The AIBC’s Fall Professional Development Series is back!
Beginning on October 28, 2026, the series will be delivered online and feature a range of architectural topics, including meaningful Indigenous engagement on architectural projects, electrical infrastructure considerations, and a deep dive into the AIBC Investigation Committee.
Registration is now open for all sessions. Subsidized pricing is available for Intern Architects AIBC and Retired Architects AIBC – to receive the pricing code, please email professionaldevelopment@aibc.ca prior to registering.
A summary of each session can be found below. Additional information about the sessions, including speaker bios, can be found on the PD Opportunities webpage.
Session 1 | Engagement as a Design Practice: A Relational Approach to Listening, Shared Decision-Making and Design
This session is eligible for credit towards the AIBC’s Indigenous Peoples Learning requirement.
This presentation invites architects to consider engagement through what ultimately carries forward into built work. Drawing from experience with public, cultural, and community projects, this session will explore where community direction can become vulnerable, why Indigenous design commitments are sometimes treated as optional, and how architects can help protect the outcomes and commitments of co-design as projects evolve.
The profession has an opportunity to move beyond facilitating good conversations toward creating stronger continuity between engagement, decision-making, and design. Architects can help make authority visible, translate community direction into clear and traceable project requirements, and build accountability into governance, budgets, consultant scopes, and approvals. This work can introduce technical, operational, and institutional challenges, but working through those challenges is an essential part of both the design process and respectful collaboration with First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities.
Ultimately, communities should be able to recognize their knowledge, priorities, input, and influence in the places they helped co-design. This presentation asks what architects can do, individually and collectively, to help make that possible.
Date: Wednesday, October 28
Time: 12–1 p.m.
Location: Online via Zoom
Cost: $50 (Architect AIBC & Architectural Technologist AIBC); $40 (Intern Architect AIBC & Retired Architect AIBC)
Learning Units (LUs): 1 Core
Registration: Register by 12 p.m. on Monday, October 26, 2026
Presenter: Mamie Griffith
Session 2 | Integrating Electrical Infrastructure into Architecture: From Concept to Connection
This session will help architects understand how early design decisions influence electrical servicing, project timelines, and connection readiness. BC Hydro will provide an overview of how they plan and deliver electrical connections, what information is needed from project teams, and how architects can work with electrical consultants, builders, local governments, and BC Hydro from the outset. The session will highlight practical ways to reduce redesign, avoid late-stage delays, and support electrification and power-efficient design.
Date: Thursday, November 5
Time: 12 – 1:30 p.m.
Location: Online via Zoom
Cost: $75 (Architect AIBC & Architectural Technologist AIBC); $60 (Intern Architect AIBC & Retired Architect AIBC)
Learning Units (LUs): 1.5 Core
Registration: Register by 12 p.m. on Monday, November 2, 2026
Presenters: Meredith Toward; Alex Kearney P.Eng.; Mary Congdon P.Eng.; Gil Alho
Session 3 | Designing with Power in Mind
This session will focus on the practical design requirements architects need to consider when integrating BC Hydro infrastructure into multi-residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. The session will cover space planning, access, clearances, transformer and switchgear considerations, electrical room requirements, site constraints, and common design issues that can delay energization. The purpose of the session is to help architects anticipate electrical servicing needs early, coordinate more effectively with electrical consultants and BC Hydro, and design buildings that are easier to connect, maintain, and energize.
Date: Thursday, November 12, 2026
Time: 12 – 1:30 p.m.
Location: Online via Zoom
Cost: $75 (Architect AIBC & Architectural Technologist AIBC); $60 (Intern Architect AIBC & Retired Architect AIBC)
Learning Units (LUs): 1.5 Core
Registration: Register by 12 p.m. on Monday, November 9, 2026
Presenters: Alex Kearney P.Eng.; Mary Congdon P.Eng.; Gil Alho
Session 4 | The AIBC Complaints Process
This session will use a specific hypothetical complaint to illustrate how a matter moves through the AIBC’s complaints process. The discussion will explore issues that may arise at the Intake Stage, the range of actions available to the Investigation Committee, and what happens when a complaint proceeds to investigation – and what happens if it does not. Members of the Investigation Committee will also address questions that were received during their virtual presentation at the 2026 AIBC Conference in May.
Date: Thursday, November 19, 2026
Time: 12 – 1:30 p.m.
Location: Online via Zoom
Cost: $75 (Architect AIBC & Architectural Technologist AIBC); $60 (Intern Architect AIBC & Retired Architect AIBC)
Learning Units (LUs): 1.5 Core
Registration: Register by 12 p.m. on Monday, November 16, 2026
Presenters: Members of the AIBC Investigation Committee