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To fulfil their government-given mandate to regulate the practice of engineering in the public interest, Canada's 12 engineering licensing bodies have set high standards for engineering practice and education, the ethical conduct of engineers, and admission into the profession. They also investigate complaints brought against individual engineers, and take appropriate disciplinary action if there is evidence that an engineer has failed to uphold the profession's high practice and ethical standards.
Candidates applying for admission to the engineering profession and licensure as a P.Eng. in a province or territory of Canada are assessed individually by the engineering licensing body in that jurisdiction. The licensing body evaluates the applicant's engineering education and engineering experience against its standards. He or she may be assigned a suite of confirmatory and/or technical examinations if the licensing body is not fully satisfied, after its initial evaluation, that the applicant's qualifications meet the profession's admission standards. All applicants for licensure are also required to pass an examination testing their understanding of Canadian law and engineering ethics. An applicant is only admitted to the practice of engineering and licensed as a P.Eng. when the licensing body is fully satisfied that he or she meets the profession's high standards.
All 12 licensing bodies have developed internship (engineer-in-training or member-in-training) programs to help engineering graduates gain the hands-on engineering work experience required to meet the profession's admission standards. While they are interns, engineering graduates document their engineering work and are normally supervised by a P.Eng. to ensure they gain the knowledge and problem-solving ability to become licensed professionals with the ability to safely and competently take personal responsibility for their work. Prior to admitting graduates to the profession as professional engineers, the licensing bodies evaluate their work experience to ensure that applicants meet the profession's experience requirements. At least one year of that experience must be obtained in Canada (or in some cases North America or in a Canadian context) to ensure that the applicant is familiar with the high standards of engineering practice that apply in Canada.
That's why employers can be confident that they're hiring someone with proven engineering knowledge, technical skills and problem-solving ability when they hire a P.Eng.
Employers can also be confident that they're hiring someone who has the ability to work anywhere in Canada.
To promote consistency in their standards for admission to the profession and licensure as a P.Eng., engineering's licensing bodies created a national organization, Engineers Canada, in 1936. On behalf of the licensing bodies, Engineers Canada has developed national standards for engineering education in Canada as well as a national accreditation system to evaluate undergraduate engineering programs. More than 200 engineering programs offered at 35 Canadian universities have now been accredited by Engineers Canada's Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board. Accreditation assures the licensing bodies that graduates of the programs possess the core and discipline-specific engineering knowledge to be licensed as Professional Engineers. This makes it easier for the licensing bodies to evaluate the academic qualifications of Canadian-educated applicants seeking admission into the engineering profession and licensure as a P.Eng. It also supports greater national mobility for engineering graduates.
On behalf of the licensing bodies, Engineers Canada has also developed a national guideline on admission to the practice of engineering in Canada. It contains guiding principles that engineering's licensing bodies have used to develop their own admission standards and procedures. The principles addressed by the guideline include the profession's education and work experience requirements, its internship programs, and its language requirements.
The licensing bodies have also mandated Engineers Canada to develop other national guidelines on their behalf. Those guidelines promote greater consistency in the regulatory practices of the licensing bodies, which has led to full national mobility for licensed engineers within Canada.
Engineering's licensing bodies protect Canadians against the misuse of the title engineer by unlicensed individuals through a variety of means. In addition to initiating public awareness activities to inform engineering students, employers and the public about the requirements for licensure, and responding to complaints, through Engineers Canada the licensing bodies hold Official Marks on the terms engineer, engineering, professional engineer, P.Eng., and consulting engineer, as well as their French-language equivalents. This gives the profession an extra legal tool in its efforts to protect the public.
The licensing bodies have also adopted strict codes of ethical conduct for the engineers practising in their jurisdictions, which in many cases have legal status through their provincial or territorial Engineering Act.
To learn more about the work and mandate of engineering's licensing bodies, the P.Eng., engineering licensure, student membership programs, or engineering internship, visit the Web site of the licensing body in your province or territory.
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