CAREERS IN ARCHITECTURE

Experience

The Experience component of the IAP 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 an architect outside the Intern's place of employment who acts in an advisory capacity to the Intern.

An Intern must complete a minimum of 5,600 hours of work experience in an approved employment setting, including a minimum of 3,720 hours of mandatory experience in specified areas of architectural practice.

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.

To enroll as an Intern, an individual's academic qualifications must be certified by the Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB). This is a straightforward process for graduates of a CACB or NAAB accredited program.

Candidates are eligible to start logging experience as a Student Member of the MAA once they have completed at least 50% of a CACB accredited degree program (or Part 1 of the RAIC Syllabus Program).

For more information:

Internship in Architecture Program (PDF Format; 91 KB)

Guidelines for Mentors and Employers (PDF Format; 69 KB)

Experience Area Description (PDF Format; 181 KB)