EGBC technical exams, explained

Every P.Eng applicant at EGBC has their academics reviewed against its minimum academic requirements policy. You meet the requirement without exams if your degree is accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB), if a Washington Accord signatory considers it substantially equivalent, or if you already hold an equivalent licence elsewhere in Canada or under a mutual recognition agreement.

Otherwise EGBC assigns exams, and your assignment letter lists the exact codes and the deadline to finish them. EGBC asks you not to sign up for any exam before it has been officially assigned to you.

Experience counts differently while exams are open. EGBC says some experience gained before you clear your assigned exams may not count toward the four years it requires, and that it typically credits up to one year of that experience, case by case, if it was properly supervised and meets the competency-based assessment framework.

EGBC uses two terms. Confirmatory exams are a standard set that confirms your knowledge matches an accredited program. Non-confirmatory exams fill specific gaps found in a detailed assessment. EGBC does not use the label "deficiency exams", although its exam page refers to clearing "assessed deficiencies".

Two details are easy to miss. A failed confirmatory exam is treated as cleared if you later complete the FE exam in your discipline, as long as you are still on the confirmatory route. And applicants with a master's or PhD from a non-accredited institution may choose any three exams from Group A or Group B, and EGBC may waive some based on the graduate program.

This differs from Professional Engineers Ontario, which describes a four-exam program that adds a Complementary Studies exam. Our PEO guide covers that program, and the FE guide covers the FE route.

EGBC also has a Looking to Exempt policy (Policy 1.C) that can waive confirmatory exams for applicants with five or more years of in-discipline experience and a strong validation record. Our CBA guide explains it. Note one rule from EGBC's exam regulations: if you choose the exam route and then fail an exam, you cannot switch to a Looking to Exempt interview.

EGBC sets its exams on the Engineers Canada examination syllabus, so its codes are the ones Professional Engineers Ontario uses: 04-BS for Basic Studies, 11-CS for Complementary Studies, and 16-Civ, 16-Mec, 16-Elec and so on for each discipline. EGBC's schedule often lists more than one code for the same exam, separated by a slash, because one exam can appear in several disciplines' syllabi.

• 16-Civ-A1/07-Str-A1 Elementary Structural Analysis
• 16-Civ-A2/07-Str-A2 Elementary Structural Design
• 11-CS-1 Engineering Economics, which APEGA candidates write under the code 98-CS-1
• 16-Civ-A3 comes in two versions: Elementary Environmental Engineering (national) and Municipal and Environmental Engineering (PEO only)

Always write to the exact code and title on your assignment letter. EGBC's tentative Spring/Summer 2027 list shows which topics it expects to offer; if yours is missing, EGBC suggests switching to another topic in the same session or deferring.

EGBC runs two sessions a year. The deadlines below are for EGBC applicants only; if another regulator assigned your exams, follow its deadlines.

You register through your EGBC online account once exams are assigned. You may spread them over several sessions, but each exam must be completed within seven years of its assignment, and extensions are decided case by case.

After registering, you must create or confirm an account with eProctor Canada, the remote proctoring service, by the date EGBC sets. For Fall 2026 that was August 12, 2026, and EGBC posted the final schedule by August 7. Because of volume, one exam can run over several days, so check your own date and time in your eProctor account. Our dates guide compares the sittings of each regulator.

EGBC exams are written at home or another private room, on AssessBank, with a live proctor from eProctor Canada watching and recording the session. Both services are hosted in Canada. EGBC runs this platform in partnership with APEGA and Professional Engineers Ontario, and the same candidate guide applies to candidates of eleven regulators.

• A desktop or laptop with a webcam and microphone, one monitor, and a stable connection; no phone or tablet
• Government photo ID, and a clear desk with only the aids your exam allows
• Connect with the proctor 30 minutes before the start; there is a 15-minute grace period, and time lost by arriving late is not added back
• Most exams are three hours, and most need written solutions, which you scan and upload within 30 minutes of finishing
• Opening the exam in AssessBank counts as an attempt, even if you stop; not starting at all is a no-show and the fee is lost

Exam content is confidential before and after the exam, including your own rough work. EGBC warns that sharing it can affect your application for registration.

Each exam has its own format, published in EGBC's exam schedule and list of aids. If EGBC does not say an exam is open book, assume it is closed book.

• Format 1: no calculator. Format 2: any non-communicating, non-programmable calculator.
• Open book: printed textbooks and notes only. Digital copies, and any tool that needs a device, are not allowed.
• Closed book: nothing beyond pens and blank paper unless the list of aids names it. Some closed-book exams allow one handwritten 8.5 by 11 inch aid sheet.
• Graph paper templates can be printed in advance but must be blank when the exam starts.

Rules can change between sessions, so check the schedule for the session you register for.

EGBC's fees are in Canadian dollars, subject to GST and non-refundable. For the Spring/Summer 2027 session, EGBC lets you defer free of charge through its online portal until January 31, 2027; after that date no changes are accepted.

EGBC also notes that the federal tuition tax credit can apply to exam fees when the exam is required for professional status. Check the Government of Canada's rules for your own return.

Results arrive about eight weeks after the exam, in your EGBC account, and not by phone. You receive a mark only: EGBC does not return your paper and does not publish solutions. If you think a mark is too low, you can request a re-read within 30 days of the result. The re-read mark is final, even if it is lower, and papers marked between 45% and 49% have already been re-read once by the examiner.

EGBC posts past academic exams from 14 sittings, May 2013 to December 2019, for information only. Exams from 2020 on are not posted, and EGBC does not provide solutions. EGBC says they can differ from current exams in format and content, and that the syllabus texts should be your main study material. Our past papers guide explains how to use them well.

EGBC also states that it does not endorse and is not affiliated with any exam prep provider, and that includes CertNova. If you want structured practice, CertNova's technical exam prep opens in January 2027, and waitlist members get access for $1.