References

As part of an application to become a Professional Member or Licensee, you must have at least 3 references who can validate a minimum of 48 months of work experience.

APEGA uses a short and comprehensive reference questionnaire that lets an applicant’s references confirm their:

A reference must be a Professional Engineer or Professional Geoscientist who had direct responsibility for an applicant’s technical work. If the applicant’s direct supervisor was not a Professional Engineer or Professional Geoscientist, they will need to provide a direct supervisor as a reference along with a Professional Engineer or Professional Geoscientist who can confirm the duration and quality of their experience. 

If the reference is not a Professional Engineer or Professional Geoscientist licensed in Canada, they will be asked to provide a current resume outlining their academic and experience qualifications.

Individual periods of an applicant’s work experience may be referenced by two or more individuals, but each reference needs to be presented on a separate page of the Work Experience Record.

Submitting References

Applicant’s will provide a reference's name and current contact information on their Work Experience Record in the spaces provided. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure the provided information is correct. This needs to be confirmed with their references before submitting the application.

To maintain the integrity of our referencing process, APEGA only accepts professional, academic, or paid email addresses (e.g., TELUS, Shaw, Rogers). Unpaid, generic email addresses, like Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail, are not accepted by our system.)

If an applicant’s reference does not have a non-generic email address, we can send the Reference Questionnaire, via Canada Post, to his or her personal or business mailing address. The standard reference check can only be conducted via email or physical mail. All reference questionnaires must be sent directly to the reference from APEGA and must be received by APEGA directly from the reference.

If an applicant is providing multiple references for one position, create an additional work record for each reference.

Applicant’s wishing to change a reference or the contact details, email their Applications Administrator with:

  • Their APEGA ID
  • The reference's name
  • The information the applicant wishes to change

To protect against applicants who falsify work experience, use fraudulent references, impersonate references, deploy fake websites, or use other unethical practices, APEGA conducts quality assurance audits and may independently confirm the validity of reference responses through phone, email, or other means. Applicants found using unethical practice will be immediately investigated by APEGA.

Reference Questionnaires are confidential and will not be released to the applicant unless the application has been refused and the applicant has requested a Section 32 Appeal. In the case of an appeal, the Registration Department is required to provide all the application documentation to the Appeal Board and the applicant.

Reminders and Re-sending Questionnaires

Once APEGA staff have processed the reference questionnaire, the system will send a notification email to the applicant, and the requirement will show as received in their myAPEGA portal. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the reference questionnaires are returned in the required time frame. Therefore, we encourage all applicants to communicate with their references often. 

If a reference did not receive, has lost, or deleted the questionnaire, the applicant can request to have it resent by contacting their Registration Program Administrator with the following information:

  • APEGA ID
  • Reference's name
  • Reference's contact information

All requests to change a reference or resend a questionnaire must be emailed to the Registration Program Administrator. APEGA staff will not accept telephone or in-person requests.