Why join the Order?

In Quebec, all engineers who are engaged in the practice of engineering belong to the OIQ. Why? Because membership is both a privilege and a duty.

A privilege

Membership in a professional order is a privilege granted by Quebec society, which authorizes certain persons to engage in the practice of a particular profession. In counterpart, the public expects such professionals to dispense their services in a competent manner, to warrant society's continued confidence in them. Quebec's professional system accordingly recognizes that only those engineers entered on the roll of the Order and who hold an engineer's permit issued by the Order are entitled to perform professional acts reserved for the profession, or in other words, to engage in the practice of engineering. This situation serves to maintain the public's confidence in professionals such as engineers, in view of the fact that these persons offer their services to society.

Throughout their professional careers, engineers rely on four values which help them uphold the public's trust. These values are competence, ethics, responsibility and social commitment.

You must be a member of the Order to lawfully engage in the practice of engineering.

A duty

Such a privilege incurs obligations toward Quebec society. For example, physicians must, out of concern for patients and public health, comply with a very specific set of laws and ethical rules. All of Quebec's professions are similarly regulated in view of meeting the same and solitary goal of protecting the public. Engineering proves no exception to this principle. The rules pertaining to the professional activities of engineers are set out in:

• The Professional Code.
• The Engineers Act.
• The Code of Ethics of Engineers and a number of other regulations.
• Bill 101.

The OIQ is the organization charged by the Government of Quebec with responsibility for ensuring that all parties comply with this legislation.