The practice of professional engineering is defined in Section 1 of the Professional Engineers Act and comprises three tests. If what you do meets all three tests, you are practising professional engineering and must be licensed by the association. Like medical or legal professionals, professional engineers are licensed, and are accountable for their work. Their duty is to protect the public safety.
Professional engineers subscribe to a strict code of ethics and practice standards.
The profession is regulated by Professional Engineers Ontario. For starters, the very computer and software you are surfing with was made possible by professional engineers. Your CD player, the road you drove home on, the stadium you saw the baseball game in, the elevator you rode in, the television you watched and the electricity you used are all the work of engineers. The planes, trains and automobiles you get around with and nearly everything else you see and use was designed or influenced in some way by a professional engineer. Professional engineers direct huge construction projects, work in hospitals and in research labs, manage international corporations, and hold office in the highest governments.