Photo of Mila Wagner at work. (Photo supplied by Calico Communications)

By Mario Cabradilla

More opportunities needed for foreign-trained applicants

Jun 15, 2022 | 10:16 AM

EDMONTON, AB – The Association of Science & Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET) is making it easier for refugees in the engineering technology field to receive their accreditation in Alberta.

ASET is the professional regulatory organization for Certified Engineering Technologists (CET), according to Alberta ALIS (career, learning and employment information for Albertans). Applicants must register with ASET to use the CET title under Alberta’s Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act and ASET Regulation.

On May 24, 2022, ASET waived the application fees for refugees attempting to become CETs, which can go up to around $1,000 over time.

The waived fees include the application fee, prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) fee, ASET professional practice exam fee, and certification exam fee.

ASET says it also launched the competency-based program in 2016 as an alternative approach to going back to school full-time. The program aims to help foreign-trained engineering technology professionals establish their careers faster by examining their competence.

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Barry Cavanaugh, CEO of ASET, says a goal of ASET’s initiatives is to level the playing field for CET applicants. Cavanaugh stated that it is important to treat everybody fairly.

“[Refugees] are people who are experiencing some real hardship in their lives and we don’t need to make it worse,” said Cavanaugh. “As far as ASET is concerned, we simply decided we don’t want to put any financial hardship in the way, [because] if people have refugee status, they’re already behind the eight ball.”

“It’s an opportunity for them to prove what they’re qualified to do and to be able to do it,” he said. “I think that’s how foreign-trained applicants should generally be treated.”

Mila Wagner, a Ukrainian who came to Canada in 2016 after Russia’s invasion of Crimea, advises Ukrainian refugees and people starting life in Canada to become fluent in English, reach out for support, and learn where to begin, similar to how she received support from ASET as a foreign-trained CET.

“It would be so important to know where to go, where to start, and especially when you’re going to live in a different country and start the new life here in Canada,” she says.

Barry Cavanaugh added that while engineers and engineering technologists work in the same field, there is an essential distinction between the two professions.

He explains that while engineering technologists do not sign off on major projects and do not do the “higher order of mathematics and design,” they still use the established principles of engineering and its codes and standards.

ASET CEO Barry Cavanaugh. (Photo supplied by Calico Communications)

According to Cavanaugh, there are approximately 22 disciplines in the field of engineering technology.

“[Engineering Technology] range from mechanical engineering technology to electrical engineering technology, civil, biomedical, artificial intelligence,” he says, “a huge range and hundreds of different occupations within us.”