TORONTO — Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO), the engineering regulator in Ontario, has released a final report from an independent review of its regulatory performance.
The review was initiated by PEO Council in September 2018 to identify any gaps between its current practices and those exhibited by the best regulators. It was led by Harry Cayton, an international adviser to the United Kingdom-based Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
According to a release, PEO’s performance was reviewed against its statutory mandate and leg-islative requirements, its internal policies and the standards of good regulation across its core regulatory functions: licensing and registration; complaints, discipline, compliance and enforce-ment; and professional standards.
The final report provides 15 recommendations on how PEO can improve its regulatory performance. Some of the recommendations include:
- Review all its committees, subcommittees and working groups to ensure they are both necessary and fit for a regulatory purpose;
- Clarify the roles of council members, staff and volunteers, delegate more operational decision-making and responsibility to executive staff and streamline its internal accountabilities, policies and procedures;
- Consider if its Chapters are either necessary or desirable in delivering its functions as a regulator;
- Implement all the recommendations of the Office of the Fairness Commissioner of Ontario in his report of 2014;
- The process for application for a professional engineering license should be simplified and expedited;
- Review and revise all its current licensing categories and designation and eliminate those that do not directly contribute to protection of the public/serving the public interest;
- The public register of licensed engineers and other public directories published by PEO must be complete and kept up-to-date;
- Licensed engineers employing another engineer should be required as a matter of good practice to check their registration status;
- Establish a formal process for keeping engineering standards up to date and relevant to contemporary practice in all the fields of engineering that it aims to regulate;
- Revise its Practice Evaluation and Knowledge program to ensure it is proportionate and outcome focused and achievable by licensed engineers;
- Review its approach to complaints and discipline;
- Commission a full digital strategy for the organization including implementation of an electronic case management system and a database for to manage licensing and Certificate of Authorization; and
- Work with the Attorney General’s office to seek changes to its statute to modernize its organization and regulatory powers
In addition to Cayton, the review team was comprised of Deanna Williams, a former registrar and CEO of the Ontario College of Pharmacists who was also appointed by the provincial government as a supervisor to the College of Denturists of Ontario, as well as Kate Webb, a regulatory policy specialist with over 10 years’ experience of oversight regulation.
“Council accepts the final report in its entirety and an action plan is now being developed,” said PEO President Nancy Hill, P.Eng., in a statement. “Council is committed to making the changes necessary to enhance PEO’s legislative mandate of protecting the public interest in matters concerning engineering.”
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