Whoever is saying that
"there's no such thing as regulated software engineers" is incorrect and is giving bad advice.
In Canada the practice of Software Engineering is defined as the development of software that:
(a) requires a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, AND
(b) the software “concerns the public interest” (which is defined as “the safeguarding of life, health, property, economic interests, the public welfare or the environment”).
ref:
Professional practice in software engineering
In order to protect the public, responsibility for the development of software where there is “a reasonable expectation that failure or inappropriate functioning of the system would result in harm to life, health, property, economic interests, the public welfare or the environment” can only be taken by a licensed Professional Engineer in the practice of Software Engineering. If you do not hold standing as a licensed Software Engineer with a P.Eng. designation, then you are defined as a “Software Developer” and may work on any software that does not concern the public interest as defined in the legislation. As a Software Developer you may also work under the direct supervision of a licensed Software Engineer on software that concerns the public interest, but it would be illegal for someone to hire you to develop and deliver such software without the supervision of a licensed Software Engineer.
There are several examples given and discussed in the URL cited above. Clearly “safety-critical” software falls under the definition, but so does telecommunications, stock trading, and software that deals with the protecting the security of private data…, but many other types of software, such as video game development, does not.
