Several new regulations under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act eliminate requirements for licensed professional engineers to provide jobsite safety oversight for many construction and maintenance activities. The new rules were filed last week to flesh out various amendments the Ontario government adopted in December 2021 via the Supporting People and Businesses Act.

When introduced last fall, the measure was presented in a list of initiatives meant to enhance business competitiveness. “The Ministry is updating references to engineers in the Occupational Health and Safety Act and regulations to give other qualified engineers the ability to provide advice and certification as required under the Act and regulations,” the government’s accompanying backgrounder stated.

The previous definition of a professional engineer as “a person who is a professional engineer within the meaning of the Professional Engineers Act” has now been removed from the regulation setting out health and safety parameters for construction projects. Numerous references to “professional engineers” have also been replaced solely with the word “engineers” within nine separate health and safety regulations pertaining to various industry sectors.

This expanded group of engineering practitioners is now authorized to oversee the design and performance of scaffolding, safety riggings, elevated platforms, structures to prevent machine rollovers, drill holes for explosives, and shoring and bracing of shafts. In addition to construction projects, the new regulations cover: healthcare and residential facilities; window cleaning; firefighters’ protective equipment; mining; oil and gas; and industrial facilities.