Institutional change and admission processes for regulated professions: the case of internationally trained engineers aiming to work in Quebec, Canada

Jean-Luc Bédard and Marie-Pierre Bourdages-Sylvain

Chapter 22 in Research Handbook on the Sociology of the Professions, 2025, pp 335-353 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Recent decades have witnessed increasing complexity in the admission of internationally trained professionals by regulatory bodies, which are under pressure to admit a growing number of foreign candidates whilst protecting the public and ensuring competence to practise. Our chapter examines the admission to the practice of regulated professions for internationally trained professionals (ITPs) in Quebec, taking the case of engineers as a focal point. Firstly, we explore the evolution of governance and admission structures over time, and then we consider how the engineers’ professional order has adapted to these pressures. Utilising a neo-institutionalist perspective, we analyse how the principal actors have implemented changes over time, and to what extent this ecology has managed to apply general principles such as coordination, accountability, transparency, and coherence. The results indicate a growing expertise and a complex process of professionalisation. Our analysis reveals an uneven implementation of fair, equitable, and transparent recognition mechanisms.

Keywords: Internationally trained professionals; Regulatory bodies; Engineers; Admission; Protection of the public; Quebec (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035323074
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