Out of Province Transfers

The holder of a valid out-of-province standardized power engineer’s certificate can apply to transfer their certificate to Alberta to obtain a certificate for the same scope of practice as authorized by the transferred certificate.

The applicant is required to complete application form AB-130, pay the certificate transfer fee and complete the transfer examination. See Power Engineer Certification Transfer Examination page for details.

This examination ensures power engineers transferring into Alberta understand the Alberta Safety Codes Act and Pressure Equipment Regulations as well as the various policies concerning implementation established by the Administrator, all of which promotes safe operation of pressure equipment.

This examination is an online, open-book examination based on the Safety Codes Act and Pressure Equipment Regulations, policy documents established by the Administrator, and information about ABSA as the Delegated Administration Organization. Refer to the AB-269 Syllabus for details regarding these requirements.

The examination will be scheduled online, and the applicant will be contacted by e-mail with the login instruction for the website testing. Once registered, the applicant will have 30 days to log in and activate the account. If they do not activate their account within the 30 days of receiving the login instructions, the login will become invalid and they will have to re-apply to write the examination.

The applicant will be able to access their exam once they have activated their account. The time allowed for the examination is 3 hours within a 24 hour total time period. The 24 hour clock starts immediately once the exam’s “Start” button has been pressed. The applicant has 3 hours (within a 24 hour time period) to complete the exam. The applicant can sign out from the exam and sign back in multiple times within the 24 hour period. If they wait and re-start the examination too close to the 24 hour expiration time, the examination time will not be extended beyond the 24 hour limit. If the time expires before they have completed all the questions, the examination will be closed and the applicant will have to reapply for the examination. The applicant is required to complete the examination and they will be notified that they have been successful.

The examination consists of 50 multiple-choice questions and they are divided up into chapters. The candidate must be successful in completing the examination and the examination is designed for the applicant to repeat a chapter if they have several wrong answers. There is only one correct answer to each question.

The fee for writing the examination is included in the initial out-of-province transfer application fee.

An individual may apply to Alberta to transfer their out-of-province Certificate and/or marks to have them recognized by ABSA. They are required to complete an application form AB-130 and pay the current fee. Completed AB-130 forms can be emailed to certificates@absa.ca or faxed to (780) 437-7787.  ABSA will contact the appropriate provincial authorities to verify the Certificate and confirm the marks.

When an individual transfers examination marks from another Canadian jurisdiction, the individual must meet the requirements of the Power Engineers Regulation with respect to education and work experience in order to continue writing and obtain certification in Alberta.

An individual may apply to Alberta to transfer their out-of-province work experience for consideration in Alberta.  They are required to complete an application form AB-130, complete an experience testimonial used in the appropriate jurisdiction where the experience is earned, and pay the current fee. ABSA will contact the appropriate provincial authorities to verify the experience.

Completed AB-130 forms can be emailed to certificates@absa.ca or faxed to (780) 437-7787.

On April 1, 2009, the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) (now called the New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA)) and the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) (now called the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)) came into effect. These agreements provide that a worker certified for an occupation by a regulatory authority of one Canadian jurisdiction shall be recognized as qualified to practice that occupation by other Canadian jurisdictions.

These agreements resulted in a change in policy. Previous to April 1, 2009, “provincial” certificates were generally recognized at one class lower.

1. First Time “Provincial” Certificate Transfer

Since April 1, 2009, out-of-province certificate holders with a valid power engineer certificate have been able to apply to obtain an equivalent Alberta certificate for the same scope of practice as authorized by the out-of-province certificate.

The applicant is required to complete application form AB-130, pay the certificate transfer fee, and complete the transfer examination. See Power Engineer Certification Transfer Examination page for details.

2. Previous transferees who still hold a valid certificate from another Canadian jurisdiction

An individual that transferred their out-of-province certificate to Alberta prior to April 1, 2009 and obtained an Alberta certificate one class lower, may re-apply to obtain a certificate for the same scope of practice as authorized by the valid out-of-province certificate provided the out-of-province certificate is still valid.

The applicant is required to complete application form AB-130, pay the certificate transfer fee, and complete the transfer examination. See Power Engineer Certification Transfer Examination page for details.