Melfort native and ASET CEO retiring

The release said in that time, Cavanaugh “has been the driving force behind initiatives that have not only reinvigorated the profession and set precedents nationally, but also made its invaluable but often overlooked function more visible to Albertans.”

Before his time at ASET, Cavanaugh was the founding CEO of the Alberta Pharmacists’ Association. He advocated for Alberta to become the first province to give pharmacists the legal authority to prescribe some medications and administer drugs by injection.

When Cavanaugh joined ASET, he led its transformation from a society to a statutory professional regulatory body. In 2010 he helped establish Technology Professionals Canada (TPC), an alliance of technology professional associations across the country.

The ASET news release said Cavanaugh’s leadership helped make Alberta the first province to eliminate the Canadian work experience requirement for engineering technology professionals, with other provinces later following suit.

In 2016, Cavanaugh mandated the launch of the competency-based assessment program, allowing internationally trained and other engineering tech professionals to have a faster way to establish their careers. The program allows them to gain purchase in career fields without having to go back to school on a full-time basis. Those are now standards of all engineering technology regulators in Canada.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Cavanaugh introduced a policy at ASET that waived all application fees for refugees looking to become members and attain their designations, recognizing that many refugees faced significant economic hardship.

“We realized that there may be engineers, technologists and technicians coming to Alberta as refugees – from Ukraine, Sudan, and other suffering nations – and saw that we should not put unnecessary burdens on them in seeking to find work for which they were qualified,” said Cavanaugh. “We thought the least we could do was to waive the application fees. That policy is still in effect because there are still refugees.”

Past president of ASET council Emilee Kaupp said Cavanaugh’s passion and dedication helped shape the course of the organization and inspired countless others across Canada.

ASET is the professional self-regulatory organization for engineering technologists and technicians in Alberta, representing about 17,000 members in 21 disciplines and more than 120 occupations.

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Cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @northeastNOW_SK

by Cam Lee

Melfort native and ASET CEO retiring

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