Is a Software engineer an engineer?#
TECHNOLOGY REPORTER PUBLISHED OCTOBER 14, 2022#
Alberta\'s engineering regulator is in a fight with the province\'s
technology sector, insisting anyone with the title \"software engineer\"
must hold a permit - and pay fees for that right.The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta
(APEGA), has asked a court to order one of the province\'s leading
software companies, Octopusapp Inc., known as Jobber, to stop using the
term \"engineer\" in job titles and postings unless it gets a permit
from the regulator.That has caused an uproar in Alberta\'s tech sector. On Friday, the
Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) published an open letter signed by
chief executive officers of 32 Alberta tech companies, including
Jobber\'s Sam Pillar, calling on Premier Danielle Smith to stop
\"regulator overreach\" by APEGA.The letter says APEGA\'s \"aggressive position\" would result in
\"onerous, restrictive and unnecessary certification requirements\" for
developers, and harm companies\' ability to compete for talent. \"If we
cannot effectively compete for the best employees while headquartered in
Alberta, we must seriously consider whether this is a place where our
companies can succeed,\" states the letter signed by CEOs of Benevity
Inc., Symend Inc., Neo Financial Technologies Inc. and others.CCI president Benjamin Bergen said he hoped Ms. Smith, who pledged to
cut red tape while campaigning to lead the United Conservative Party,
would take action \"because this is really a red tape issue. It is the
only jurisdiction globally that is pushing this. It\'s making Alberta
uncompetitive in the tech sector.\"A spokesperson for Alberta Labour Minister Kaycee Madu said in an e-mail
the government would work with the parties to resolve the issue, adding:
\"We are concerned by any regulations that impede our competitiveness in
the world skilled-labour market.\"Erum Afsar, director of enforcement with APEGA, said in an interview:
\"What we are doing is regulating what the government has legislated us
to do. If you\'re using that title, you should be registered with
APEGA.\"APEGA and Canada\'s 11 other provincial and territorial engineering
regulators have complained for years about companies or individuals who
use the titles \"software engineer\" and \"computer engineer,\" arguing
they are prohibited from doing so. In July, Engineers Canada, which
represents the regulators, issued a joint statement calling for
individuals to be prohibited from using the offending titles unless they
are licensed as engineers.\"Professional engineers are held to high professional and ethical
standards and work in the public interest,\" it said. \"The public
places a high degree of trust in the profession and these layers of
accountability and transparency help keep Canadians safe.\"The regulators are mandated to enforce their relative statutes and have
sporadically taken legal action to protect their turf. Ordre des
Ingénieurs du Québec successfully sued Microsoft in the early 2000s to
stop it from calling graduates of a training course \"Microsoft
Certified Systems Engineer.\" Québec\'s Superior Court in 2005 upheld a
lower-court ruling against Microsoft that came with a $1,000 fine. In
2019, an Alberta Court of Queen\'s Bench justice ordered an injunction
sought by APEGA against an individual for using the title \"software
engineer,\" awarding costs to the association.\"We\'ve always had a concern with people calling themselves ΓÇÿsoftware
engineers,\'\" said Engineers Canada CEO Gerard McDonald. \"When
regulators are aware of it, that is something they will take enforcement
action against.\" He said governing bodies for doctors and lawyers
wouldn\'t stand for uncertified practitioners calling themselves by
those titles either.Ms. Afsar said APEGA closes about 500 cases annually stemming from
complaints of misusing the term \"engineer\"; just two involving the
information technology sector are before the courts, including the
Jobber case.Engineers come in various forms, including aerospace, chemical, civil,
electrical and mechanical. Some build bridges, rockets, cars or dams.
They are typically licensed.But coding \"engineers\" don\'t typically seek or require industry
accreditation. U.S. developer Margaret Hamilton is widely credited with
coining the term \"software engineer\" after working on the on-board
flight software for the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space
Administration\'s Apollo program in the 1960s. She said her team\'s work
should be taken as seriously as other engineering and scientific
disciplines. Many agreed. \"The term ΓÇÿengineer\' has been used in
software for decades,\" said Dax Dasilva, executive chairman of
Montreal\'s Lightspeed Commerce Inc. \"I don\'t believe more regulation
around terminology is suddenly necessary.\"Further complicating matters: \"software engineer\" is officially
recognized by the federal National Occupational Classification
system
as a job title.Provincial and territorial laws regulating engineers vary. Alberta\'s
Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act states no individual,
corporation or partnership can use the word \"engineer\" in a job title
unless they are \"a professional engineer, licensee or permit holder
entitled to engage in the practice of engineering.\"APEGA went after Edmonton-based Jobber in late 2021. In an application
filed with the Court of Queen\'s Bench of Alberta, the regulator argued
that Jobber - which sells software to home service entrepreneurs to run
their businesses and employs software engineers - is not permitted to
call them that or \"to hold out or represent itself as being entitled to
practice engineering in Alberta\" because it isn\'t an association
member.APEGA dues per company are $500 multiplied by the square root of the
number of engineers on staff; a company with 100 engineers would pay
$5,000 for example. \"This is not about a money grab,\" Mr. McDonald
said. \"It\'s about calling yourself something you\'re not.\"APEGA stated in court documents it tried to persuade Jobber \"to bring
itself into compliance\" by applying for a permit; Jobber said it
didn\'t have to. \"There are no circumstances that would justify refusal
of this application due to the risk to the public of the respondent
holding out or representing itself as being entitled to engage in the
practice of engineering without authorization to do so,\" the complaint
says.Mr. Pillar said the principle behind the complaint \"is short-sighted\"
as \"software engineer\" is a standard job title globally, and if Jobber
couldn\'t advertise for jobs with that description, it would lose out
against U.S. tech giants who do use those terms in job postings.
Indeed.com currently hosts software job ads for Apple, Amazon, Microsoft
and Salesforce in Western Canada with \"engineer\" in their titles.Mr. Pillar said there is little risk \"anybody would be confused\" and
think his engineers are qualified to build bridges. \"We\'re not calling
our employees certified professional engineers or P. Engs. That would be
absurd. We\'re just using common terminology that everyone uses\" in
software.With a report from Alanna Smith