Registered Professional Engineer in CANADA?? 1

[OKGeo]

I am a registered professional engineer in US. I am thinking about moving to CANADA. Do I need to take the CANADIAN Professional Engineering test or can I just fill out paperwork?

 

[Dirtguy4587]

In Canada, the Engineering profession is regulated provinically, and there is no one exam for all of Canada.

Depending on the province in which you intend to practice, you may be required to pass an exam covering the ethical practice of engineers. In addition, you will need to provide academic qualifications and experience.

I would recommend contacting the Engineering Proffessional Organization for the province in which you would like to practice. They should be able to tell you exactly what you will need to provide.

 

[OKGeo]

It is interesting that there is no technical exam required. Does it mean it is easier to obtain engineering license as long as you pass the ethic test, provide a diploma and show your engineering working experiences. Thanks for you input. I'll check with the Engineering organization for the province.

 

[Ron]

OKGeo....A friend of mine was a Professor at McMaster University in Canada. He earned a PhD. and was a practicing consulting engineer (still is) in the Toronto area.

Being a US engineer who went through the entire US process, I asked why they use the process they do in Canada. His reply was that if you were able to graduate with a degree in engineering from one of their engineering school, you had proved your analytical ability. The only left to prove was whether you had the ethical mindset to practice engineering, thus the ethics exam. I good naturedly accused him of academic elitism.

While that process has some plausibility, I am still of the opinion that the internship process in the US is a good one and that practical experience coupled with the academic process is necessary to develop good engineers, a process that takes much longer than 2 years as in Canada or 4 years as in the US.

 

[Dirtguy4587]

Ron,

Provincial Professional Associations now require a minimum of 4 years of experience before being eligible for licensure as a professional engineer in Canada.

Also, the checks and balances in place are extensive. Numerous reference checks are required, as well as a good detail of work experience obtained in the past. Academic history and standing is also taken into account. I would use caution in accusing the Canadian system as one of academic elitism.

 

[BigH]

Dirtguy4587 - notice that Ron said this good naturedly to a friend. We always rib friends that way - at least my friends and I do/would. I happen to be licensed in both Canada and US. There is pluses and minuses on both sides - I just wished that there would be one across Canada licensure and one across US licensure like Chartered Engineer in UK so that we didn't/don't have to have some 10 to 12 different licensings. See the Forum "How to Improve Myself to Get aAhead in My Work" - it is this one that has had many threads on this particular subject.

 

[JoeTank]

Please don't let this thread degenerate into a PE vs PEng thing. It goes on forever and solicts all kind of weird stuff.

Steve Braune
Tank Industry Consultants

http://www.tankindustry.com

 

[Kivi]

Very good point BigH, where do I sign to lobby for common PEng across Canada

 

[BigH]

Wished I knew - if you go to your association and ask, they will circle the wagons; turf to protect. It makes more sense to me to have a uniform licensing with special caveat add-ons for particularly unique areas (e.g., permafrost in Alaska or Northwest Territories; seismic in California; hurricane/strong wind in Florida area; expansive soils in Texas, etc.) And the caveats wouldn't preclude practicing in those states - only that if you don't have one, then someone holding such a caveat would be needed in specific aspects of the design.
Perhaps this is something that ASCE (USA) and other counterparts (e.g. ASME) and ACEC (Canada) might take up as they cover the whole of their respective countries.

 

[PBroad]

Certainly there is a need for "national status" for US and Canadian engineers who work overseas. In Canada (Ontario in particular) there is a move to divorce licence regulation from member services, somewhat as exists in US but retaining licensure under self-government rather than political domination. In Canada there is the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers

http://www.ccpe.ca/

rather like the NSPE in US. Both US and Canada lack an equivalent to the UK Chartered Engineer, Euro Ing, or other International Body. P.Eng in Canada is more like UK "incorporated engineer"