Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that the City of Toronto, on which Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) is situated, is on the traditional territory of many Nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto (Tkaronto) is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.
EDI Statement
PEO’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is rooted in the principles of the Anti-Racism and Equity (ARE) Code. This guides our regulatory practices, policies and culture so we can actively uphold anti-racism, fairness and inclusivity.
PEO is on a journey to promote a culture of belonging so every engineer and aspiring engineer can see a place for themselves in the profession. This requires ongoing commitment, involving active listening, meaningful reflection and tangible action. We align our efforts with the Anti-Racism and Equity Code, assess our progress and remain accountable to the engineers we regulate and the public we serve. This strengthens PEO as a regulator and contributes to a more diverse and innovative engineering profession that represents communities across Ontario.
PEO’s Anti-Racism & Equity (ARE) Code
PEO’s ARE Code represents our commitment to advancing fairness, human rights, and public interest obligations. Our approach to EDI is grounded in eight core principles outlined in the ARE Code, which include:
- Measuring and reporting disaggregated demographic data for data-informed decision making
- Continually improving regulatory processes to be more equitable and inclusive
- Reinforcing professional obligations to uphold human rights
- Embedding EDI training and a human rights culture across PEO
- Investing in inclusive leadership and equitable representation
- Engaging stakeholders to strengthen the engineering talent pipeline
- Building accountability measuresand safeguards against discrimination
- Leading by example through equitable hiring, retention and advancement
"Through PEO's Anti-Racism and Equity Code, we are prioritizing various historically marginalized communities in engineering so we can develop specific strategies to counter any systemic discrimination." - Jennifer Quaglietta, PEO CEO, Registrar
EDI at PEO
PEO's EDI action plan guides our work in advancing the ARE Code's eight principles. The action plan includes activities and engagement initiatives for both internal and external audiences. The plan, together with the EDI Framework, supports embedding Code principles into our future policy work as well as our ongoing operations. Transparency is important to us, so we report on our EDI Action Plan progress in the CEO/Registrar's Report, the Annual Report, in Engineering Dimensions and on social media.
- Create a storytelling series in Engineering Dimensions to amplify the voices and experiences of equity-seeking practitioners and communities
- Create an EDI subsection on PEO’s website
- Create social media posts that bring awareness to EDI-related issues and barriers and explain how we are bridging gaps within the profession
- Deliver consistent messages from the CEO/Registrar about EDI issues and our commitment to EDI work (including in the CEO/Registrar’s Report to Council, Engineering Dimensions, etc.)
- Create EDI Corner in PEO’s monthly staff newsletter, covering various EDI concepts and education pieces
- Create an EDI calendar that includes various initiatives and events being planned and already underway, including appropriate staff to support each item
- Provide training on EDI topics to Council and tribunals
- Deliver the Council-approved Engineers Canada EDI webinar to PEO staff and volunteers
- Create governance orientation modules for new Council members to help them understand how they can embed EDI into their work
- Completed a series of training sessions for volunteers on EDI topics
- Ensure that every policy proposal impacting the interests of licence holders is accompanies by an Equity Impact Assessment
- Undertake a comprehensive review of all existing PEO program policies prioritizing licensing, complaints and discipline processes to identify gaps and purpose strategies that will enable PEO to achieve equity and foster inclusivity in its core regulatory functions
- Work with the call centre to create a mechanism to provide over-phone interpreting (e.g. partnership with MCIS interpretation services)
- Create and translate documents into various languages for applicants and licence holders. Documents will include:
- PEO’s role and public protection mandate
- How to apply to become licenced
- How to file a complaint and the complaints process
- Produce a video for CBA assessment to increase accessibility and enhance visual understanding
- Ensure all newly created and revised documents meet accessibility regulations and use gender-neutral language
- Review PEO’s Guideline on Human Rights in Professional Practice
- Undertake a comprehensive review of all existing PEO regulations, policies, standards, and guidelines to determine if and how they should promote EDI principles so that principles are reflected in the conduct and services provided by licence holders
- Continue to collaborate with other Canadian engineering regulators on the 30 by 30 initiative and other Engineers Canada EDI strategic initiatives to raise “the percentage of newly licensed engineers who are women to 30 per cent by the year 2030”
- Ensure that the Strategic Stakeholders Advisory Group represents a variety of identities, backgrounds, perspectives and abilities to support the objectives of the Anti-Racism and Equity (ARE) Code
- Develop meaningful community partnerships with agencies to inform our EDI work and to raise awareness of existing gaps within equity-seeking communities
- Create an EDI Action Plan to implement the commitments made under the ARE Code adopted by Council in April 2022
- Publicly report on the progress of PEO’s EDI Action Plan annually
- Develop EDI-related metrics to incorporate into PEO’s Governance Scorecard
- Implement recommendations prepared by Indigenous & Community Engagement (ICE) for addressing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Calls to Action and increasing Indigenous representation in Ontario engineering
- Integrate the below internal EDI pillars to ensure equitable hiring and representation of persons from all equity seeking backgrounds and to foster retention, inclusion, advancement, belonging and equity regarding equity-seeking persons and everyone at all levels in the organization
- Learning & Development: Deploy training and education opportunities for all staff and leaders
- Policies & Procedures: Update and/or develop policies, procedures and practices that reflect guiding principles
- Engagement & Retention: Review and develop programs that reflect guiding principles to encourage retention and improve staff engagement
- Leadership & Accountability: Work towards a common goal, following through and sustaining all commitments and learnings
- Gather and publicly report disaggregated race-based data, other identity-based data, and EDI metrics, based on voluntarily expressed consent to better understand the diversity of the profession and the challenges experiences
- Partner with external organizations that serve underrepresented populations to gain a better understanding of the work that needs to be done to support the ARE Code
Latest News
PEO is committed to promoting a professional culture of belonging. Knowing and understanding our applicants and licence holders is an important step towards advancing a profession where every engineer and aspiring engineer can see a place for themselves.
Licence holders and applicants can now share their demographic data with us via the PEO portal. By providing their demographic information, they are helping PEO identify barriers and track progress toward a more inclusive profession.
Sharing this information is voluntary and will not impact licensure or other regulatory decisions.
Why is PEO collecting this information?
In accordance with section 14 of the Ontario Human Rights Code and as approved by PEO’s Council under Principle 1 of the Anti-Racism & Equity (ARE) Code, collecting demographic data is one way we are actioning our ARE Code commitments.
How will this help?
By voluntarily providing PEO with demographic information, applicants and licence holders are helping us obtain an accurate picture of current demographics. This in turn helps us to identify disparities and systemic barriers that might exist, to address these barriers where feasible and to identify and inform equity initiatives to better support our licence holders and engineering applicants.
The information provided will be reported only in aggregate form and will not be linked to any individual responses. PEO will also ensure that this demographic information is stored securely and kept completely separate from all licensing, registration or other regulatory records.
More information on this initiative is available in your PEO Portal profile.
The 2026 PEAK CPD program launched on January 6, and all eligible licence holders will have received an email requesting that they complete the program.
This year’s professional practice module focuses on building an inclusive profession, and engineers’ responsibilities under the Ontario Human Rights Code, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and PEO’s Code of Ethics. The module represents PEO’s commitment to advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in the engineering profession, and the importance of creating a profession where every engineer and aspiring engineers belongs. About 78,000 licence holders will be completing this module in 2026.
On November 26, 2025, in testimony before the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on the Status of Women, CEO/Registrar of Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO), Jennifer Quaglietta, reflected on progress made and the work still needed to close the engineering profession’s gender gap.
Engineering Dimensions Storytelling Series
PEO features stories about diverse engineers in every issue of Engineering Dimensions. Read them all below.
Days of Significance
PEO acknowledges religious and cultural days of importance to members of our community. PEO’s Days of Significance calendar has been thoughtfully created to equally celebrate, acknowledge and share the diversity of our community. PEO marks religious and cultural days of significance in various ways, including on social media.
We recognize that there are numerous important dates linked to different faiths and communities. Members of the community are welcome to reach out with additions and updates, or to let us know about any errors.