Engineers in Newfoundland facing legislation changes

Professional engineers in Newfoundland are preparing for major changes in the way they operate. The Association of Professional Engineers & Geoscientists of Newfoundland reports that the provincial government is planning to modify the Acts of all the self-regulating professions in order to standardize the way they operate.

As APEGN understands it, the proposed legislation will include a requirement for engineering practitioners to carry professional liability insurance. Several other provinces have instituted this requirement for liability insurance in recent years. The Newfoundland association is trying to clarify with the government whether the new rule will apply only to consultants.

The new rules are also expected to require that Newfoundland has both an advocacy and a regulatory organization governing engineers. Ontario is the only province to have introduced a similar dual organizational structure until now. Its Ontario Society of Professional Engineers was formed a few years ago to fulfil the advocacy organization (i.e. it acts on behalf of engineers’ own interests), leaving Professional Engineers of Ontario in charge of all regulatory and licensing issues.

The Newfoundland legislation is expected to include a number of other important features. The Association may have to submit an annual report to the government, for example. The Association Council might have to include public members i.e. people who are neither engineers nor geoscientists. And there would be a standardized discipline procedure.

APEGN has been working with the government and has set up a task force of council members to work on the relevant issues.