Are the NPPE and the Professional Exam (L’Examen Professionnel) the same?

The answer is NO. However, a bit of background is needed to respond appropriately. There is a total of 15 associations o f professional engineers and geoscientists in Canada. The NPPE exam is used by 13 of them and its questions are exactly the same for all 13 (EGBC, APEGA, APEGS, EGM, PEO, PGO, APEGNB, EPEI, ENS, GNS, PEGNL, EY, and NAPEG.) The remaining 2 associations (OIQ and OGQ from Quebec) each use their own exam and both refer to it as the Professional Exam or L’Examen Professionnel. Now, topic areas, the recommended study materials, format, and duration of the NPPE and those of the Professional Exams of OIQ and OGQ are as follows:

NPPE exam (13 associations):

1. Professionalism
2. Ethics
3. Professional Practice
4. Law for Professional Practice
5. Professional Law
6. Regulation of Members & Discipline Processes

The owners/administrators of the NPPE exam publish a list of recommended study materials that include four textbooks and 9 documents. The exam consists of 110 multiple-choice questions and lasts 2.5 hours.

Professional Exam (1 association: OIQ):

1. The professional system, the Association of Engineers of Quebec (OIQ: Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec), the social role and the professional development of the engineer
2. Ethics, deontology, and professionalism
3. The applicable laws and regulations
4. The standards of professional practice

OIQ publishes a 781 pages compendium of study documents in a single volume available only in French that they refer to as the “Integral Material to Prepare for the Exam” and these can be accessed through this link. The exam consists of a variable number of multiple-choice and true/false questions and lasts 3 hours.

Professional Exam (1 association: OGQ):

1. The professional system, the Association of Geoscientists of Quebec (OGQ: Ordre des Géologues du Québec)
2. Ethics, deontology, and professionalism
3. Contracts, standards, and responsibilities
4. Other laws and regulations that frame the work of the geoscientist

OGQ also publishes a 172 pages compendium of study documents in a single volume that they refer to as the “Preparatory Notes for the Professional Exam” and these can be accessed through this link. Some other complementary documents are also referenced. The exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions and lasts only 2 hours.

As seen, though many topics are common to all three exams, the recommended study materials, format, and duration of the exams are different for all three. In addition, the NPPE applies to both engineering and geoscience, the Professional Exam (OIQ) applies only to engineering, and the Professional Exam (OGQ) applies only to geoscience.