B.C. engineers asked to make professional development compulsory
October 13, 2009
By
Canadian Consulting Engineer
The lives of some B.C. engineers will change considerably if they ratify a bylaw at their annual meeting this ...
The lives of some B.C. engineers will change considerably if they ratify a bylaw at their annual meeting this weekend.
On Saturday, October 17, professional engineers in British Columbia will be asked to ratify a bylaw that will make it mandatory for them to undertake continuing professional development activities.
The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. is proposing a bylaw that requires practising professional engineers and geoscientists to undertake 30 hours of professional development activity per year. The engineers and geoscientists would have to report this activity to the association to show the requirement have been met.
Professional development activities that qualify for PD hours include journal reading, courses, seminars, attending presentations, educational tours, mentoring and committee meetings. The courses and seminars don’t have to be accredited or sponsored by APEGBC to qualify.
The program would come into effect in January 2011.
The association says that ratifying mandatory professional development “will bring BC professional engineers and geoscientists into line with the vast majority of self regulated professions as well as with their counterparts across the country.”
(However, licensed engineers in Ontario, for example, Canada’s most populous province, do not have to meet a requirement for continuing education.)
