Are you registering a Canadian corporation?

Individuals or groups applying to register a Canadian corporation with a corporate name that includes any of the terms ENGINEER, PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER, P.ENG., CONSULTING ENGINEER, ENGINEERING, INGÉNIEUR, GÉNIE, ING., INGÉNIEUR CONSEIL or INGÉNIERIE will require an unconditional written consent from Engineers Canada before being able to obtain a Certificate of Incorporation under the Canada Business Corporations Act.

In order to acquire this consent, the applicant must contact the engineering regulatory body in each provincial or territorial jurisdiction where the corporation intends to advertise, offer or provide services and request permission for the use of the corporate name. For example, a corporation based in Ontario that intends to advertise, offer or provide services in Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta must receive permissions from the Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO), the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of the Province of Manitoba (APEGM) and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA). Contact information for all the engineering licensing bodies can be found here.

Once all the appropriate permissions have been acquired, a signed letter from the applicant requesting consent for the use of the relevant term(s) within the proposed corporate name must be sent to Engineers Canada. It is necessary that the letter also address the following:

  1. Confirmation of the provincial/territorial jurisdiction(s) where the corporation intends to advertise, offer or provide services.
  2. Commitment that the corporation and/or its employees (as required by provincial and territorial engineering legislation) acquire and maintain in force licensure from all the provincial and territorial engineering regulatory bodies in the jurisdictions where the corporation intends to advertise, offer or provide services.
  3. Commitment that should the corporation advertise, offer or provide services beyond the jurisdiction(s) identified above, the corporation would request and receive consent to use the corporate name from all the additional provincial and territorial engineering regulatory bodies in the jurisdictions where the corporation is intending to advertise, offer or provide services.
  4. Acknowledgement that advertising, offering or providing services under the proposed corporate name cannot be provided in the province of Quebec.
  5. Commitment that the corporation will comply with all applicable provincial and territorial statutes, regulations and by-laws governing the regulation of the engineering profession.
  6. Attach copies of the permission letter from each engineering regulatory body in the jurisdictions where the corporation intends to advertise, offer or provide services.
  7. Agreement that any use of the relevant term(s) as part of the corporate name gives no trade-mark rights to the corporation in that word, and it is disclaimed.

Engineers Canada will issue a formal letter for use with Corporations Canada once it has been provided with the signed letter from the applicant requesting consent that addresses all the above requirements. A sample letter requesting consent is available here.

Please send both a) the signed letter requesting consent from Engineers Canada; and b) any required documentation such as consent from each applicable regulator, via email to Light.Go@engineerscanada.ca. Please expect about 10 business days for the processing of your application.