David Ennis | Engineers Canada

David Ennis has spent his career in service to the engineering profession. He began volunteering with Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba in 1975 before joining the Association as Act Administration Officer in 1987 and becoming Executive Director and Registrar three years later. He retired in 2005 and has spent the past 19 years continuing to volunteer his time on multiple committees and task forces.

As Executive Director, Ennis helped to oversee the revision of the act governing engineers in Manitoba, now known as the Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Act. The new act brought in the regulation of the practice of engineering by corporations with a requirement for professional liability insurance; augmented disciplinary provisions; and solidified the Association’s prohibition authority.

In addition, he collaborated with the University of Manitoba’s engineering faculty to support the development of a qualification program that helped internationally trained engineers obtain a license in Canada by identifying and filling gaps in their education and facilitating opportunities for Canadian work experience, which could lead to permanent jobs in the profession.

Ennis served as a director on the Engineers Canada Board from 2006 to 2010. In that role, he chaired a committee that negotiated an agreement in principle with the Assembly of First Nations to promote engineering as a career to Indigenous students.

He is also on the board of the Engineering and Geoscience Education Foundation in Manitoba, which facilitates financial support for engineering students who do not have the means to complete their education, for whatever reason.

Volunteering is something Ennis’ parents inspired him to do, and he says it is its own reward: “It gives one a sense of community and, in a lot of cases, some satisfaction that maybe you’re getting something done.”

During his career, engineering has gone from slide rules to artificial intelligence, but his deep and broad understanding of the profession remains relevant and is valued by colleagues across Canada.