this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2025
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The answer is that it depends on Province.
It seems that Quebec is particularly strict here, with Microsoft losing a battle to use the term "Engineers" over two decades ago, https://www.canadianconsultingengineer.com/quebec-order-of-engineers-wins-legal-battle-with-microsoft/
Similarly, it seems there was a lot of activity a couple of years ago in Alberta to protect the term as per https://edmonton.taproot.news/news/2022/10/17/tech-leaders-seek-easing-of-rules-around-software-engineer-designation - with the result that the law is being changed to explicitly exempt "software engineer" from protection as per https://globalnews.ca/news/10084623/engineers-canada-urges-alberta-to-reconsider-change-to-rules-around-engineer-title/
In Ontario specifically - which is the most populated province of Canada - my layman's reading of https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90p28 12 (1),
Similarly, looking at https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/s10016 5(1)
And from https://www.peo.on.ca/public-protection/complaints-and-illegal-practice/report-unlicensed-individuals-or-companies-2#software
But most software development is not, for example, directly related to health & safety.
Basically in Ontario it seems "professional engineer" is the main regulated term, and "engineer" is only restricted in a subset of limited cases. (Note that this might be a relatively recent change though - the Professional Engineers Act is dated to 1990, but the Open for Business Act from 2010 made a number of changes to it. And it's specific to just Ontario.)
Edit: Now it seems that the Ontario branch of Engineers Canada, Professional Engineers Ontario, isn't quite happy with this state of affairs. They make their case here, https://www.peo.on.ca/public-protection/complaints-and-illegal-practice/report-unlicensed-individuals-or-companies in the "Software engineering and misleading certifications" section near the bottom:
The rest of the page is just about how to report misuse of the "professional engineer" term, e.g.
It's quite telling then that the vast majority of jobs in Canada with the title "Network Engineer" are for companies based in Ontario, at least looking at https://ca.indeed.com/q-network-engineer-jobs.html?vjk=4d0293c813a90300
There are other cases of courts declaring engineering to be unprotected, see for example https://www.smartbiggar.ca/insights/publication/canadian-council-of-professional-engineers-fails-to-prevent-registration-of-engineering-mark
BC is also pretty strict. Those who do software development in areas where failure could cause threat to life, health, or the environment are required to be (or overseen by) Professional Engineers, and non-PEngs can't call themselves software engineers. The major universities offer accredited software engineering programs which are separate degrees from computer science, focus less on theory, and include first year sciences and professional ethics courses.