> Canada has a strict requirement for engineers (electrical, civil, etc) to pass a qualification test of some sort, and I was told (by ex-pat Canadians) that it

> Canada has a strict requirement for engineers (electrical, civil, etc) to pass a qualification test of some sort, and I was told (by ex-pat Canadians) that it's not legal to do engineering work without that. Plus they get a special ring to wear to show their status (not kidding, I've seen them). Quick couple of notes: - The ring isn’t really evidence of qualification, it’s evidence that you’ve taken an oath to your peers. Most people do the oath in their final year of their bachelors (The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer) - The definition of “engineering” in Canada is complicated. I have my ring. I have an EE BSc and a Comp Sci masters. I don’t have my P.Eng at all, and can therefore not call myself an Engineer. But I write software and design electronics all day long, for money, legally. Some of the stuff I work on is safety-critical and could kill someone, but nothing I work on legally needs stamped drawings. So I carry on without a stamp and without my P.Eng designation. - There is an ethics exam when you go to get your P.Eng but I don’t believe there’s actually a practical knowledge exam. The biggest thing is that you need to have other licensed engineers (and potentially non-engineer managers) attest to your competence in a number of different topics related to the practice of engineering. Not just Engineering skills, but project management, communication, etc. All of the things that are needed to do the job well on your own. If you really want to have fun with it in Canada, though, consider that you’re generally only allowed to be licensed in the discipline you did your undergrad in (with a few exceptions). So I could get my electrical P.Eng, but not a civil one. So here’s the fun part: there are only a very small number of accredited software engineering programs in Canada. All of the people running around with a comp sci degree calling themselves Software Engineers… well, there’s drama sometimes :D