Presented to

1

Presented to Mech 460, Oct. 21, 2008
2
(No Transcript)
3
The Engineering Profession in Ontario
Public Interest Professional Engineers Ontario
(PEO) Engineers are license holders
Member Interest Ontario Society of Professional
Engineers Engineers are members
4

• How do professions operate?

Member Interest MEDICINE Ontario Medical
Association LAW Ontario Bar Association
Public Interest MEDICINE College of Physicians
and Surgeons LAW Law Society of Upper Canada
5

• OSPE is dedicated to helping engineers in four
  ways

• Advocacy
• Professional Development
• Career Centre
• Member Services

6
What is OSPE?

• the advocacy and member services organization
  for Ontarios 70,000 professional engineers, as
  well as interns, students and engineering
  graduates.
• We are a not-for-profit professional association
  and membership is voluntary.
• Currently, OSPE has approximately 12,000 members,
  2000 students!

7
The difference between PEO and OSPE

• Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO)
• issues licences,
• regulates the engineering profession in Ontario,
• hears complaints from the public
• and disciplines professional engineers as needed,
  according to its mandate under the Ontario
  Professional Engineers Act. 
• Similar professional licensing bodies include the
  Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons and
  the Law Society of Upper Canada.
•  

8
OSPE SERVICES

• Career Services (includes students!)
• job postings
• resume posting
• resume mining, where employers can search resumes
• engineering salary surveys
• career workshops
• discounts on career-related services

9
Professional Development

• Preparatory Course for PEO Professional Practice
  and Ethics Examination (PPE)

10
License

• Graduates from university programs in engineering
  who wish to become professional engineers are
  subject to
• public exams
• a four-year experience requirement (under the
  supervision of another licenced P.Eng.) before
  they can be licenced by Professional Engineers
  Ontario.

11
Apply for P.Eng. Licence

• Apply for Licence To be registered in PEO's
  Engineering Intern Training (EIT) Program, an
  Application for Licence must first be submitted. 
  Download the  P.Eng. Application Who is
  eligible?
• Applicants who hold an undergraduate degree from
  a CEAB accredited program are eligible to
  register in PEO' Engineering Intern Training
  (EIT) Program.  Do you have PreGrad Experience?
  
• Other Downloads
• Download the  P.Eng. Application Download
  the Pregraduation Experience Record Guide
  Download the The Engineering Intern Experience
  Checklist  
• www.peo.on.ca
•    

12

• Services Specifically for Engineers
• The Job Board - online engineering job postings
• Resume Posting - online resume database for
  employers to search
• Networking - e-networking, discussion groups and
  events
• Career Workshops and Events - interactive
  sessions designed specially for engineers
• Career Services - resume review and career advice
  
• Resources and Links - variety of resources and
  engineering-related career links

13
OSPE Online Career Centre Quick Facts as of Oct.
21, 2008
Total Jobs Posted 3,133 Mthly Avg. of Jobs
100 (117 today) OSPE Member
Users 9,767 Employers 4,393 Resumes
Posted 2,986 Avg. Daily Site Hits 1,642
OSPEs Career Centre is the largest source of
engineering jobs in Canada!
14

• OSPE 2008 Employer Compensation Survey Results -
  Now Available!

15
Engineers Without Borders (EWB)

• Engineers Without Borders is OSPEs charity of
  choice and we strongly support the good work this
  organization does. For more information please
  visit www.ewb.ca

16
We advocate inside and outside the profession
17
Advocating for engineers

• Responding to the Walkerton tragedy
• Lobbying government for demand-side legislation
• Reaching out to political leaders and senior
  Ministry staff

18
ADVOCACY

• The primary purpose of OSPE is to advocate for
  the professional and economic interests of
  engineers.
• Changes to water legislation
• The Task Force testified before the Walkerton
  Inquiry and submitted recommendations to
  Ontarios Ministry of the Environment, many of
  which were incorporated into Bill 175, the
  Sustainable Water and Sewage Systems Act, and
  Bill 195, the Safe Drinking Water Act.

19

• Today, mandatory involvement of professional
  engineers in the management of Ontarios water
  system is resulting in more demand for engineers
  and safer water for Ontarians.

20
OSPE helps professional engineers become exempt
from new well licence (Aug. 2007)

• OSPE, PEO, and Consulting Engineers Ontario (CEO)
  recently joined forces to lobby the provincial
  government on proposed amendments to Ontarios
  Wells Regulation (Regulation 903).
• These amendments, intended to strengthen the
  protection of public health and drinking water,
  would have meant the establishment of a new class
  of well technician licence (Class 5).

21

• The 3 engineering organizations lobbied the
  government to exempt professional engineers from
  having to obtain this new licence.
• These collective efforts paid off!
• The provincial government determined that members
  of all these groups are exempt from this new
  class of licence in recognition of their training
  and qualifications.

22
(No Transcript)
23
Fair bidding practices that encourage innovation

• Low-fee bidding and its negative influence on
• engineers salaries,
• the value of the designation,
• and opportunity for innovation
• have long been serious concerns for Ontarios
  engineers.

24
(No Transcript)
25
Quality Based Selection

• Were asking the government to place greater
  emphasis on long-term savings, and less on
  short-term costs, says Annette Bergeron, M.B.A.,
  P.Eng., President and Chair of OSPE.
• The government tells us they are receptive to
  this new process, but we want to make sure its
  included in the next budget, expected some time
  this month.
• Ms Bergeron sent Premier McGuinty a letter,
  asking him to champion speedy adoption of the new
  procurement processes and offering the societys
  voluntary assistance in drafting a new
  procurement system for Ontario.

26
Quality Based Selection

• Spending a little more money up front usually
  results in lower construction costs, and
  structures that last longer and are less
  expensive to maintain down the road, says Ms
  Bergeron.
• Engineers call this engineering for life, and it
  benefits all Ontarians, especially the next
  generation.
• OSPE President and Chair extols the virtues of
  QBS in October 2007 issue of Design Engineering

27

• News Story Comment The real cost of the lowest
  bidBy Ottawa Business Journal StaffWed, Oct 3,
  2007
• Most engineering services today, whether they
  involve massive public works projects or building
  small manufacturing facilities, are contracted on
  the basis of "low-fee bidding."
• In other words, contracts are typically awarded
  to the engineering firm that can offer to
  complete the work at the lowest price.

28
Building Code

• In 2006, PEO, the provinces engineering
  regulator, decided to challenge changes made in
  2002 to the Building Code Act in court.
• At issue was clarification of the proposed
  amendments to the Ontario Building Code Act that
  required professional engineers, as designers, to
  qualify and register under a Ministry of
  Municipal Affairs and Housing process to continue
  undertaking designs and reviews associated with
  building permit applications.

29
Ontario Superior Court ruling upholds
Professional Engineers Act

• The regulator argued that no evidence had been
  produced to indicate its licences had been
  inadequate in protecting the public in matters
  under the Ontario Building Code.
• OSPE recently expressed support for an Ontario
  Superior Court of Justice ruling clarifying the
  exclusive jurisdiction of Professional Engineers
  Ontario (PEO) in areas of building code
  compliance and activities relating to the general
  review of construction.

30
Brownfields

• A brownfield is a former industrial site which
  may be contaminated but has the potential to be
  cleaned and redeveloped for a new purpose.
• In November 2001, the Ontario government passed
  the Brownfields Statute Law Amendment Act
  governing the assessment and clean-up of
  contaminated sites across Ontario.

31

• 2005 - OSPE recently rejected suggestions by the
  Ministry of the Environment (MOE) that
  professional engineers should have to be
  certified to be qualified for Brownfields.

32
Certification of Qualified Persons

• As of October 1, 2009, qualified persons are
  defined as people licenced under the Professional
  Engineers Act or the Professional Geoscientists
  Act, 2000, including limited licensees and
  limited members.

33
Volunteer

• In May 2005, Annette Bergeron, P.Eng.,
  participated in the Premiers Leaders Forum on
  Strategic Growth
• The forum provided an opportunity for business
  leaders and urban experts to provide
  recommendations and feedback for managing growth
  in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area including
  streamlining environment assessments and planning
  approval processes.

34
The cost of membership in OSPE as a graduate
engineer is only 100 as an Associate member, or
70 as an Intern member (if entering PEOs EIT
program) per year. Join as a student now for
25 Thats a small investment in your future and
in your profession
35

• In closing

• You are joining a great profession!
• Engineers make Ontario a better place to live.
• Listen to our radio spots on the OSPE website at
  www.ospe.on.ca to hear how
• We drive innovation and fuel the economy
• We bring value to society
• Together, we can build a powerful voice for the
  engineering profession of the future!

36

• www.ospe.on.ca/