Credential Assessments
FPRC has developed and adopted a national set of competency-based professional practice standards that all applicants for professional practice are required to meet in order to become registered.
FPRC administers a credential assessment process (CAP) for forester applicants who graduated from non-accredited post-secondary programs both internationally and within Canada. Most provincial regulatory organizations participate in the program. The process involves the assessment of an applicant’s current education, training, and work experience to determine the extent to which they meet the professional practice standards for a specific profession. Applicants who wish to apply to the province of Québec, must apply directly to OIFQ.
All CAP applicants are assessed at the entry-to-practice level of competence expected of a new graduate of an accredited forestry program.
Under this application process, the first point of contact for a potential applicant is the regulatory organization in the province where an individual wishes to practice forestry professionally.
All applicants from non-accredited forester post-secondary programs must participate in a credential assessment to determine if they meet the professional practice standard requirements for entry into the profession. The assessment process identifies gaps in competencies that are reported to the regulator and the applicant.
Regulators then work with individual applicants to determine how competency gaps can be filled to enable registration as a in-training or provisional forestry practitioner.
Forest technologist credential assessments are currently completed by each of the provincial regulators where the profession is legislated (BC, AB, and SK). Please contact the provincial regulator directly.
NOTE: FPRC and all of the member regulatory organizations are not able to assist in immigration processes. Please contact the Government of Canada with immigration inquiries. Job listings can be found on some regulatory organization job posting pages, but the regulators do not assist individuals in finding jobs.
Fees
Fees associated with the credential assessment process are charged per panel assessment.
All applicants must speak to the provincial regulator to discuss the fees applicable to their assessment situation.
Panel A (academic assessment): $500
Panel B (work experience assessment): $500
Combined assessments: $1,000
Graduates of Non-Accredited Programs
(Internationally Trained and Canadian)
INTERNATIONALLY TRAINED INDIVIDUALS & GRADUATES OF NON-ACCREDITED POST-SECONDARY PROGRAMS
The application for the Credential Assessment Process (CAP) is hosted through an external website. The applicant portal enables an applicant to provide the information and materials required to submit an application.
A list of educational credential assessment (ECA) service providers can be found here.
The pre-screening tool can be used by individuals prior to starting an application to determine if their education and experience align with the standards.
Applicants must contact the applicable provincial regulator directly prior to starting an application. Applications are accepted year-round.
A credential assessment process manual has been prepared as guidance for graduates of non-accredited programs. The handbook describes how the assessment process works and the information and documents required when making an application.
Graduates of Accredited Programs
ACCREDITED CANADIAN POST-SECONDARY PROGRAMS
Graduation from a post-secondary program accredited by FPRC automatically certifies applicants as registration eligible for each of the regulatory associations across Canada. The provincial regulatory bodies may impose additional regionally unique requirements to meet competencies specific to the jurisdiction (e.g., provincial forest policy) and generally require a period of work experience that is acquired in addition to any post-secondary program education.
Applicants must contact the applicable provincial regulator directly.
BRIDGE TRAINING FOR FORESTERS
For applicants that have gaps identified in a credential assessment, there are opportunities for bridge training to fulfill the competency gaps.
Bridge training programs are available for foresters which provide training and assessment for the 35 demonstrable competencies required for entry into the profession of forestry in Canada (2008 Certification Standards for the Profession of Forestry in Canada). This training is not aligned with the 2017 forester standards and will be updated; timeline TBD.
Third-party suppliers are responsible for training module registration, setting of participant fees, training delivery and participant evaluations. Please contact the training supplier with any questions about their modules, or to register.
For more details, see the:
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Canadian Institute of Forestry CIF BTPF Poster and CIF BTPF website.
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Lakehead University LU BTPF Poster and LU BTPF website.