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
Why did PEO implement a 20 per cent increase to all its fees?
Current revenues do not enable PEO to fulfil adequately its legislated functions and supporting activities. Revenues from the growth in the number of licence holders, applications, examinations etc., have not been adequate to keep pace with the rate of inflation of nearly 20 per cent over this time.
This is a one-time increase. Any future increases will be decided upon by PEO Council.
Which fees are affected?
Fees related to all licences, examinations, certificates of authorization, consulting engineer designations, reinstatements, engineering intern membership, fee remissions and seals will be increased by approximately 20 per cent, effective May 1, 2019. In addition, two current fees previously not included in By-Law No. 1 have been added with an increase of approximately 20 per cent: Requesting a re-marking of an exam and requesting a PEO examination to be held outside of Canada.
To see a complete list of PEO’s fees as of May 1, 2019, click here.
I’ve already received an invoice that includes the former fee. Will I have to pay the new fee?
No. Only invoices sent on and after May 1, 2019 will include the new fees. If you received an invoice prior to May 1, 2019, you should pay only the amount requested on that notice.
When was the last time PEO increased the annual licence-holder fee?
The annual licence-holder fee was last increased in 2008.
I thought any fee increase was subject to the approval of licence holders through a referendum. Is this true?
At its February 2019 meeting, Council approved repealing section 59 of By-Law No. 1 to remove its obligation to always seek member confirmation to increase the annual licence holder fee. Section 59, which was created in 2011, had been determined to be legally invalid, as it infringed on Council’s authority to determine on a case-by-case basis whether to seek member confirmation of by-laws passed by Council. The repealed section of the bylaw read as follows:
59. Council shall seek confirmation by the members of the association of a bylaw passed by the Council pursuant to the act pertaining only to annual fees for licence holders
Council still retains its full authority to decide on passing future bylaw changes, with or without seeking a member confirmation to vote. Council has the authority under section 8(2) of the Professional Engineers Act to pass any bylaw within its bylaw-making powers unless under section 8(3) Council specifies that the bylaw be confirmed by a majority of the members voting on the bylaw.
Council also decided to approve the approximately 20 per cent fee increase under section 8(2) of the Professional Engineers Act without seeking member confirmation of the bylaw change.
Are any other fee changes forthcoming?
The bylaw changes approved by Council in March 2019 and that become effective May 1, 2019, are one-time fee increases to catch up with inflation since 2008. They exclude for the time being two new fees approved by Council in November 2018. These include: interviews to waive technical examinations, and a $10 credit card convenience fee. These new fees may be implemented later.
I just can’t access the portal. Where can I get help?
If you encounter technical issues trying to access the portal or when interacting with PEO online through the portal, please report them to technical@peo.on.ca. To assist us in resolving the issue, please provide:
- date and time of the incident;
- version of the browser you were using, plus the operating system you were using (e.g. Windows 10);
- description of what you were trying to do; and
- description (ideally a screen shot) of the issue you experienced.
How is my personal information protected when I interact with PEO online through the portal?
The new PEO portal adheres to current best practices for system security and data protection, specifically:
- site pages involving display or transfer of personal user information are secured via HTTPS/SSL/TLS;
- public Internet clients cannot access the site’s administrative functions;
- site forms are protected from known intrusions (SQL injection attacks, JavaScript injection attacks, file upload attacks, SPAM, etc.); and
- sensitive personal data (e.g. passwords) is stored in an encrypted format.
My licence profile information is incorrect. What do I do?
Please contact PEO’s Document Management Centre at documentcentre@peo.on.ca to report discrepancies.
I wasn’t able to register for an exam. Why not?
The list of exams a licence applicant will see when accessing the exams area of the portal are only those exams the applicant is eligible to write at the time the applicant accesses the portal. This prevents you from accidentally registering for an exam for which you are not yet eligible to write. The full list of exams assigned to you appears in the information sent to you by PEO. If you have questions about exams or have had trouble registering online, please contact the Exam department at exams@peo.on.ca, or telephone 416-224-1100 or 1-800-339-3716 and ask for the Exam department.