[bkirwi]

In Canada, as I understand it, it's illegal to refer to yourself as an engineer / a position as an engineering position unless you have Real Engineering Credentials. So a lot of the touchiness is just the usual sensitivity you find around a legal issue.

[snowwindwaves]

it is the term "Professional Engineer" that is protected, <any other adjective> engineer is fair game. Similarly anyone can call themselves an accountant, but you can't call yourself a Chartered Accountant unless you are accredited by that organization.

[y2kenny]

Not true.

http://redmondmag.com/articles/2001/06/20/updatecanadian-mcs...

[ckcheng]

Actually the rules around the P.Eng. titles are provincially regulated as opposed to federally, meaning the rules in Ontario (where apparently the term "Engineer" is protected) is different than in Alberta (where the protected term is "Professional Engineer").

That's why in Alberta, Raymond Merhej was sued for using the title "systems engineer" (as an Apple Canada-certified systems engineer) but the suit was dismissed in late 2003. In response, the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) said basically they'll lobby the government to amend the laws to prevent that in the future. [1] I don't know if such an amendment was ever completed though.

And some people seem to forget that military engineers are also "engineers", and they've apparently been around since the early 1600s [2]. And locomotive engineers are also "engineers", and it looks like they don't even need post-secondary schooling [3].

[1] http://www.itbusiness.ca/news/it-industry-wins-round-in-engi...

[2] http://cmea-agmc.ca/our-heritage-and-our-stories

[3] http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/noc/english/noc/2011/Profile.aspx?va...