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Comment by cecilpl2 | Hacker News Reader

This must be enforced only on an adhoc basis when complaints are filed, or only in certain jurisdictions.

In BC, I have worked as a "Software Engineer" for 15 years with just a Bachelors and no engineering license, including for large tech companies. It's on my CV/LinkedIn. SE is the standard title internally and externally, it's on job postings, it's used everywhere.

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You can do that, but you can't sign off on any documents as an engineer. You also won't eligible to write your P. Eng exam unless you've worked under a licensed engineer.

If this is true, it's changed in the last decade. I was able to write the engineering exam right out of school to become an "engineer in training". Becoming a full P. Eng required experience, but no exam.

it has indeed changed a little, I cannot explain as I was also under the last regime and also did not do that exam.

It depends on the province.

Is there any evidence that it is enforced at all?

Court case: In an oral decision delivered on November 26, 2019, Associate Chief Justice Nielsen of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench ordered an injunction against an individual who was using the title “Software Engineer” in his online profiles, despite the fact he was not an APEGA member. Associate Chief Justice Nielsen found that by holding himself out to the public as a “software engineer”, this individual could by implication lead a member of the public to conclude he is a professional engineer, licensee or permit holder with APEGA. This was a violation of s. 3(1)(a)(ii) of the Engineers and Geoscience Professions Act. Associate Chief Justice Nielsen granted the injunction order sought by APEGA and awarded costs to APEGA for the contested application.

If you had bothered to RTFA:

Court case: On 10 March 2020, the Quebec Superior Court (2020 QCCS 1465) upheld a lower court ruling, finding an individual guilty of improperly using the French abbreviation “ing.” In e-mails sent to clients and colleagues, and on a résumé sent to a prospective employer. The Court found that the use of “ing.” by an individual not registered with Quebec’s governing body would induce a reasonable person to conclude that the individual is indeed an engineer. As a result, the individual was found guilty of 4 counts of improper use of title. Leave to appeal was denied by the Quebec Court of Appeal on 5 June 2020 (2020 QCCA 730).

“I did something illegal but since nobody reported me nothing happened to me”

Well no shit.

My point was more that the majority of public job descriptions use "Software Engineer" as the title. The vast majority of engineers I have ever worked with call themselves Software Engineers.

And one of the main examples in the article is an injunction against an individual for using that title online?

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