OSPE - The Voice - Fall 2019 - 12

NEWS

Independent Regulatory
Review finds weaknesses in
Ontario engineering
licensing and registration
Professional Standards Authority provides 15
recommendations for improving PEO's performance
On June 27, 2019, Professional Engineers Ontario
(PEO) released a report by the United Kingdom-based
Professional Standards Authority (PSA) on its performance
as a regulator. The PSA's report entitled "A review of
the regulatory performance of Professional Engineers
Ontario" was based on a review of PEO documentation
and interviews with PEO staff, Council, committees and
external stakeholders, including the Ontario Society
of Professional Engineers (OSPE), conducted between
December 2018 and April 2019. The report covers three
areas:
* Licensing and registration;
* Complaints, discipline, compliance and enforcement; and
* Professional standards and guidance.
The paper notes that "the background of the decision of
PEO's Council to commission this review included expressed
internal and external concern that PEO was not sufficiently
focused on its mandate to protect the public, that its practices
and processes were not in line with the principles of Righttouch regulation and that it could learn from best practice in
professional regulation elsewhere." (page 61)
Measured against standards that were agreed to in advance
of the review, the PSA report found that:
* PEO meets one Standard of seven for licensing and
registration;
* PEO meets six Standards and partially meets one of 11
for complaints, discipline, compliance and enforcement;
and
* PEO meets one Standard and partially meets two of four
for professional standards and guidance.
OSPE has been informed that PEO Council has accepted
the report in its entirety and is developing an action plan
to implement the following recommendations:

THE VOICE

Fall 2019

Summary of 15 Recommendations
1. Review all committees, subcommittees and working groups
to ensure they are both necessary and fit for a regulatory
purpose
2. Clarify the roles of Council members, Staff and volunteers
3. Consider if Chapters are either necessary or desirable in
delivering functions as a regulator
4. Implement all the recommendations of the OFC in his
report of 2014 and his subsequent letters, and consider the
way negative language is used about everyone who is not a
licensed P.Eng. and describe people as what they are rather
than what they are not
5. Simplify and speed up the process for application for
a professional engineering licence and discard the
discriminatory aspects of written examinations, a Canadian
year of experience and face to face interviews
6. Review and revise all current licensing categories and
designations and eliminate those that do not directly
contribute to protection of the public
7. Keep the public register of licensed engineers and other
public directories published by PEO complete and up to
date
8. Require licensed engineers employing another engineer to
check their registration status
9. Establish a formal process for keeping engineering
standards up to date and relevant
10. Revise PEAK program to ensure it is outcome-focused
and achievable by licensed engineers, and then make
participation in this CPD program mandatory
11. Review approach to complaints and discipline:
a. Take a more confident approach to interpretation of
legislation, seeking to protect the public rather than
itself
b. Enforce guidance
c. Pay more regard to professional conduct and ethics
d. Give fuller reasons for disciplinary decisions and
publish them

OSPE - The Voice - Fall 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of OSPE - The Voice - Fall 2019