The Examination for Architects in Canada publishes its pass rates each year, and the 2025 cycle is the most recent published data. Knowing the numbers matters before you plan your prep: they shape how seriously to take each section, and they tell you exactly where most candidates lose points.
The 2025 ExAC pass rates, section by section
Here's the per-section breakdown from the 2025 cycle:
- Section 1: Design & Programming: 85.1%
- Section 2: NBC 2020 (Open Book): 83.7%
- Section 3: Final Project & Construction: 85.1%
- Section 4: Project & Practice Management: 84.8%
Across the four sections, pass rates hover within a narrow band; the gap between the best-performing section and the worst is less than two percentage points. That tightness tells you something: the exam is calibrated. No section is unfairly hard, and no section is a freebie.
Three things these numbers actually tell you
1. Roughly 1 in 7 candidates fails any given section
Per-section pass rates hover around 85%. That's a fail rate of about 15% per sitting per section. Not catastrophic, but not low either. For comparison, this is a meaningfully tougher pass rate than most candidates expect walking in.
2. Section 2 has the lowest pass rate, despite being open book
This is the most counterintuitive finding in the data. Section 2 is the only open-book section on the ExAC, and yet it has the lowest pass rate. Why? Open book rewards navigation speed, not memory. Candidates who don't know the structure of the National Building Code can't find answers fast enough under a 90-second-per-question clock.
The candidates who pass Section 2 aren't the ones who memorized clauses. They're the ones who can open the code and land on any article in 30 seconds. That skill is built before exam day, not during it. See our guide on how to tab the NBC 2020 for the prep that actually closes this gap.
3. The all-sections rate is much lower than any single-section rate
73.8% pass everything; about 85% pass any one section. The compounding matters. You don't need to be weak across the board for the math to catch you: failing any one section means a retake.
This is why a balanced study plan beats heroic effort on a single section. A candidate who's strong on three sections and weak on one passes ~85% × 85% × 85% × 60%, about 37%, not 85%. Each section is a multiplier on the overall probability.
Recent historical context
ExAC pass rates have been remarkably stable across the last three cycles:
- 2023: 851 candidates, 73.6% all-sections, 85.2% per-section average
- 2024: 931 candidates, 72.2% all-sections
- 2025: 977 candidates, 73.8% all-sections, 84.7% per-section average
Candidate numbers grew about 15% from 2023 to 2025, but the pass-rate band has held steady within roughly a point and a half of itself. The exam is consistent year over year. If anything, this stability tells you the exam is well-calibrated to the candidate pool; the same proportion of well-prepared candidates passes each cycle.
What happens if you fail a section
If you fail a section, you get up to three consecutive attempts to pass all four sections. Most provinces allow you to write only the failed sections in the next sitting, which makes focused retake prep more efficient than spreading effort thin across all four on the first attempt.
The trap with retakes is timing. The clock runs continuously, so delays compound. Plan your retake deliberately, and prioritize the single area that cost you the section, not all four themes within it.
How to read these numbers as a candidate
An 85% per-section pass rate sounds like the exam is easy. It isn't. That 85% includes candidates who put in 150+ hours of focused study. The 15% who fail aren't unlucky; they're the candidates who underestimated the exam or studied without timed practice.
Two predictors of failure show up over and over:
- Skipping timed practice questions. Candidates who only read fail more often than candidates who drill timed scenarios. Our free Section 1 practice questions are a starting point, but at minimum, every prep should include scenario drills at 90 seconds each.
- Underestimating Section 2. Open book lulls people. The numbers say it shouldn't.
The candidates who pass all four sections on the first sitting share a few habits. They follow a structured plan, like our 12-week study schedule. They drill timed scenarios across all four sections, not just the themes they find interesting. And they don't treat Section 2 like a freebie because it's open book.
What this means for your prep
If the data tells you anything, it's this: the ExAC is a knowledge exam and a judgment exam and a time exam. Candidates who treat it as only one of the three are the ones who show up in the 15%. The way to land in the 73.8% who pass everything on the first sitting is to prepare for all three: content depth, scenario judgment, and pacing under a 90-second clock.