Competency assessment guides
Plain answers to the questions engineering licence applicants ask about the competency-based assessment: how it is scored, how to structure an example, validators, limits and experience months. Each is written from the regulators' published guides, with the date it was last reviewed.
How the engineering competency-based assessment works
The competency-based assessment in plain words: the competencies, the 0 to 5 scale, minimums, category averages, validators and who decides the result.
Last reviewed 27 September 2026
How to structure a Situation, Action and Outcome example
How to structure each competency example as Situation, Action and Outcome: what goes in each box, how long each should be, and how to keep yourself central.
Last reviewed 27 September 2026
Competency validators: who qualifies and how many you need
Who can validate your competency examples and how many each regulator wants: one per competency, at least three or four, and licence rules for Canada.
Last reviewed 27 September 2026
Character limits for competency examples, field by field
Character limits for Situation, Action and Outcome by regulator, which are confirmed, how spaces and line breaks count, and why blank lines overflow.
Last reviewed 27 September 2026
Engineering experience months: what counts toward the minimum
How many months of engineering experience the competency assessment needs, when they start, how co-op months count, and the seven year recency rule.
Last reviewed 27 September 2026
Competency ratings, minimums and category averages explained
How competency self-ratings add up: individual minimums, category averages of 3 or 2, and why a strong average cannot rescue a rating below its minimum.
Last reviewed 27 September 2026
Draft your competency examples before you open the portal
A plan for drafting competency examples offline before the portal: records, validators, examples, counts, ratings and checks, then paste field by field.
Last reviewed 27 September 2026
Why AI-written competency examples are a risk, and why the desk writes nothing
Why AI-written or ghostwritten competency examples put a licence application at risk, what each regulator says, and why this desk only counts and checks.
Last reviewed 27 September 2026
Draft and check your own examples
The desk holds your experience records, validators and a Situation, Action and Outcome editor for every competency, with live counts against the limit and the rating, category and validator checks, each with its rule cited. Everything stays in this browser.