Photo courtesy of the UK Department for Business and Trade In late April, the Regulatory Organizations of Architecture in Canadaand the Architects Registration Boardin the U.K. signed a Mutual Recognition Agreementfor architects. The MRA, which officially came into effect on May 14th, is significant—it streamlines the process for architects in Canada to have their license recognised in the U.K. and vice versa. When you consider that architects in the U.K, and Canada already traded nearly min architectural services in 2023, it’s clear that the agreement is building from a position of strength. But going forward, the MRA will swing the doors wide open for architects to work internationally, fostering collaboration and building upon existing professional partnerships by acknowledging the validity of the education, experience, and examination requirements within each country, and allowing for simplified registration. From a qualitative perspective, there are many reasons the signing of the MRA is a positive step: It should allow for cross fertilization of materials into the supply chain, and awareness of a broader range of practices in adjacent fields that can better support how we define policy, code, design, procurement, and construction of projects. For instance, in the U.K., pre-zoning creates mostly as of right planning and development conditions that quietly allow for complex but successful public and private partnerships to take place. With increasing global challenges related to environmental and social sustainability, architecture as a profession needs to broaden access to different engagement techniques, material innovations, policy considerations, and construction methodologies by freely trading best practices and ideas between nations. This includes Canada’s emerging rediscovery of mass timber construction. We can learn more from each other in how we approach the critically important exercise of making architectural education more accessible to all socio-economic backgrounds. Bringing a greater diversity of lived experiences into the profession can further elevate the role and relevance of architecture in contributing to enhancing quality of life for everyone. The diversity of project teams and internal opportunities can create a sense of unity, which in turn can boost motivation, productivity, and improved design and project outcomes. Broader perspectives can lead to more bespoke solutions to design challenges; this isn’t just about creating better solution to problems but identifying issues sooner at all stages of the design process. It’s important to also recognize that the MRA signed between two countries also reveals the steps that we need to take here in Canada regarding interprovincial and interterritorial recognition. One could argue that it’s now easier for an Ontario-based architect to practice in London, Cardiff, or Edinburgh than in Saskatchewan. Above all, the MRA is a powerful symbolic gesture about the important role that architecture and design should have in an increasingly connected world. As a profession, we should be identifying and sharing solutions to the common challenges that we face, fostering a greater breadth of design approaches, as well as a broader range of technologies and innovation—no matter the geography. From an individual perspective, I am very familiar with several U.K. licensed architects now based here in Canada. The opportunity to be licensed formalizes the knowledge, competencies, and skills that these architects already have. It’s a marker of their commitment to Canada and represents an opportunity to maximize their contributions to the architectural community. Conversely, I have worked in Canada long enough to see the breadth of talent and cultural distinctions that makes Canadian architecture highly exportable—not just to the U.K., but to other geographies. The agreement could help enable Canadian firms of all sizes to push their talents to the limits where that might otherwise be constrained in the local context. It’s this latter point that I am most optimistic about. We should be inspired. We should be proud. We should be welcoming. And above all, we should be ambitious. There are few places on earth that have experienced the kind of pro-longed, consistent growth that Canadian cities have these past 25 years. Every year, 120,000 new people call the Toronto region alone home. There has been a cost, as the city has struggled to accommodate the rapid rate of change. A recent downturn in market conditions is foreshadowing an even greater supply crunch in the years to come. Now is the time that we should be importing ideas from around the world to help tackle the challenges we face here at home. At the same time, Canadian firms have well over two decades of experience dealing with growth at a tremendous scale. The idea of a housing crisis is not contained to North America. Cities around the world are facing similar conditions. There is a wealth of expertise in this country that is well earned, and worthy of exporting. It should not be lost on anyone that the Mutual Recognition Agreement between the UK and Canada has come as calls for protectionism are broadcast loudly. That we have, instead, chosen to embrace collaboration and open opportunity speaks to the moment and the need for even more of Canada on the world stage. British architect Ossie Airewele is a Senior Associate at BDP Quadrangle in Toronto. As a thought leader at BDP, he encourages meaningful conversations about the future of inclusive design, leads key residential and mixed-use projects, and is driving the North American expansion of the studio. The post Op Ed: The value of an architectural reciprocity agreement between Canada-UK appeared first on Canadian Architect. #value #architectural #reciprocity #agreement #between