Leon said:
So is there a country that will allow you to work as an engineer or a doctor without checking your credentials? It doesn't mean you must drive a taxi though. Just take the exams.
I knew a woman from Romania who was doing that in AB. She was working as a draftsman in the meantime. I also met an engineer from Iran who had landed in Toronto, couldn't find a job there but got a job in AB. He was also doing his exams.
Yes, there is a whole continent. It has nothing to do with checking credentials. Checking credentials is done every where, that's totally ok and has to be done, but the rest is close to discriminating.
Have you actually went through the process? Do you know what is required? Or do you just repeat what somebody told you? I am going through the process right now, I know what I am talking about. My employer pays the fees, because I am 23 years with the company and they need us to keep the business running. Overall it'll cost you about $5k to get it completed. Later you'll require an insurance which will cost you $2.5k a year in case you decide to practice.
I have worked for three employers, in four countries, have 26 years of engineering experience in different business areas. I am a graduated Master of Science in Engineering from the world oldest Mining Academy (Technical University) founded in 1536. And I cannot call myself an engineer in Canada! I don't care anymore, since I am soon to retire, but for the number of engineers who want to come here this is important to know.
A colleague of mine, Canadian, went to Germany last month. And got all his papers approved in 4 weeks. He's from NB with a NB Bachelor and Masters and everything got accredited! They checked the University, they know the programs which are provided in NB and are aligned with the standards. Surprise, Canadian education system is recognized as a first world high standard system and so are the graduates treated. Actually it's not a surprise since the education is good, so it is in Germany, UK, Spain, Italy, Russia...
All what it is in Canada is lobby-ism. There's a strong organisation who staked their territory and they dictate the industry whom to employ and whom not. Like it or not it's reality, they just re-enforced this stupid Engineering Act in ON.
One reason why the colleague left, because his degree is from NB, you guess it right, yes, it is not accredited in ON so he would have needed to go through the same stupid procedure like me, waste of effort, so he left for Europe...
mike
P.S> You can chose to ignore these obligations. According to law you are personal liable. If you get reported and found guilty the fine is $25k for the first offence. PEO is scanning through YPs and send write-off to companies who provide engineering services w/o being accredited by PEO. Employers are no longer post ad's asking for engineers w/o stating that they have to be P.Eng certified. If you ignore this as a company you risk a write-off and a fine. Check out the PEO homepage for 'services' they provide. The term 'engineer' is a trademark of PEO in Canada. Microsoft is in court with PE Quebec for a decade now and lost about their MSCE. Microsoft Certified Software Engineer can no longer be used in Canada since Microsoft lost the case in Quebec.