Tech companies calling on Alberta premier to intervene in battle over 'software engineer' title

Canadian tech companies are calling on the new premier of Albertato intervene after a regulatory group took legal action over jobtitles such as "software engineer."

More than 30 signatories of a letter sent to Danielle Smith onFriday say the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) "has taken the aggressive positionthat software engineers must be regulated, and subject to onerous,restrictive, and unnecessary certification requirements."

The signatories, which include executives from Helcim, Aimso andNeo Financial, see "software engineer" as a standard job title foranyone building technical programs and argue APEGA shouldn't betreating it as a role in need of certification and regulation likeprofessional engineers.

"APEGA is actively targeting companies in Alberta with legalaction to restrict us from using globally competitive job titles anddescriptions," reads the letter orchestrated by the Council ofCanadian Innovators (CCI), a national tech advocacy organization.

The signatories cite APEGA lawsuits against tech companies thatuse variations on the engineer title. They want Smith to "act andremove the regulatory red tape" they say hampers their ability tocompete for global tech talent, which has long been lured to theU.S. instead with promises of big job titles and even biggersalaries.

"Some companies have considered relocating because they findthis red tape extremely challenging to deal with and will need tohire more engineers," says CCIpresident Benjamin Bergen.

"You'll see companies open offices in other jurisdictions wherethey actually use the correct terminology."

He argues this is a case of a regulator which has "overstepped"on an issue that hasn't seen this level of action anywhere else inthe world.

Public safety a concern, says APEGA

The premier's office referred a request for comment to theminister of labour and immigration's press secretary, Roy Dallmann.

Dallmann said his office encourages CCI and APEGA to find a"mutually agreeable solution" and promised to work with bothgroups to resolve the issue because it is "concerned by anyregulations that impede our competitiveness."

APEGA said in a release that the term engineer comes with alicensed and ethical set of responsibilities and accountabilities.

It said this is the same for other regulated professions, such asthe health and legal professions.

"You would not want someone to operate on you in the province ifthey are not licensed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons ofAlberta," said Jay Nagendran, APEGA registrar and chief executiveofficer.

"By that same token, you do not want someone designing yourpacemaker or self-driving car if they are not a licensed engineer.That puts people's lives at risk something APEGA takes veryseriously."

Nagendran also noted that software engineering is a nationallyand internationally recognized discipline of engineering.

APEGA's website says it has "the legal right and requirement"to restrict the practice and use of titles linked to engineering andgeoscience to licensed individuals and companies.

On top of traditional titles like professional engineer,professional geologist and professional geophysicist, it says those who are unlicensed cannot use the word engineer combined with anyname, title, description, letter, symbol or abbreviation thatimplies they are licensed with APEGA in job titles, on resumes or onsocial media.

APEGA maintains this is because "the public may believe that youhave the right to practice engineering or geoscience" and "thiscan endanger public safety."

'We can't be competitive'

An open letter signed by the leaders of each provincial andterritorial engineering regulator in Canada in July said use of "software engineer," "computer engineer" and other informationtechnology titles with the engineer suffix is prohibited everywherein Canada unless the person using it is licensed by one of theirregulatory groups.

Engineers Canada, the national body for the provincial andterritorial associations, also points out on its website that thereis legal precedent on the matter. An Alberta judge ordered aninjunction against someone not registered with APEGA who was using"software engineer" online in 2019.

The licensing of workers is common in many professions, includingthe legal and medical fields, because it's seen as crucial tokeeping workers ethical and competent when public safety is at risk. However, it is seldom, if ever, used to regulate those in the techsector, including workers who build apps and other software andhardware.

"Talent is absolutely the most important input to our futuresuccess and our ability to attract and retain talent is critical.... So if we're going to have regulators creating a hostile environmentfor companies ... we can't be competitive," says Sam Pillar, chiefexecutive of Jobber, an Edmonton-based tech company.

You do not want someone designing yourpacemaker or self-driving car if they are not a licensed engineer.That puts people's lives at risk.- Jay Nagendran, CEO of APEGA

When his home services platform first heard fromAPEGA about its use of engineering titles, Pillar says his company putdisclaimers on its website to differentiate its workers from thepositions APEGA regulates. Later, Jobber was sued by APEGA inDecember 2021.

The matter is still winding through court, Pillar said, addingthat it's time for the government to step in because it's" draggingon" and affecting companies as big as Google and Apple along withsmall firms in greater need of talent.

A 2019 report from the Information and Communications TechnologyCouncil, a not-for-profit organization offering labour policyadvice, predicted demand for digitally-skilled talent in Canadawould reach 193,000 by 2022 and more than 305,000 by 2023.

A 2020 addendum accounting for COVID-19 forecast that demandwould be reduced by nearly 24 per cent and said under new baselinescenarios, the digital economy is expected to experience demand for147,000 workers by 2022, with total employment reaching nearly twomillion.

The 2019 government-funded report listed software developers,data scientists and analysts, cybersecurity workers and informationtechnology support specialists among the most in-demand positions.