Engineers Canada
Engineers Canada

The Washington Accord and Its Purpose

The Washington Accord is an international agreement between bodies responsible for accrediting (undergraduate) engineering degree programmes.  The Accord sets standards for engineering education, and is intended to assist with the mutual recognition of engineering qualifications globally.  Engineers Canada has been a signatory since the Accord began in 1989. 

Benefits of the Washington Accord:

  • An agreement that was put in place by a number of international signatories, recognizing their approaches and systems for accrediting engineering programs as comparable. 
  • By extension, the parties intended for the substantial equivalence of these programs to be recognized in satisfying the academic requirements for the practice of engineering at the professional level in their respective countries.

Robust Accreditation Monitoring

The accreditation processes of each signatory country are monitored every 3-6 years to ensure they maintain their comparability with all member signatories. CEAB members are involved in this ongoing diligence in other countries.

  • Intended to expedite academic portion of application reviews

Signatories to the Accord (year of first graduates to which the Accord applies)

For more information: The International Engineering Alliance (IEA)