OACETT is Ontario's independent certifying body for engineering and applied science technicians and technologists and confers the designations C.Tech. (Certified Technician) and C.E.T. (Certified Engineering Technologist). For questions relating to whether a certification from OACETT is eligible towards points for immigration or express entry to Canada, contact Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

To learn more about joining OACETT and how to certify, please click HERE.

To apply for associate membership, you need to upload the minimum of proof of legal ID and education (unofficial transcript/diploma).

The requirements to become certified are the same whether you were educated in Canada or abroad. You will need to demonstrate that you meet the minimum requirements in academics and education. Check here to see the minimum requirements for certification.

Experience in the engineering technology or applied science field can be accumulated with one or more employers after graduation. For every job you count towards the two-year minimum, you must provide a job description and a supervisor reference. See the details on preparing a job description here.

OACETT grants credit for co-ops, internships, or other similar programs for up to one year. See details on co-op requirements here.

Yes, as long as your work experience is in a related field and can be verified with a supervisor reference.

The discipline you choose is related to your education, not your experience. The Admissions Committee evaluates your academic requirements based upon the discipline of learning, so if you choose a different discipline you may be assigned additional courses. You can check OACETT's accepted disciplines of registration on our website and contact us if you need further assistance.

If your official transcripts are not in English, translations must be prepared by a certified member of the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO) or other equivalent Canadian association of certified translators. If you attended a Canadian French language institution, you do not need to have your documents translated. More information can be found here.

Members are admitted once per month, typically within the first week of the month. Once admitted to membership, you will be sent a welcome package which includes information on your benefits. You can then log into the OACETT website to access the benefits section.

All applications require an application fee; you will not have to pay an application fee again unless you submit a new or different application in the future.

All members of OACETT, whether certified or not, pay annual dues to maintain their membership once they are accepted for Associate membership. After your first dues payment, your annual dues will continue to be billed on the anniversary of your application. It is your responsibility to pay your annual dues in a timely fashion.

Non-payment of your dues will cause your membership to lapse and you will be registered as resigned for non-payment. If this happens, membership privileges and titles will be revoked and any active applications will not be processed any further.

In addition to your application fee and membership dues, you will be required to pay a fee to write the Professional Practice Exam (PPE) or the Internationally Educated Professional Practice Exam (IEPPE). All members must write the exam before they can be certified. Please refer to the fee schedule for complete details.

Learn about the temporary Associate membership category by reading here.

Arrange for your college to send your official transcripts directly to us. The transcripts must clearly show your program and that you graduated successfully. You will need to complete an application in the member portal and your membership as OACETT will require additional information. There is no fee for the upgrade application. Once we have received all necessary information, the Admissions Committee will review your file and inform you of any outstanding requirements.

You can track your application by logging into the OACETT member portal (the login button at the top of your screen) and navigating to My Membership.

Once your application is complete and your annual membership dues paid, your file goes to the Admissions Committee for review. When the Admissions Committee has reviewed your file, we will send you an email with any outstanding requirements and what level of certification you are eligible for. The entire process takes approximately 4 months.

Delays are most often caused by incomplete or incorrect applications. Make sure you have submitted all parts of your application and that it has been filled in correctly. Be sure that the people you designated as your professional references have completed and returned their questionnaires.

Once you have paid your membership dues, submitted a complete application, and we have received your professional reference questionnaires, then we can begin to assess your application. Assessing your file will take approximately 4 months.

During the file review process, the Admissions Committee will evaluate your education in relation to a 2-year (typically technician) or 3-year (typically technologist) Canadian post-secondary engineering technology or applied science program. If required, missing academics will be assigned. Check here for more information.

All new members are given 3 years to become certified. Members assigned additional academic competencies are given an additional 3 years for a total 6 years to become certified. This is your certification timeline. If your certification timeline expires and you are not yet certified, you will be assigned a CPD cycle. For those whose academics and work experience requirements are already fulfilled, certification can be achieved quickly, often in less than a year.

Log in to the member portal and choose the option “Are you a C.Tech. and have never applied to be a C.E.T. and now want to reclassify to C.E.T.?” There is an application fee of $51.50 + HST. Make sure you complete the application in full and submit new versions of your job description, resume, etc. The Admissions Committee will review your information and assign any necessary competencies to upgrade your certification.

Once your file review is complete and you have received your certification, you can request a second discipline be added to your certification by contacting certify@oacett.org.

You will need to submit an official transcript for the discipline you wish to add, as well as an updated job description. Your file will then be sent to the Admissions Committee for review which takes 16 weeks. There is a charge of $58.20 (including HST). 

Please note that your discipline does not appear on your certification membership card or certificate. 

Experience-level decisions are determined by the OACETT Admissions Committee which consists of OACETT members who are fully familiar with the roles expected of a technologist working in the discipline which the member has applied for. Every experience related document is reviewed by two independent reviewers for fairness and to remove any bias. In situations where the two reviewers do not agree, a third reviewer is assigned to review experience to make a final decision. 

Using the job description(s) and references, the Committee examines the level of complexity and judgement AND responsibility and oversight.  

A technician is expected to make INDEPENDENT DECISIONS according to ESTABLISHED RULES and PROCEDURES such as industry standards or government regulation. The majority of activities are routine, typical or standardized.  

A technologist has a lead role in COMPLEX activities in frequently changing conditions and has responsibility for ALL PLANNING OF WORK and makes major decisions without manager approval.  

Although a member may feel that they are working at the level of a technologist in their industry, OACETT has its own rules and criteria regarding determining experience.  If an applicant’s employment experience documents and references do not match OACETT criteria for a technologist, then the rating of technician will be given. 

Most members begin in the role of technician and progress into technologist roles as their career progresses. The technologist’s experience requirement for C.E.T. may take more than two years to achieve. In some cases, it may even require the member to change employers to have access to these types of roles. 

This would be unlikely. A three-year diploma meets the academic requirement for C.E.T., but education and experience are independent from each other in terms of certification. The experience level is often the one that takes the longest to complete. Most members begin in the role of technician and progress into technologist roles as their career progresses.  

Every applicant’s total employment experience is unique and includes all their engineering or applied science roles, duration of roles, evidence of progression and references. 

Over the years, the Admissions Committee has seen that technologists have been given more responsibilities and that the experience requirements to be a C.E.T. have shifted more towards demonstrating abilities through work experience. This may mean that a job description from before may have met the expectations of a technologist at that point in time, but as expectations have progressed, it may not meet that evaluation level now. 

In order to have your current experience reviewed again for consideration for the level of a technologist, your role must have significantly changed from what was previously provided and the job description details support that by meeting the expected profile of a technologist.  

Once your employment role has progressed to meet the complexity and final oversight of a technologist, and you have been in that position for at least 6 months, you can submit a new job description so that it can be sent to the Admissions Committee for an experience review. You will also need to submit a supervisor reference. 

Job titles are not protected, and an employer is free to choose the name of the positions within their own organization. OACETT does not have control over job postings that list OACETT certification as a mandatory requirement and this can result in misunderstanding of our definition of technologist experience. OACETT staff continue to advise employment partners of the opportunity for them to speak to OACETT prior to releasing postings in order to ensure that they reflect our requirements. 

Yes, the exam is a mandatory requirement for certification. It should be completed as soon as possible after you are made an Associate member. You must pass the Professional Practice Exam (PPE) or the Internationally Educated Professional Practice Exam (IEPPE) to prove your knowledge of your legal and ethical responsibilities to the public, employers, and yourself. Writing the PPE or the IEPPE enables you to meet the high professional standards set by your association.

If you don't remember your password or were not provided one, you can reset/create it by going to https://go.proctoru.com and clicking on "Forgot Password?". Your username is your email address.

If you are a student or you completed your education in Canada, you will take the PPE. If you completed your education outside of Canada and have not completed your one year of Canadian work experience, you will take the IEPPE. Passing the IEPPE will satisfy the OACETT requirement to prove understanding of the standards, codes and practices of the engineering technology or applied science workplace in Canada. Passing the IEPPE means no Canadian work experience is required, which means you can be certified sooner.

Log into your OACETT Portal Account and scroll to the bottom of the home page. Select the "Register for PPE/IEPPE and Seminars" button. Complete the registration process and pay for your exam.

When you register for the PPE or IEPPE, you will receive an email from Captus with a link to the eBook. Download and/or print the eBook study materials. If you cannot locate that email, please contact Captus at support@captus.com.

• Log onto the online proctor website to choose a date and time for your exam when a proctor is available. 
• You must select an exam date prior to your exam purchase expiry date. 
• If you have scheduled an exam time, and now need to reschedule or cancel, you can find details on how to do this in the Instructions for Writing an Online Exam with a Proctor. 
• If you wish to write the exam within 72 hours of scheduling it, additional charges will apply.
• You should schedule to write your exam at least 72 hours before your exam expiry date to avoid incurring additional virtual proctoring charges. If you wish to write within 72 hours of your expiry date, additional charges will apply. 
• If you miss your exam appointment or are late, you will be required to pay the proctoring fee and reschedule your online proctored exam. 

Yes, there are optional online seminars to help candidates to prepare for the exams. The seminars consist of voiced-over PowerPoint slides highlighting the key points on each topic, module quizzes to review the content presented, and a complete practice exam. 

No, past exam papers are not distributed.

Log in to your OACETT member portal, scroll to the bottom of the home page, and click the blue "Register for PPE/IEPPE and Seminars and Purchase Extensions" button. This will tell you whether you were satisfactory or unsatisfactory in your exam attempt. Percentage grades are not available. 

•  You must pass each section of the exam. If you do not pass one or more sections, you will be required to rewrite the section or sections that were unsatisfactory. 
• To register for the rewrite, log in to your portal and scroll to the bottom of the home page. Click on the blue "Register for PPE/IEPPE and Seminars and Purchase Extensions" button. 
• You have three hours to write one or more sections.

• If you need assistance purchasing/scheduling the exam, extension or seminar, or accessing your eBook study materials, contact Captus at support@captus.com or 905-760-2723/1-866-348-7888 (Canada and continental USA). 
• If you have scheduled an exam time, and now need to reschedule or cancel, you can find details on how to do this in the Instructions for Writing an Online Exam with a Proctor.  

No, the Technology Report is required only to become a Certified Engineering Technologist (C.E.T.); it is not required to become a Certified Technician (C.Tech.) Graduates from nationally accredited programs who completed a suitable report while in school will have the TR waived.

Yes, if it is not more than 5 years old. You must still send in a Proposal for a Technology Report first.

OACETT's file reviewers are required to maintain the confidentiality of your report. However, you may contact us and ask for a Declaration of Confidentiality which we will send to you. Technology Reports for which there is a Declaration of Confidentiality will be returned to you once reviewed.

If you have academics left to complete, you may not submit the Technology Report until they are completed. If your file review is complete and you have no outstanding academic requirements, you may submit the TR even if the other certification requirements, including experience, have not been met. However, OACETT recommends you wait until all other requirements are met -- this ensures you are in the best position to write a successful report.

Yes, you should be working on completing all outstanding certification requirements as soon as possible after becoming an Associate member. The Technology Report should be the last step.

There are guidelines available on our website. There are also courses to help you prepare and complete the TR.

You must be a member of OACETT to hold a road construction designation. If a road construction member’s OACETT membership lapses for any reason, then their road construction designation is immediately removed.

• OACETT membership and the road construction designations are two different applications and application processes. 
• There will be two different application fees and two different sets of annual dues. 
• You may submit your road construction application before you are granted OACETT membership, but you will not be given the designation until after you become a member. 
• You must complete all the steps of the OACETT application and you must submit a road construction application.

• All OACETT members are assigned a certification timeline when they become Associate members. The timeline is either 3 years or 6 years depending on the results of the initial file review. 
• For road construction members, following their timeline is mandatory. 
• Road construction members must achieve certification (become a C.Tech. or C.E.T.) before their timeline expires or their OACETT membership and road construction designation are immediately removed.

You will require a combination of road construction work experience and education. Once you have all the requirements for the next designation completed, submit a new Work Experience Log.

• Work experience is calculated in “contract years” as per the Work Experience Log.
• A contract year is defined as seven continuous months (or a minimum of 1200 hours) employed in contract administration on MTO contracts in a single calendar year
• For northwest and northeast areas, a contract year is defined as six continuous months (or a minimum of 1000 hours) employed in contract administration on MTO contracts in a single calendar year

For example:

• Working from January 1 until June 30 is one contract year
• Working from January 1 until December 31 is one contract year
• Working from March 15 until September 15 is one contract year

No. Any work experience gained before graduation cannot be counted towards road construction experience requirements.

In order to advance from rcji, rcsi and rcca, you must pass the required courses. 
 
The Association of Consulting Engineering Companies - Ontario  (ACEC-O), formerly Consulting Engineers Ontario (CEO), is the association that provides road construction advancement courses. 
 
ACEC-O courses are typically offered once a year, in the winter months. It is critical that you register on time.
 
Good Roads (formerly the Ontario Good Roads Association) teaches specialized courses in road construction. If your college education was sufficient to grant you the rcji designation, but insufficient to advance to rcsi, courses will then be assigned before you can become an rcsi.

Yes, this is a mandatory requirement. Only former MTO employees who meet specific requirements are exempt. If you are a former MTO employee, read the Road Construction Designation Guide to find out if you meet the requirements.

Yes, this is a mandatory requirement. Only former MTO employees who meet specific requirements are exempt. If you are a former MTO employee, read the Road Construction Designation Guide to find out if you meet the requirements.

The three road construction designations are a sequential process. It is not possible to become an rcca before gaining experience as an rcsi. You need both courses and experience working as an rcsi before you can advance. To upgrade to rcsi, you must enroll in and pass the HCI Course.

The recertification course is a mandatory requirement for the rcca designation stipulated by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) in agreement with OACETT. Failure to complete the recertification course causes the loss of the rcca designation. MTO is always informed when a member looses their road construction designation.

It is the member’s responsibility to ensure they complete the course and keep their rcca designation current. Extensions are given in extremely rare circumstances such as severe illness or death in the family.

Yes. You must contact OACETT and declare that you wish to be an rcsi. This is not an automatic process. If you do not apply to be an rcsi, you will lose the rcca and have no road construction designation. You can return to rcca status by completing the recertification course within one year from the loss of your rcca designation.

Normally you need experience working as an rcji to apply for the rcsi, and experience as an rcsi to apply for rcca. Only former MTO employees may count their MTO experience against the road construction designation requirements. See the Road Construction Designation Guide for specifics.

If you qualify for the rcca, when you must take the recertification course will depend on how long it’s been since you worked in the construction administration field. This will be determined by the committee once your file has been evaluated. 

To hold a road construction designation, you must be a member of OACETT. Applying to OACETT as a P.Eng. is a relatively simple process. However, a road construction designation may not be required for you to work on MTO projects. Speak directly to MTO to determine if a road construction designation is necessary for you.

You must be a full and active member of OACETT to hold a road construction designation. If you transition to an OACETT retired membership, you will immediately lose your road construction designation. To maintain your road construction designation, you will need to return to paying full OACETT certification dues (not retirement rate dues) and road construction dues, continue completing OACETT CPD, and if an rcca, the Road Construction Contract Administration Recertification Course.

You must be a member in good standing with OACETT to hold a road construction designation. If you resign, your road construction designation will be lost. This includes resigning for non-payment of dues. If you decide to return to OACETT membership at a later date, you must reapply for a Road Construction designation.

 If you have been resigned from OACETT for 5 years or more, you must begin the application process as a new member. You can complete the OACETT and road construction applications on the OACETT portal. 

Simply reapply for a road construction designation using the online member portal. If your road construction designation was removed because you failed to satisfy the conditions of membership (missed dues, no recertification course etc.), you will need to satisfy those conditions before your designation can be reinstated.

You will need to reinstate your OACETT membership and reapply for a road construction designation. Reinstating your OACETT membership follows the usual processes that affect all OACETT members. Road construction designations cannot be simply returned, they require a new application and application fee.

If your road construction designation was removed because you failed to write the PPE or IEPPE  before the end of your certification timeline, then you can remain an OACETT member but you may not have a road construction designation until you are certified.

Yes, once you are a certified member with OACETT you can transfer your level of certification to another province. Not all titles are available in all the provinces. If you are an Applied Science Technologist with OACETT, the requirements for certification may be different in other provinces and you may be asked to complete a Technology Report if you have not done one with OACETT. When applying for an interprovincial transfer your account must be in good standing. To apply to transfer your certification to your new jurisdiction, complete this form and send it to the association to which you are transferring.

To remain a member in good standing, members must continue to pay their annual membership dues. Memberships are not put on hold. You can retain your membership if you leave the country by ensuring that you continue to pay your full dues.

Dual membership is a popular option as it allows for a smooth return to Ontario and is convenient for those working in multiple locations.  To apply to transfer out/maintain your certification to your new jurisdiction, complete this form and send it to the association to which you are transferring.

Check here for all the details.

If you are still within your 3- or 6-year certification timeline, then you do not need to complete CPD. You continue your education by pursuing certification. If your certification timeline expires, you will have to begin CPD in the following January. Read more about CPD and certification timelines here.

If you wish to cancel your membership with OACETT, please contact our finance team at finance@oacett.org for assistance.

Please phone or email the OACETT office for assistance at 416.621.9621 or info@oacett.org. Please also visit OACETT’s Accessibility Standards for Customer Service Policy required under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA 2005).

Phone calls and emails are returned in 2 to 3 business days, although many can be responded to within 24 hours.

Please be advised that OACETT admits applicants and certifies members once per month on our admissions date which falls during the first week of the month. Once all necessary documents are submitted, file reviews can take approximately three to four months, technology report proposal reviews one month, technology report reviews two months, and course approvals two to four weeks.

Please note these are average times and some variation may occur based on availability of an expert in your discipline or the volume of files received.

You can read about access to records by clicking here.

Any document submitted to OACETT as part of an application becomes the property of OACETT. Electronic copies of active members’ documents are kept until such time as their membership becomes inactive. Inactive members’ documents are removed from OACETT’s database after 5 years. Physical documents are digitized and destroyed once OACETT receives them. Do not send documents to OACETT that you cannot replace.