Why CBA reports get rejected
Most Canadian engineering regulators now use Competency-Based Assessment (CBA) to evaluate your experience before licensing. APEGA uses a 22-competency framework. EGBC, PEO, and others use the 34-competency Engineers Canada model. Either way, you are expected to demonstrate each competency with a clear, specific work example.
The most common reasons reports come back for revisions:
- Examples too vague or too high-level. Reviewers cannot see your contribution.
- Missing the STAR structure: Situation, Task, Action, Result.
- Examples that demonstrate the wrong competency, or only part of the indicator.
- Insufficient technical depth at the indicator level the regulator expects.
- Generic project descriptions that could apply to anyone on the team.
A second set of eyes from someone who has been through the process catches these issues before submission, so you do not waste a review cycle waiting to hear back from your regulator.