RESOURCES
Intern Program
The Intern Program (also known as the Internship in Architecture Program or IAP) is a standardized process adopted by the eleven provincial/territorial associations of architects in Canada for admission to the profession. The Intern Program has three components:
- Education
- Experience
- Examination
Education
Before entering the Intern Program, an individual's academic qualifications must be certified by the Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB). For recent graduates of an accredited program in Canada, this process is now handled directly between the program and the CACB. For all others, application forms are available from the CACB website.
Candidates who are actively enrolled in either the RAIC Syllabus Program, or in a CACB accredited program in Canada, may be eligible to apply as a Student Member of the MAA at a certain stage and start logging experience (under Intern Program requirements similar to those outlined below).
For more information:
Experience
The Experience component of the Intern Program is a standardized, national system for periodic documentation and evaluation of internship activities. It provides a structured transition between formal education and registration/licensing, allowing the Intern to gain sufficient experience to meet professional standards of practice. The program also encourages experienced practitioners to become more involved in the development of their future colleagues.
Interns have an Employer and a Mentor. The Employer supervises and directs the Intern on a daily basis, while the Mentor is a MAA registered member outside the Intern's place of employment who acts in an advisory capacity to the Intern.
An Intern must complete a minimum of 3,720 hours of mandatory experience in specified areas of architectural practice, in an approved employment setting.
Experience must be documented in the Canadian Experience Record Book, which is included with the Intern Program manual. The experience forms must be signed by the employer and mentor.
CERB forms are available online as a dynamic spreadsheet that calculates figures automatically.
Interns are reminded that each of the individual pages of the form must be initialed by the Employer, prior to submission to the MAA office.
Experience Review Fee
As outlined in the Intern Program Manual, each 900 to 1,000 hours of experience must be submitted for review within eight (8) weeks of the date of the last entry. Fees are applied to late submissions:
| Up to 1,000 hours | $157.50 |
| 1,000 - 2,000 hours | $315.00 |
The fees include GST and must be enclosed with the late submission. The Registration Board will not review any late submissions without the late fees enclosed.
For more information:
Examination
Although Interns formerly had a choice of two different examination streams, this option no longer exists in Manitoba.
ARE
Recognition of the Architect Registration Examination (ARE) administered by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) was sunset in Manitoba on December 31, 2018. This means that the ARE is no longer recognized as satisfying the examination component for registration in Manitoba.
ExAC
The Examination for Architects in Canada (ExAC) was jointly developed by the Ontario, Quebec and Alberta Associations of Architects and is intended to test the minimum standards of competency acquired by an Intern during the Internship period, to ensure both public safety and the professional and skilled delivery of architectural service. It was delivered for the first time in fall of 2008 and all provincial/territorial associations in Canada have now adopted the examination.
The ExAC is administered in a paper and pencil format. Individuals must be an Intern member in good standing and have 2800 hours of experience recorded in the Canadian Experience Record Book and submitted for approval to one of the provincial/territorial associations in Canada, to be eligible to sit for the ExAC.
The ExAC is comprised for four sections, which must be completed over a period of two consecutive days, as follows:
- ExAC Section 1
- ExAC Section 2
- ExAC Section 3
- ExAC Section 4
First time applicants must register for all four sections and must re-take all failed sections at the next sitting. If an Intern fails to successfully complete all four sections over the course of three subsequent sittings, they will be considered a new candidate for the examination and will be required to rewrite all sections of the exam.
Study materials for the ExAC are available from the MAA office.
For more information:
