FEBRUARY 2014
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environment. De Angelis cites
the example of green build-
ings. “Architects have em-
braced sustainable design and
construction,” he says. “The
RAIC advocates and works
with governments to entrench
policy on sustainability. Not
all governments, federal or
provincial, are using sustain-
able policies or have them
written in their bylaws.”
The RAIC assisted with the
Broadly Experienced Foreign
Architects (BEFA) Program,
which was launched by the
federal government in 2012.
The program streamlines the
licensing of internationally-
trained architects. “About
four years ago, we applied to
the Canadian government and
received a grant,” explains De
Angelis. “We gathered all the
provincial licensing authori-
ties across Canada and for
three years we met and to-
gether created the BEFA pro-
gram.”
The RAIC also helped to fa-
cilitate a new Mutual Recog-
nition Agreement (MRA) be-
tween Canada and the United
States, which came into effect
January 2014. It provides for
the reciprocal recognition of
credentials of architects and
mobility of architects and ar-
chitectural services between
the two countries.
As the voice of architects and
the profession in Canada, the
RAIC lobbies for issues such as
a fair and transparent system
for selecting and contracting
architects and the protection
of intellectual property rights.
It offers practical support to
members such as publishing
contracts, documents, and
handbooks, and providing
Terrence Donnelly Health Sciences Complex Kongats Architects | All photos: Shai Gil
