Education · 1 of 5
The path
A degree, then a choice: licence or not.
- 1
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Advanced Functions, Calculus, Physics and Chemistry are required. Marks in the low 90s at Waterloo and Toronto, high 80s elsewhere.
- 2
Accredited computer engineering degree
4 to 5 years with co-op
A four-year Bachelor of Engineering or Applied Science at a school accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board. Circuits, digital logic, operating systems and a lot of programming.
- 3
Co-op and internships
During school
Employers care more about what you have built and where you interned than your marks. Waterloo runs six work terms.
- 4
First job
Final year
Most grads take a hardware, firmware or software job and never register with a regulator.
- 5
P.Eng (professional engineer) licence, optional
4 years, if you choose to
About 4 years as an EIT (engineer-in-training) plus an ethics exam. Worth it if you design safety-critical hardware for medical, power or avionics, or want to use the title engineer.