The state of engineering program accreditation and quality assurance in Canada

Abstract

The accreditation system for engineering education as it is implemented in Canada is described in terms of a brief history, and an explanation of the approach which it incorporates. It includes a quality assurance component, but also provides for the preparation of graduates for proceeding to professional licensure. The internationally focused activities conducted to ensure Canadian awareness of the relationship of its system to those which are in place elsewhere in the world and which facilitate obtaining mutual recognition between its and other national accreditation systems is explained. The nature of the active Canadian program of assistance to countries which are on a path to developing their own accreditation systems is presented. Current activities associated with its shift into the more outcomes-based assessment approaches which are increasingly being used in the world, and the future challenges presented by this trend and by the emergence of potential new engineering disciplines close the paper. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2008.