A new bilateral architecture partnership between Canada and the U.K. is being billed as an initiative that could help both countries better grapple with their respective housing challenges.
Last month, the governing bodies of the architecture profession in Canada and the U.K. signed a reciprocal agreement allowing architects in each country to more seamlessly practise in the other.
“As the government here and federally seeks to address housing issues, it can only be helpful if there’s greater capacity in the architectural profession and there’s a greater set of ideas and innovation to draw on,” said Rob Tinline, British High Commissioner to Canada.
Tinline, the U.K. government’s representative in Canada, said it’s an example of the two allies leveraging their close relationship for mutual success.
“We’re a free-trading country. We believe that the more you can break down those barriers, the better it is for everyone. So absolutely, we will be looking with other professions to see where there are opportunities to do something like this more broadly,” he said.
Each country has specialized architectural expertise that can be exchanged, Tinline added.
“The U.K. has quite a bit of experience in redeveloping sites that have been redeveloped many times before over the course of decades or even centuries,” he said.
“Vancouver has more experience … in seismic or in other issues where U.K. architects might want to draw on it. And just that interplay of different cultures, different ideas, different experiences can only enrich the architecture on both sides.”
As of May 16, three days after the agreement came into force, 41 U.K.-registered architects had submitted applications to practice in Canada, 34 of whom live in Canada already. Three Canada-registered architects had submitted applications to work in the U.K., though “many more” are anticipated in the coming weeks given the “high volume” of inquiries, said a statement from provincial regulator Architectural Institute of British Columbia (AIBC).
Architects see tech-driven risk
The enhanced mobility program, signed by the Regulatory Organizations of Architecture in Canada and the U.K.’s Architects Registration Board, comes as architects in both countries witness changes to their profession, including the creeping introduction of artificial intelligence into workflows.
Although this may provide quick design, it creates big risks. Providing prompts to an AI generator and selecting AI outputs creates situations where authorship and provenance is “unknowable,” said Ian McDonald, partner with Vancouver-based Carscadden Stokes McDonald Architects Inc.
And crucially, architects in Canada have a duty to the public first, he said.
“The likely danger in relying on AI for this portion of their work is that it downloads the architect’s professional responsibility to distant software developers who are not concerned with the safety of the Canadian public,” he said.
Meanwhile, the new Canada-U.K. partnership could simultaneously expand the available pool of architects in B.C.
There are currently about 2,500 architects registered with AIBC, which said in a statement the profession in B.C. is seeing “strong demand” particularly in rural areas outside of Metro Vancouver.
“I suppose some architects might be anxious about an increase in competition, like more architects swimming in their waters, but I don’t think that this is a large risk,” said McDonald.
“This is really just going to apply to large, multinational firms or firms with highly specialized skill sets. I don’t think it will have much impact on architects that do three-storey walk-ups and townhouses in Kamloops.”
Reciprocity comes too late for some
There are various paths to licensure with the main goal of protecting the public and ensuring rigorous standards.
The majority of architects in B.C. register through a pathway that requires the individual to meet education requirements, log experience hours, complete mandatory professional development courses and pass examinations.
Individuals with international experience can have their credentials reviewed and vetted through alternative pathways that require demonstrable experience and assessments to determine equivalency. If they are already registered in a foreign jurisdiction, they may qualify to register with AIBC under a mutual recognition agreement.
The Canada-U.K. partnership is the newest mutual recognition agreement, available to architects in the two countries. The agreement gives eligible architects in the U.K. and Canada a new, dedicated pathway to practice in each country, provided they submit the required paperwork and fees.
“I think this will be good for young architects in particular. In lean economic times, mobility is a real asset for young architects,” McDonald said.
Scott Kemp was born and raised in Vancouver, did an engineering degree at University of British Columbia and then completed architectural studies in the U.K. After working in London and registering in the U.K., he worked on jobs in Japan and Berlin before moving back to Canada around 1994.
Although he had almost a decade of architectural work experience at that point, his qualifications were not recognized.
“I had to do the whole internship again here in Canada. I had to get my degree certified and then log my hours, do exams, do an oral exam, so in my opinion that wasn’t the way it should be done,“ he said.
“To have to do it twice, to me, didn’t seem very fair.”
After registering domestically in 1996, Kemp now works with remote Indigenous communities throughout B.C.
“We’ve done traditional longhouses, we’ve done cultural centres, health centres, daycares, eco-resorts, everything,” he said.
While he is a sole practitioner, he often collaborates with young architects, gives them access to his portfolio and helps them market themselves.
He still has his U.K. registration, and while moving there at this stage of his career is unlikely, he said he is “definitely” interested in doing future projects there.
Could pact help housing?
The new Canada-U.K. partnership comes as both countries get new elected leaders focused on improving housing supply and affordability.
“In the end, the top priority for both prime ministers and both governments is, how do we get that growth going, that trade going that really lifts the living standards of our people?” Tinline said.
In its statement, AIBC said some housing improvement “may be possible, but its impact would likely be minimal compared to the broader factors and constraints affecting housing costs.”
A direct boost to housing supply or affordability may be a stretch, said McDonald.
“Architecture … does not have its hands on the levers of power or money at any time. We do not control government policy about pushing housing, and we don’t control financing of housing projects,” he said.
Still, architects have a critical role to play in the housing equation, McDonald said, by establishing a unifying vision and bringing all stakeholders and building elements together.
“Architecture is the seam in between all the puzzle pieces,” he said.
