2 ms·

It's a bit like saying that you are a doctor, nurse or a lawyer (attorney?). In Canada these are protected titles that can only be used if you are part of a pro

by belval 5y ago

It's a bit like saying that you are a doctor, nurse or a lawyer (attorney?). In Canada these are protected titles that can only be used if you are part of a professional order that has oversight over your activities and can audit your work at basically any time. There are some tasks that can only be performed if you are certified and pay the annual fees. Where this falls apart is that "Software Engineering" is a real discipline recognized by the organization that handles engineering programs in Canada, however there are no "reserved tasks" so a lot of Software Developers have a Software Engineering degree but can't call themselves that because they (rightfully in my opinion but still) refuse to pay the annual membership fees (about 600$) since their professional order is actually not equipped to audit software engineering work. Hopefully that helps a little.

agentultra 5y ago
Exactly what I was trying to get across. The protected term is meaningless even if enforced, it seems to me, because there are no "reserved tasks," as you say. It's bit like... being able to practice law as long as you don't call yourself a lawyer. You're a legal assistant instead. In a similar fashion developers are practising software engineering without calling themselves, "engineers." I don't think we all need to be licensed in order to work -- but companies should be required to hire X number of licensed engineers per Y number of developers. They should be required to pay for the liability insurance to hire those licensed engineers. And there should be repercussions if the company goes against the engineers' direction.
- auxym 5y ago
  For what it's worth, the latest revision of the Engineers Act in Quebec (2020, the previous revision was from 1962), has a much wider definition of engineering works and reserved acts, which does include software, if it can have an impact on the safety of persons. I am not a lawyer (mech engineer), but that's the message that the OIQ has been sending lately. It's unclear when and how they plan to start applying these new regulations.

by belval 5y ago

agentultra 5y ago

Exactly what I was trying to get across. The protected term is meaningless even if enforced, it seems to me, because there are no "reserved tasks," as you say. It's bit like... being able to practice law as long as you don't call yourself a lawyer. You're a legal assistant instead. In a similar fashion developers are practising software engineering without calling themselves, "engineers." I don't think we all need to be licensed in order to work -- but companies should be required to hire X number of licensed engineers per Y number of developers. They should be required to pay for the liability insurance to hire those licensed engineers. And there should be repercussions if the company goes against the engineers' direction.

auxym 5y ago
For what it's worth, the latest revision of the Engineers Act in Quebec (2020, the previous revision was from 1962), has a much wider definition of engineering works and reserved acts, which does include software, if it can have an impact on the safety of persons. I am not a lawyer (mech engineer), but that's the message that the OIQ has been sending lately. It's unclear when and how they plan to start applying these new regulations.