The major component of the AIBC’s transition to the Professional Governance Act is the development of new bylaws which meet the requirements of the PGA. The first suite of draft bylaws shared with registrants for review addressed registration and licensing. These bylaws were developed by AIBC staff, with assistance from the Bylaw Review Committee, the AIBC Council PGA Bylaw Working Group and iterative review and feedback with the Office of the Superintendent of Professional Governance (OSPG).
Registration and Licensing Bylaws Overview
Overall, the Registration and Licensing Bylaws (PDF) provide a more modern approach to admissions of individuals and firms as AIBC Registrants, and allow for more flexibility on admissions standards than the ‘hard-wired’ requirements in the Architects Act.
Registrants will have noticed that much of the AIBC’s current registration and qualifications standards and processes have been ported over from the Architects Act, Bylaws, and Bulletins where appropriate. For example, the ‘registrant categories’ would remain the same: Architect, Intern Architect, Architectural Technologist, Temporary Licensee (Architect) and Firm Registrant, along with Honorary Member as a legacy category. Current registration pathways through internship and Canadian and international reciprocity are enshrined in the bylaws, as are concepts such as majority ownership of architectural corporations by architects.
In other areas, new terminology and concepts have had to be established. Under the PGA, a “Credentials Committee” will replace the current Registration Board, with the primary task of reviewing and making decisions on applications for admissions and reinstatements of registrants. The Committee must have public (lay) member participation, and its decisions have a more formal review process, set out in these draft bylaws.
Other changes included:
- Moving admission requirements out of the Architects Act and into Bylaws, with use of schedules for detailed information such as the Internship in Architecture Program requirements;
- The appointment of an architect as a “Firm Representative” for communication with the AIBC;
- More refined regulation of partnerships as business vehicles, including the ability of architectural firms to be established as Limited Liability Partnerships;
- Greater transparency of public information on the AIBC Register, as required under the new legislation; and
- More use of defined terms for clarity and consistency in the bylaws and all AIBC documents as the PGA transition continues.
Read the full Draft Registration and Licensing Bylaws (PDF)
Supporting Documentation
- Draft Registration and Licensing Bylaws (PDF)
- Draft Definitions (PDF)
- Draft Schedules
- Schedule 1: Internship in Architecture Program (IAP) Requirements (PDF)
- Schedule 3: Professional Liability Insurance (PLI) Terms and Conditions (PDF)
- Schedule 4: Broadly Experienced Applicant Program Requirements (PDF)
- Schedule 5: Broadly Experienced Foreign Architect Program Requirements (PDF)
- Schedule 8: Mutual Recognition Agreements for Registration (PDF)
A number of ‘drafting comments’ arising out of the analysis and drafting of the bylaws were included as footnotes to elaborate or explain certain aspects of the draft material.
Please note at the time of publishing the above resources, the other schedules were still in development.
Consultation
Architects and other registrants were invited to review and provide feedback to this initial suite of draft bylaws by emailing pga@aibc.ca. The AIBC encourages active participation in the consultation process – in the past, bylaw suites have often been amended based on thoughtful and insightful comments from registrants.