC Architects to independently practice within those regions.
Kate Doyle, head of the Canberra-based AACA, has previously said that disinterest from Australian architects towards the APEC scheme was partly because it’s unnecessary in most circumstances—you can work overseas in association with a local architect or as a consultant without it. She also said the jurisdictions Australia has specific agreements with – Japan, Singapore and Taipei – weren’t key destinations Australian designers wanted to find work in.
However she did predict that once countries such as the USA and Canada sign on to mutual agreements then joining the APEC Architect scheme will be a whole lot more attractive for Australian architects.
