ARTICLES
ACADEMIC AND EXPERIENCE
REQUIREMENTS COMMITTEE
THE ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO LAND
SURVEYORS
Significant Changes
• Essential Areas of Knowledge (EAKs) to be attained
through experience and/or assignments
• Learning Contract to supplement new Articling
Contract
• Web-based Learning Management System for
assignments, exams, resources, progress tracking
• On-line Statutes Exam available “on demand”
• No quarterly Work Reports
• Monitors role changed
Articling Documents
1.
2.
3.
4.
Articling Flow Chart
EAK Master List
Articling Contract
Individual Requirements (Schedule A to the Articling
Contract)
5. Candidate Assessment Form
6. Student EAK Learning Plan
All are available on the AOLS website at Join AOLS/Articling
Essential Areas of Knowledge (EAK’s)
• Focuses on those areas that the AERC deems
essential to a licensed cadastral surveyor
• Competency will be achieved through work
experience during the term of articles
• Articling Surveyor may ask Student to supplement
work experience with assignments designed by
the Articling Surveyor or obtained from the AOLS
Learning Management System (LMS).
• Subject Matter Experts available for each EAK
EAK’s
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•
•
Ethics and professionalism
Business practices
Research
General Boundary Retracement
Descriptions
Easements
Roads
Water Boundaries
Original Township Retracement
EAKs (cont’d)
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Adverse Possession
Spatial Reference
Mining Act
Condominium Act
Planning Act
EAK Sample - Research
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Land Registry Office
Field Notes – sources and interpretation
Original Township Plans, field notes and Crown
instructions
Other resources such as Ontario and municipal archives
Verbal evidence from long standing owners (Use of
formal affidavit)
• Outcomes: Cadastral candidates have functional knowledge of the
historical and modern sources of documentary and field research
required to offer a competent opinion on a boundary retracement
ARTICLING CONTRACT
• 3 (or 4) parties, including the Articling OLS,
supervising OLS (if applicable), student and AOLS
• Onus is on the articling surveyor to provide the
training necessary for the student to achieve
competency in the 14 EAKs and certify same
• Schedule A indicates the outstanding academic
requirements, proposed timelines for outstanding
requirements and exams and the approved
reduction, if any.
ARTICLING CONTRACT – SCHEDULE A
• Attached to the Articling Contract to summarize and
document the student’s individual requirements,
including EAKs, outstanding academic requirements,
lecture course attendance, reduction in term of articles
granted and examinations
• Proposed timelines are included where appropriate
CANDIDATE ASSESSMENT FORM
May be used as a tool to facilitate the
recognition of what the student already
knows and to assist the OLS and student in
designing a Learning Plan to target the gap
areas, and
Must be submitted with a request for a
reduction in the term of articles
EAK STUDENT LEARNING PLAN
• Used by the student and OLS to identify student’s
learning needs, how they will be learned, timelines,
evidence and validation information
• Between the articling surveyor and the student and
not reviewed by the AERC
Sample Candidate Assessment Form Page
Ethics and Professionalism - Cadastral students must understand that protection of the public interest is the
overarching purpose for acting ethically in the exercise of their profession.
Outcome
By the end of the articling term the
student will understand:
 the duties of a Surveyor as a
Member of the AOLS


the Complaints and Discipline
processes of the AOLS
the role of Surveyor as an Expert
Witness
Knowledge
Evidence/Proof
Acquired
(Documentation/information that proves what I’ve learned)
(Y/N)
AOLS Learning Management System (LMS)
• An online Statutes Exam.
• A “Question and Answer” forum for students and Subject
Matter Experts.
• A repository of assignments based on the Essential Areas of
Knowledge. A second repository of response guidelines will
be available for those marking the assignments.
• A forum for tracking the progress of the articling students.
• Relevant reference materials and links to other sites.
STUDENT HANDBOOK
Revised Cadastral version available digitally on AOLS.ORG
• Section A – General Information
• Section E – Cadastral
• Appendices (Forms)
STUDENT HANDBOOK – SECTION A
• General information section
• Details regarding:
–Assignment of Articles
–Reduction in term of articles
–Assignments and Exams
–Cancellation of Articles
STUDENT HANDBOOK – SECTION E
• Experience requirements details
• Lists of Statutes & Areas of Study
STUDENT HANDBOOK – APPENDICES
• Contains all of the Forms you may need during
your articles
• Note: This Handbook and all of the forms are
posted on the AOLS website at “Join
AOLS/Articling”.
TERM OF ARTICLES
• As per Reg. 1026, S.23(4) Term of Articles is 18 Months
(unless otherwise specified by the AERC)
• At least 225 working days (1 year) of practical experience of
which at least 150 days is field experience at the party chief
level or higher
• At least 113 working days (6 months) experience in the
management and administration of professional surveying
Completed to the satisfaction of the AERC
Note: Term of Articles must be completed within 4 years. No extensions
other than parental leave are allowed by the Act.
EXPERIENCE
Cadastral (E:1:1)
• Non party chief practical cadastral experience
includes: - field work (e.g. Instrument person) ;
calculations; indexing; research; plan
preparation (drafting)
• Management and administration of
professional land surveying includes:- client
contact; estimates; contracts; scheduling
projects; staff supervision; research; reviewing
reports and plans; invoicing; delivering final
returns
REDUCTIONS
• Reg. 1026, S.23(5) – Reductions (See Section A:7)
–Prior experience comparable to required working
experience
–AERC may approve a reduction in the required
working experience as they deem appropriate.
–Must submit a completed Candidate Assessment
Form and Reduction Application Form with your
Application to Article
MONITORS (A:8)
Articles will now be “monitored” by a
member of the Academic and Experience
Requirements Committee
Student’s primary contact person for AERC
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS
Available through the LMS to consult with
regarding assignments or questions
regarding survey issues
ASSIGNMENTS
• Articling OLS will decide if a particular
assignment is necessary (e.g. when
student is not exposed to the experience
necessary to gain competency in a
particular area)
• Will be available on the LMS
Articling Surveyor’s/Supervisor’s
Responsibilities
• Ensure the student receives required
training and completes all EAK’s
• Progress reports to monitor via the
LMS every 6 months
• Provide Certificate of Completion
when articling experience fulfilled
EXAMS
ACADEMIC AND EXPERIENCE
REQUIREMENTS COMMITTEE
THE ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO LAND
SURVEYORS
EXAMS
• Statutes Exam – Will be written on-line and
available on demand (after May 2014 exam)
(Pre-approval of venue and invigilator required)
• Professional Examination will remain in late
May & November
• Separate Written and Oral examinations
• Lecture course (late September) – Mandatory
before writing Professional Exam
EXAM INFORMATION
• Appendix L
- Rules for writing AOLS Exams
• Statutes on-line and “on demand”
– Prior approval of venue and invigilator required
• Application to write must be submitted one (1)
month in advance
• Fee is $169.50 for each exam ($150 + HST)
STATUTES EXAM
• Open book, 3 hours long
• 25 short answer questions (4 marks each) and
randomly generated exams (i.e. each exam will
be different)
• 18 questions (72%) on Primary Acts and 7
questions (28%) on Secondary Acts
Primary Acts
Boundaries Act
Condominium Act
Expropriations Act
Land Titles Act
Land Registration Reform Act
Municipal Act
Planning Act
Registry Act
Surveys Act
Surveyors Act
Secondary Acts
The following Ontario Acts will be considered as Secondary Acts for the purposes of the Statutes
Examination:
• Aggregate Resources Act
• Beds of Navigable Waters Act
• Conveyancing and Law of Property Act
• Drainage Act
• Mining Act
• Ministry of Natural Resources Act
• Occupational Health and Safety Act
• Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification Systems Act
• Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act
• Real Property Limitations Act
• Road Access Act
• Statutory Powers Procedure Act
• Territorial Division Act
IMPORTANT!!!
CURRENT
&
UP-TO-DATE STATUTES
Ontario: E-laws www.e-laws.gov.on.ca
Federal:
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/title/A.html
PROFESSIONAL LECTURE COURSE
• Preparation for the professional exam
• Offered once a year in late September
• Must be taken before attempting the
professional exam
• AOLS operations, survey problems, business
ethics & liability insurance
PROFESSIONAL EXAM
• Academic courses must be completed
prior to taking
• Articling Surveyor’s Certificate of
Completion required
• Oral (1 hour) on Thursday and written (4
hours) on Friday
AREAS OF STUDY PERTAINING TO THE PROFESSIONAL
EXAMINATIONS
The professional examination will be
designed to test the student on his or her
understanding of the Essential Areas of
Knowledge
Refer to Sections E:4 and E:5 in the
Articling Student Handbook and the Master
EAK document
ORAL PROFESSIONAL EXAM
• 50-60 minutes in length
• Panel of 3 examiners
• 3 questions
–1) AOLS
–2) business
–3) professionalism & ethics
• 10 minutes to make notes
• May answer questions in any order
• Examiners will expand question
WRITTEN PROFESSIONAL EXAM
• 8 - 10 questions, approximately 100 marks
• 4 hours long
• Closed book
• Past exams available on AOLS website
EXAM MARKING
• Each question is marked independently by 2 AERC members or
assistants
• Variations over 20% (25% for Statutes) are reviewed by AERC
• 65 % is the required passing grade
• Marks provided within 45 days of exam
• May appeal within 30 days of notice letter
• 3 attempts at each, then must sit out 1 year and re-article
• Can retry oral or written portion of professional exam
separately