A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CANADIAN COLLEGE FOR THE CERTIFICATION OF PROFESSIONAL ERGONOMISTS (CCCPE)
The Association of Canadian Ergonomists (ACE) (formerly the Human Factors Association of Canada/ Association Canadienne d’ Ergonomie, HFAC/ACE) was founded in 1968. In response to an increasing interest within the Canadian human factors community for professional credentials, HFAC/ACE established a two-member Committee (Dr. Robert Webb and Dr. Paul Stager, both university professors) on Professional Education. A comprehensive paper on the Committee’s report was presented at the 23rd annual conference of HFAC/ACE (in 1990). Also about this time, members of HFAC/ACE were actively meeting with and encouraging University departments of psychology, kinesiology and industrial or system engineering to broaden and/or integrate their course offerings related to Human Factors and Ergonomics into major or minor degree programs. In 1998 the Executive Council established the Canadian College for the Certification of Professional Ergonomists. The Executive Council of HFAC/ACE selected the first president (Dr. Alison Smiley) and seven other members were then selected to serve, with the aim of creating a Board for the College that was representative with respect to geography, language and the physical and cognitive areas of the discipline as well as ensuring that both language groups were served. In 2000, a Code of Ethics for Canadian Certified Professional Ergonomists (a code that was initiated by a Quebec committee several years before) was approved with a vote at the ACE AGM.
In 2020, the Canadian College for the Certification of Professional Ergonomists was granted International Ergonomics Association (IEA) endorsement.