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So I'd like to welcome my next guest,
Mr. John Hobbs, executive director
of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
Thank you for speaking with me today.
Thank you very much for having me.
Tell me a little bit about your association?
The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada really
represents all the architects in Canada.
We're over 100 years old, we had our centennial a year ago
and we essentially provide services to help
architects practice and become great leaders.
Right.
In the building industry.
Now obviously you represent a lot, a lot of architects,
what opportunities have your members found
in foreign markets?
Where?
Canadian architects are very well respected abroad,
our training and our standards are high
and we are respected as a country.
Certainly there's a lot of Canadian architects in China,
Southeast Asia, Middle East, throughout the Gulf Region.
And more recently other growing markets, Russia, etcetera.
Right. Now tell me about the challenges of Canadian
companies being recognized in terms of their standards
in foreign markets?
I think the Canadian architectural firms
are certainly recognized, certainly for their expertise,
but we also have the challenge of what's called mutual
recognition agreements, having their credentials recognized
by their counterparts in the country.
So we have been negotiating with a variety of countries
or facilitating those negotiations to ensure
that Canadian credentials in architecture are recognized.
Okay.
We do have an agreement now with the United States,
we've had for years, more recently with Mexico.
We recently hosted a meeting of the Asia Pacific economic
cooperation group architect project where there are 14
countries in the Pacific Rim who are now negotiating
full mutual recognition agreement
and that will help provide trade in architectural services
throughout the region.
Right. Now obviously we've been talking a lot
about the export of products.
This is obviously the export of services.
Yes.
What are some of the challenges that your members
are facing in doing business abroad,
especially as they relate to services?
Well I think services are perhaps less tangible
then products.
You can't see it.
And therefore relationships
and relationship building are key in all of this.
I think the other big challenge many Canadian
architects face is getting paid.
Every country has different sort of rules, protocols,
systems for getting paid and that's always a challenge,
and a risky challenge.
So how do you deal with both of those things?
You know making those connections and getting paid?
Well I think getting paid is a one off,
each country is different.
Each business deal is different.
I think wherever the government
can help we would look for that.
But I can't provide a lot of advice on that.
But with the other building relationships it's consistent,
ongoing, attending international conferences,
we do provide some services on our,
through our electronic bulletin,
our regular newsletter.
We do matchmaking services with other architectural
or consulting firms.
And we also for those younger architects or those wanting
to show their talent, we list architects,
international architecture competitions every month
that are out there for those to participate in.
Great.
Now obviously we're in the midst of an economic downturn,
what does this mean actually for Canadian
architects internationally?
Has this affected them at this point?
Well I think right now it hasn't.
Here we speak in December 2008,
but as the next year will tell a lot.
I think things are still busy in Canada,
things are still coming off the board,
still under construction.
But as financing for projects gets harder and harder,
certain larger projects slow down or are stalled,
some firms may start looking more abroad for work.
Right.
And are you already seeing a shift of architectural firms
away from the United States
for example and into other markets like Asia?
Or too early to tell?
I think it's too early to tell.
I don't have any statistics on the United States
but certainly big projects in the United States
are cancelled, they're down.
And so we know that the American Institute
of Architects sees a big change in their members work.
So I'm sure that's affecting Canadian architects
working in the United States.
Right. Thanks for taking this time.
Thank you very much for having me.