Skip to the content of the web site.

Licences

Updated for 2010 Changes to the Professional Engineers Act

These web pages have been updated to include both enacted and pending changes due to the Open for Business Act, 2010. Note that some changes will not be in force until proclaimed by the Lieutenant Governor; for example, the putting into force the end of the industrial exemption has been delayed numerous times.

Disclaimer

All information on this website is provided without any warranty to its correctness. The material on these pages reflects Douglas Wilhelm Harder's best judgment in light of the information available to him at the time of its preparation. Any use which a third party makes of these pages, on any reliance on or decision to be made based on it, are the responsibility of such third parties. Douglas W. Harder accepts no responsibility for damages, if any, suffered by any third party as a result of decisions made or actions based on these pages.

Licencing of indiviudals is one of the two means by which engineering is regulated in Ontario.

In the understanding that the profession of engineering is self-regulating and the Act provides for the existence of the Association, the Act provides a general framework:

Licensing requirement
12(1) No person shall engage in...or hold himself, herself or itself out as engaging in the practice of professional engineering unless the person is the holder of a licence or a temporary, provisional, or limited licence.

Issuance of licence
14(1) The Registrar shall issue a licence to a natural person who applies therefor in accordance with the regulations and

  • is not less than 18 years of age;
  • has complied with the academic requirements...and has passed such examinations as the Council has set or approved...;
  • has complied with the experience requirements specified in the regulations for the issuance of the licence; and
  • is of good character.

Ontario Regulation 941 contains 14 sections covering licensing including Sections 33 through 46. A regular licence contains no imposed restrictions on the scope of services in which the professional engineer can engage—this is left to the individual to determine whether or not he or she is competent to engage in a particular project; however, there are other classifications of licences which limit this scope based on the:

  • experience,
  • residence,
  • skills, or
  • education.

Consequently, idividuals may be issued one of four licences:

  • Standard licence,
  • Temporary licence,
  • Provisional licence, and
  • Limited licence.

The holder of a provisional or limited licence is restricted legally by the terms of the licence and the holder of a temporary licence may be restricted to a specific project, but in all cases, the practitioner is expected to also understand his or her competencies:

  • In the Code of Ethics 77.1.v It is the duty of a practitioner...to act at all times with competence in the performance of any professional engineering services that are undertaken.
  • In the definition of misconduct, it includes 72(2)(h) undertaking work the practitioner is not competent to perform by virtue of the practitioner's training and experience.

References