Practising engineering in Canada
To be a licensed engineer in Canada, you must be licensed by one of Canada’s provincial or territorial engineering regulators. However, you can still start working in engineering—even if you haven’t been licensed by a regulator—as long as you are supervised by a licensed engineer who takes professional responsibility for your work.
Getting academic credentials assessed
To practise engineering in Canada, you must be licensed with the engineering regulator for the province or territory where you want to practise. One of the five requirements for licensure is an education in engineering.
To determine if your engineering education meets the academic requirement for licensure, please contact the engineering regulator in the province where you would like to work.
What you will need to have your education evaluated:
- Knowledge of which regulator you want to apply with
- Degrees, certificates, diplomas, and transcripts
- Course descriptions may also be required
- Some regulators require an assessment done by a credential assessment agency. Please check with the regulator for specific requirements.
Documents that may also be useful in your application:
- An official program syllabus or course descriptions from your institution. Check with the regulator if they require a certified translation of the documents
- The basic studies, complementary studies, and discipline-specific syllabi related to your discipline of study
Depending on where you are applying, there are few other important things to know. Please check with the appropriate regulator on specifics:
- An engineering education that satisfies the regulator’s requirements is only one of the five requirements for licensure in Canada. See all of the requirements here.
- Only an engineering regulator can determine whether your engineering education meets their requirements.
- You might be required to complete technical examinations.
- You will be required to get an education credential assessment (ECA) for immigration purposes. A specific type of credential assessment may also be required by the regulator you’re applying to for licensure. Before you complete an ECA for immigration, then, it is best to determine whether the regulator you’re applying to also requires one. You should contact the regulator first. Doing this may save you both time and money.
- The adoption and recognition of Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) signed by Engineers Canada by the engineering regulators varies across Canada.
- Engineers Canada is not an engineering regulator and does not evaluate education.
Related Information
Find your provincial or territorial regulator
To work as a professional engineer in one of Canada's provinces or territories, you must receive a licence from that province or territory's engineering association.