What is PEO? 

Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) is the licensing and regulating body for engineering in the province. It fulfills the same role for engineers as the College of Physicians and Surgeons for doctors or the Law Society of Upper Canada for lawyers.

Under the Professional Engineers Act, a provincial statute, PEO is responsible for the licensing and discipline of engineers and companies providing engineering services. PEO protects the public by ensuring all professional engineers are qualified for licensing.

Individuals may not call themselves a professional engineer, a P.Eng., or use any similar title that may lead to the belief that they are qualified to practise professional engineering, unless they are licensed by PEO. There are currently 64,000 licensed professional engineers in Ontario, organized across the province in 38 regional chapters.
To become a professional engineer, applicants must meet the following criteria: be at least 18 years of age; be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada (this requirement may change); graduate with at least a bachelor's degree from an accredited Canadian engineering program, or meet PEO’s education standards; successfully complete PEO’s Professional Practice Examination on ethics, practice, engineering law and professional liability; and obtain four years of verifiable, acceptable work experience, with at least one year in a Canadian jurisdiction under a licensed professional engineer.
Companies and individuals may not offer or provide engineering services to the public unless they obtain a PEO Certificate of Authorization. There are approximately 3800 Certificate of Authorization holders in Ontario.

PEO's Legislated Mandate

Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) regulates the practice of professional engineering and governs those individuals and organizations that PEO licenses in order "that the public interest may be served and protected". PEO is also mandated to carry out the following additional objects under the Act:

1. establish, maintain and develop standards of knowledge and skill;
2. establish, maintain and develop standards of qualification and standards of practice for the practice of professional engineering;
3. establish, maintain and develop standards of professional ethics; and
4. promote public awareness of the role of PEO.

The Act gives PEO the power to make regulations for administration of PEO (such as fixing the number of professional engineers elected to Council), admission to PEO (such as academic training), and standards of professional engineering practice (such as setting a code of ethics). The Act permits PEO to make by-laws relating to its administrative and domestic affairs, such as defining the duties of the Registrar.

PEO is governed by a council, the composition and operation of which are dictated by the Act. Most councillors are elected by PEO's licensed membership. Some councillors are appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council of the Province of Ontario. These appointed councillors may or may not be professional engineers. The PEO Registrar and CEO is responsible for staff implementation of PEO council decisions and policies.

The first law related to professional engineering in Ontario was created in 1922 and allowed for the creation of a voluntary association to oversee registration of engineers. The Act of 1922 was "open", meaning that membership in the association was not mandatory for practising engineers.

In Ontario, regulation of engineering practice dates to 1937, when the Professional Engineers Act was amended and the engineering profession was "closed" to non-qualified individuals; that is, licensure was made mandatory for anyone practising professional engineering. The provincial government determined that it would be in the public interest to restrict the practice of engineering to those who were qualified, and the right to practise was "closed" to non-engineers as a result of the failures of bridges and buildings, which had been designed by unskilled individuals.

The Professional Engineers Act was amended in 1946, 1949, 1960, 1969, and 1984. Each amendment strengthened PEO's ability to regulate professional engineers and professional practice, by, among others:
expanding the scope of professional engineering to encompass modern developments, including different classes of licensure; enabling PEO to pass regulations relating to a Code of Ethics, professional conduct, negligence and incompetence, and detailing sanctions for incompetence and professional misconduct; regulating engineering partnerships and corporations; recognizing the need to grant licences to practise in Ontario to those living outside the province; and
defining a formal complaints procedure.
Regulation 941 of the Act
Regulation 941 of the Professional Engineers Act, amended to O.Reg. 258/08, is a regulation made to provide additional details and guidance for implementation of the Act. For example, the Regulation prescribes the process to be followed when electing professional engineers to Council. With respect to professional practice, the Regulation prescribes a Code of Ethics, defines negligence and professional misconduct, addresses the requirement for professional engineers to report unsafe situations and unethical practices, and states that all professional engineers shall have a seal and describes its use.

Regulation 260 of the Act
Regulation 260 of the Professional Engineers Act is a new Regulation, effective July 25, 2008. It establishes Performance Standards for professional engineers, initially relating to general review of construction of a building as provided for in the building code and to demolition. The performance standards for general review of construction were previously section 78 of Regulation 941, and were removed from Regulation 941 when Regulation 260 was made.

The practice of professional engineering is defined in Section 1 of the Professional Engineers Act and comprises three tests. Professional engineering is:

1. any act of designing, composing, evaluating, advising, reporting, directing or supervising;
2. wherein the safeguarding of life, health, property or the public welfare
3. that requires the application of engineering principles, but does not include practising as a natural scientist.If what you do meets all three tests, you are practising professional engineering and must be licensed by the association.

Like medical or legal professionals, professional engineers are licensed, and are accountable for their work. Their duty is to serve and protect the public welfare where engineering is concerned. Professional engineers subscribe to a strict code of ethics and practice standards. The practice of the profession is regulated by Professional Engineers Ontario.

In Canada, the title "professional engineer"; is restricted by law. In Ontario, only those individuals who have demonstrated that they possess the necessary qualifications and have been licensed by PEO can use the title, which is often abbreviated as "P.Eng."
Professional Engineer's Seal


The Professional Engineers Act provides that every professional engineer shall have a seal denoting licensure, including the type of licence held. Section 53 of the Act sets out the use of the engineers seal, which has legal implications. The appearance of the seal on documents and drawings indicates that the documents and drawings are final and have been prepared under the supervision of a professional engineer who is assuming responsibility for them. Since engineers assume technical and ethical responsibilities for work done under their supervision, the use of the seal is the engineer's "stamp of approval" about the technical accuracy of the materials.

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