CCPE - the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers - now known as “Engineers Canada” though the acronym “CCPE” is still widely used. Engineers Canada (CCPE) is an advocacy body only in the limited sense that it advocates to government on behalf of the provincial and territorial licensing associations, and it provides limited member services such as life and liability insurance programs - services that generally speaking have a wide public interest and are in support of the public interest mandates of the provincial and territorial engineering licensing associations. It is not an advocacy body in the sense that it works for the professional and societal self-interest of individual engineers.

CSPE - the Canadian Society of Professional Engineers - is an "Advocacy" organization whose members are licensed professional engineers in the provinces and territories of Canada. It aims to speak for individual engineers and their professional concerns, as well as supporting their careers, interests and personal needs. As the self-interest society for professional engineers, CSPE lobbies for and promote such matters as:

    * less/more regulation

    * changes to the licensing systems

    * better use of salary surveys to promote improved working conditions

    * legal referral services to help engineers in trouble with employment, clients, professional misconduct

    * employment assistance services

CCPE is not independently run by and for its members, as are CSPE and also, for example, the Canadian Bar Association and the Canadian Medical Association. In fact, CCPE is an appointed group of directors from the Provincial and Territorial Associations, constrained by the same legislation that constrains the provincial/territorial licensing bodies themselves. In contrast, CSPE is truly member-controlled and operating under independent corporate charters as a non-profit organization for the benefit of professional engineers alone.

Member services (as offered by CCPE) are not "Advocacy" although they complement it nicely. Neither CCPE nor its constituent members (the provincial and territorial licensing Associations) can defend engineers from accusations of professional misconduct. It is difficult for them to arrange professional liability insurance plans to cover mistakes they are supposed to prevent from happening. Similarly, it is difficult for them to speak for engineers collectively in situations where there is a professional self-interest or public interest that, under their statutory mandate, they have a primary duty to protect. These points are often omitted from discussions about the role of CCPE and especially in connection with the need for a strong, independent advocacy organization such as CSPE and its provincial/territorial affiliates.

The licensing bodies have opposed CSPE until quite recently, when PEO Council in Ontario decided that it would move to separate the regulatory and non-regulatory functions. As a result, the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) was formed in 2000 and received financial support from PEO in its start-up years. Hopefully, this divestiture will allow CSPE and OSPE to grow in Ontario and throughout Canada. CSPE's role in engineers' advocacy will change as OSPE develops in Ontario and other provinces/territories begin to adopt the policies now being pursued by PEO. We are hoping to work very closely with CCPE to ensure there is no duplication of member services and that there is a coherent approach to advocacy and members services across Canada.