This is a personal decision for each licence holder. If they no longer need their PEO licence, they can resign their licence. However, if they keep their PEO licence, they must complete the PEAK program every calendar year; full PEAK requirements apply if they are practising (practice evaluation, professional practice module and CPD report), but reduced PEAK requirements apply if they are not practising (practice evaluation and professional practice module). PEO is exploring exemptions for individuals with extenuating circumstances. Stay tuned for more details.
Yes. If they continue to hold a licence, they must complete the PEAK program every calendar year. However, retired engineers who are enrolled in the fee remission program are only required to complete the first two PEAK elements: the practice evaluation and professional practice module. If they are not enrolled in fee remission, they can choose to complete PEAK either as a “practising” licence holder (requiring full PEAK requirements, including the CPD report) or as a “non-practising” licence holder (requiring only the first two elements). PEO is exploring exemptions for individuals with extenuating circumstances. Stay tuned for more details.
PEO applies this status to every individual with a practice restriction on their PEO licence—like an individual with a suspended licence or who is enrolled in the fee remission program. For many years, this status was noted on an individual’s PEO directory profile with a shall-not-engage-in-the-practice message. This will now also include a licence status of “not permitted to practice”.
Note: An individual with no practice restriction on their licence can voluntarily choose a licence status of “not permitted to practise” with a practice status of "not practising" and they will not have the PEAK CPD reporting requirement. Also, PEO will review and revise its Licence Status options, as required.
PEO licence holders who are engineering lecturers must complete the PEAK program because they hold a PEO licence—either a P.Eng. or limited licence—even though the teaching of engineering is not included in the provincial definition of the practice of professional engineering. They could be allocated either full or reduced PEAK requirements depending on whether their non-teaching activities are the practice of professional engineering, including their research, development, supervision and projects. Engineering lecturers with a licence status of “not permitted to practise” are only required to complete the reduced PEAK requirements (practice evaluation and professional practice module) because they are non-practising (their non-teaching activities are not the practice of professional engineering.) However, engineering lecturers with a licence status of “permitted to practise” are required to complete the full PEAK requirements (practice evaluation, professional practice module and CPD report) because their non-teaching activities include the practice of professional engineering.
PEO licence holders who are engineering lecturers must complete the PEAK program because they hold a PEO licence—either a P.Eng. or limited licence—even though the teaching of engineering is not included in the provincial definition of the practice of professional engineering. They could be allocated either full or reduced PEAK requirements depending on whether their non-teaching activities are the practice of professional engineering, including their research, development, supervision and projects. Engineering lecturers who voluntarily choose a licence status of “not permitted to practise” are only required to complete the reduced PEAK requirements (practice evaluation and professional practice module) because they are non-practising (their research, projects and non-teaching activities are not the practice of professional engineering.) However, engineering lecturers are required to complete the full PEAK requirements (practice evaluation, professional practice module and CPD report) because their research, projects and non-teaching activities include the practice of professional engineering.
Licence holders who are engineering lecturers with a PEAK CPD reporting requirement are likely to be able to comply with their PEAK requirements quickly because they are likely to have a large number of CPD activities to choose from and declare on their PEAK CPD reports.
Note: The requirement for engineering lecturers to hold a PEO licence is not one that is imposed by PEO.
Yes. Council’s CPD task forces recommended the PEAK tenets and operating rules after reviewing other regulators’ CPD reporting programs and best practices to establish a made-for-PEO program that would be straightforward and less cumbersome for PEO licence holders. PEO licence holders were also surveyed for their feedback before the task forces made their recommendations.
Note: Council’s CPD task forces worked from 2015 to 2017 and included engineers representing a range of demographics (a council member, academic engineer, in-house engineer, non-practising engineer, government engineer, manufacturing engineer, sole practitioner, retired engineer, and an engineer at a consulting practice.) And in 2022, a consultation survey was carried out to inform the transition to a mandatory version of the PEAK program.
The Practice Evaluation questionnaire is presented to licence holders who are currently practising or intend to practise later in the year. The questionnaire was created by PEO alongside Council’s CPD task forces. The task forces comprised engineers representing a range of demographics(a council member, academic engineer, in-house engineer, non-practising engineer, government engineer, manufacturing engineer, sole practitioner, retired engineer, and engineer at a consulting practice.) The wording of the questionnaire was refined in 2022 and PEO will continue to review and revise it, as required.
Note: It is possible that some individuals could find the questions irrelevant to them, indicating that perhaps they should select the non-practising status.
Yes. The PEAK program applies to all licence holders regardless of their practice status. However, licence holders who work in a practice area where the “industrial exception” may apply should be careful about selecting a “not practising” status for several reasons: the industrial exception is narrow in its application; the industrial exception only relates to the need for a PEO licence, not to the determination of practice status; and they would still be practising even if they are “not stamping” or “not providing engineering services to the public.”