We provide resources to assist our stakeholders in understanding our regulatory role and how we protect the public interest.
As part of its regulatory mandate, PEO establishes, maintains and develops: standards of knowledge and skill; standards of practice for the profession; standards of professional ethics; and promotes public awareness of its role. The following are resources to assist PEO stakeholders--licence holders, applicants, and the public--in understanding their roles and responsibilities and the regulator’s work protecting the public interest.
Resources
Ontario professional engineers are part of a community of more than 87,500 PEO licence and certificate holders committed to enhancing the quality of life, safety and well-being in the province.
PEO’s Engineering Intern (EIT) program provides guidance and assistance to engineering graduates as they acquire the 48 months of acceptable engineering work experience, including annual reviews of experience.
As the regulator of engineering in Ontario, it’s PEO’s role to assure the public that licensed practitioners are competent to practise in their chosen discipline, and that they are taking responsibility for the outcomes of their work.
As Ontario’s engineering regulator, PEO relies heavily on its volunteers. More than 1,000 professional engineers, engineering interns and non-engineers volunteer their time each year on behalf of the association through their participation.
PEO's mandate, as described in the Professional Engineers Act, is to ensure that the public is protected and that individuals and companies providing engineering services uphold a strict code of professional ethics and conduct.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is asked to complete the ethics module?
All licence holders, including retired P.Engs and those who are not practising, are asked to complete the online ethics module to ensure that they are aware of their ethical obligations and how to govern themselves in compliance with the Professional Engineers Act and its regulation. Licence holders declaring non-practising status must understand what activities are foreclosed to them when they decide to adopt retired status.
What subjects does the ethics module cover?
The ethics module covers a variety of subjects including: the regulatory role of PEO; what licensure means; a review of legal and ethical obligations of licensure; how to identify and deal with ethical considerations in engineering practice; and professional misconduct.
How often do I have to complete the ethics module?
The ethics module must be completed annually. The content in the module will be changed annually to deal with different issues.
How long will the ethics module take to complete?
The ethics module should take about 30 minutes to complete.
Why do I need to complete the online ethics module?
PEO licence holders, both practising and non-practising, need to complete the online ethics module to become reacquainted with their ethical obligations as described in the Professional Engineers Act and provide them with an understanding of how these obligations should be applied in real-life.
What is the purpose of the hour tracker?
Through completion of the questionnaire, practising licence holders are provided with the recommended number of hours they should commit to continuing knowledge activities. PEO has decided that the maximum recommendation will be 30 hours. This will be reduced based on risk mitigation and quality assurance measures that are part of the licence holder’s practice environment. The tracker provides a dynamic metric of the effect of these measures on the recommended hours.
I did not find an answer that pertains to my current situation. How should I answer the question?
Though PEO has tried to anticipate the potential answers to every question, it is quite possible that for some questions, no answer directly pertains to a licence holder’s current situation. If so, please choose the answer that is nearest to the answer you would prefer. If none is acceptable, choose the first answer (lowest risk). If you can, please notify PEO at peopeak@peo.on.ca providing the question and your preferred answer.
Why do I need to describe my scope of practice?
PEO is collecting this information in order to obtain a clear picture of what its licence holders are doing. The association has been asked on numerous occasions, and for many purposes, if it has reliable data on the number of licence holders practising in specific fields of engineering. Unfortunately, this data is not available.
Who is the public for the purposes of the questionnaire?
For the purposes of all regulatory directives regarding engineering practice, 'the public' is considered to be anyone other than the licence holder or his or her employer.
I have switched jobs in the last 12 months. How should I answer the questionnaire?
The questionnaire is intended to capture information regarding your current status so describe the practice environment for your current employment situation.