Can you give an example of an ethical problem that might be faced by a software engineer, that is covered by these courses, and that these courses would enable a person to deal with significantly better.
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_900...
See section 77. Generally, it often revolves around 77.2.i,
"A practitioner shall, regard the practitioner’s duty to public welfare as paramount"
One could see a conflict come up between the company's and the public's interest. For example, you get asked to write the code in a way that takes less time, but could expose the client's data to hackers.
I agree that a person could be placed in a situation where they were asked to do something against the public welfare. But I don't see how reading this rule in a course would actually help the person making the decision.
For example, I've been in situations where security issues came up. Like most real life matters, it was a matter of judgement, and the tradeoffs were complex. But I went above and beyond what was expected, to do things the best way possible. I did it because I thought it was the right thing to do, and because I take pride in my work. But I didn't need to take a course or get a certificate to know this.
If I were designing human medical trials, then I agree that a course in ethics would be in order. But all aspects of life involve ethical choices, and I don't think that you need to be an expert in philosophy to make the right choices.
So, it's often good to examine a complex situation from the viewpoint of multiple ethical systems and make a decision based on that. That's what courses in ethics do. They teach various systems and present situations to examine.
A lot of people might go with consequentialism, which is basically, "The end justifies the means." Utilitarianism is essentially a subset of this.
So, yes you have some ethical system that you follow, but if you're only looking at a situation from that viewpoint, you might miss out on an alternative course of action.