Who
Cares About Immigrant Engineers?
By Hira Ahuja and B. John Plant
If
you were an engineer in your country of origin and came to Canada as an
immigrant, chances are you landed an engineering job even though you were
not a member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO). You do not
have to be a licensed member of PEO to work as an engineer as long as a
licensed engineer take responsible for your engineering work.
On
the other hand, if you are looking for employment in engineering, you will
find a treasure of employment resources links on www.epicedu.com/epic/resources/employment.htm.
However, it is possible that you ended up working on a construction site
or driving a cab, but this need not be so? The reason you may be stuck in
a non-engineering job could be, that while you think you are an engineer,
Canadian employers want to see proof that you are qualified according to
Canadian engineering standards. Canadian employers require evidence that
your engineering knowledge and skills are no less than those who have
Canadian qualifications and are holding engineering jobs. If you provide
such evidence, you will find employment as a professional engineer, have a
satisfying career, contribute to the Canadian economy, and achieve the
financial security that a professional engineer deserves. In your new
Canadian engineering job, your past experience will shine, you will be in
charge of your destiny and on the path to career progress.
Ontario Requirements
To
become licensed by Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) you must:
1. Be at least 18 years of age.
2. Be a citizen or permanent resident
of Canada.
3. Be of good character.
4. Meet PEO’s stipulated academic
requirements for licensure. This may include writing technical
examinations.
5. Pass the Professional Practice
Examination.
6. Fulfill engineering work
experience requirements.
Here
are the steps you must take in Ontario:
Assessment of Your Qualifications
You
must apply to have your qualifications assessed by the Professional
Engineers of Ontario (PEO). You can apply by contacting
Professional Engineers Ontario
25 Sheppard Ave. West, Suite 1000
Toronto, ON M2N 6S9
Phone: (416) 224-1100 Toll Free
Phone: 1-800-339-3716
Fax: (416) 224-8168 Toll Free Fax:
1-800-268-0496
Or by e-mail at webmaster@peo.on.ca,
or simply download a PDF version of the application from www.peo.on.ca
You will be required to:
C Provide documentary evidence of
your qualifications, which PEO will assess, such as,
o Notarized transcript(s),
o Detailed course descriptions, and
o An experience record, and
C Include the appropriate fees to
initiate your application for licence.
You will receive information:
C To help you determine whether you
will be able to obtain a licence to practice professional engineering in
Ontario:
C About how long it may take you to
get a licence, and
C Which explains the number of
technical exams you may have to complete and the associated costs.
Your application must include the
following:
C The completed application form with
the required supporting documentation, and
C The application fee of $187.25,
payable to “Professional Engineers Ontario” (Please check the PEO
website for the current fee schedule.)
If
your academic documents are not in English, you must submit a notarized
English translation, as well as the original documents. You must also
provide your detailed course descriptions and an experience record for
PEO’s review. Yhre academic qualifications assessment should take
several months to complete and will depend on the information provided and
the assessment to be performed.
Once
your documents have been assessed, PEO will advise you concerning what
examinations you will be required to write, in the event your assessment
reveals any gaps in your academic qualifications for licensing purposes,
or in order to confirm that they are equivalent to PEO’s academic
requirements for licensure. If you do not have the minimum academic
requirements, PEO will advise you that you may not be able to qualify to
work as a professional engineer in Canada.
If
you do not qualify you will be required to pass exams in subjects in which
your academic training is considered deficient. These exams are
administered nationally twice a year in centres selected by the provincial
engineering authorities.
Preparing
for The PEO Exams
You
may feel that you need help in preparing for the required exams in one or
more of the required subjects. There are among participating partners of
Engineering Institute of Canada organizations in Ontario that offer help.
They can be found at http://www.eic-icc.ca/english/cont_ed/PP2.html.
EPIC Educational Program Innovations Center is one of these organizations
that offer these courses to prepare immigrant engineers to write such
exams.
The
EPIC courses are taught at the EPIC Learning Centre, which has ample
parking and is conveniently located in Mississauga with easy access to
Malton, Etobicoke, Brampton, Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton and
surrounding areas. EPIC offers an accelerated program covering its courses
in six weeks of two sessions per week. EPIC gives a unique guarantee for
students who achieve a mark of 80% in the EPIC exam administered at the
last session, they can attend the next offering of the course free if they
do not pass the PEO exam.
Assessment
of Your Experience
In
addition to academic qualifications, those seeking to become a
professional engineer in Canada require four years of experience of which
one year must be Canadian experience. Your past experience will be
assessed by the Experience Requirements Committee of PEO. Your engineering
experience in your country of origin may be considered equivalent to up to
three years, but you will need at least one year of Canadian experience.
Financial
Assistance
You
may be eligible for financial assistance if you have worked in Canada and
have paid Employment Insurance (EI) premiums, are currently unemployed and
have established a claim for EI benefits, or had an EI benefit claim end
in the past three years, or have been receiving maternity or parental
benefits beginning within the past five years. You should contact
officials at the Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) office closest
to your residence (see - http://www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/menu/profile_search.shtml#profile).
Professional
Practice Examination (PPE)
The
PPE, an exam written by candidates after they have met all of the
educational and experience requirements, is the final requirement for
licensure. For information about this exam (i.e. suggested reference
texts, sources of preparation training and a copy of an old exam) see http://www.peo.on,ca
and click “Licensing and Registration” and then on “Professional
Practice Examination”. The Professional Practice Examination (PPE) is a
three-hour, closed-book exam on ethics, professional practice, engineering
law and liability. An application must be submitted to PEO to write the
PPE.
Pathways.
When
you have passed the required exams and lack only one year of Canadian
experience, you can join the Pathways Program (http://www.ospe.on.ca).
Pathways
is a program created by the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE)
and funded, in part, by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and
Universities. The program is specifically designed to help bridge the
employment gap for internationally educated engineers with English as a
second language now living in Ontario, transforming them into viable,
competitive candidates for relevant employment in the field of
engineering. The program is set up to provide assistance to
internationally educated engineers in their search for a technical
position that will allow them to qualify for the 52 weeks of relevant
engineering work experience required for licensure as a Professional
Engineer in Ontario.
Pathways
participants receive six weeks of intensive, full-time classroom training
in corporate culture in the Canadian workplace, understanding of the North
American concept of “teamwork”, and English communications in a work
environment. Other key areas of classroom and on-line training include the
art of persuasion, the power of positive language, effective listening
skills, and resolving conflict in the workplace.
Other
Organizations Offering Help
The
Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) has a wealth of
information on its web site: Besides other useful settlement information
you will find valuable information on employment and education. Some of
the other web-sites of organizations that help new immigrant engineers are
http:\\www.CanadaInfonet.org, http:\\www.SeeCanada.org, and http:\\www.wes.org.
The Maytree Foundation - Metro Credit
Union Immigrant
Employment
Loan program provides loans to newcomers for short-term upgrading that
leads to employment in a field he or she has previous experience in. The
program may also provide loans for newcomers to undergo an assessment
process that will allow him/her to become certified in a particular trade
or profession. The Immigrant Employment Loan program is a financial option
for applicants to the Pathways Program. For more information about the
eligibility requirements and guidelines to the program visit The Maytree
Foundation website at
How
You Can Help Yourself
You
objective is to find the one employer who will give you an engineering
job. There are a number of agencies trying to help immigrants achieve
their objective of finding a job in their own area of expertise. But you
must look for these organizations and work with them to achieve your
objective. We know you will succeed - the time it will take is indirectly
proportional to the amount of effort you put in.