In association with the Francophonie Summit - The Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec is the first professional order to sign an agreement on labor mobility with France

    MONTREAL, Oct. 17 /CNW Telbec/ - "The Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec is
pleased to be the first of the 45 Québec orders to sign with France a Mutual
Recognition Agreement (MRA) on the professional qualifications of engineers,
which directly reflects the desire of the Québec government to promote the
mobility of professionals. Thanks to the efforts of our Order and our French
counterparts - the Commission des titres d'ingénieur (CTI) and the Conseil
national des ingénieurs et des scientifiques de France (CNISF) -, the signing
of this mutual-interest agreement will facilitate the admission and
integration of engineers between the two countries," said the President of the
OIQ, Mr. Zaki Ghavitian, Eng., after the official signing of the MRA.
    This new agreement with the two French bodies seals a long-standing
collaboration between the OIQ and the competent authorities in France on
integrating the recognition process for professional qualifications in France
and Québec.
    As a result of this new arrangement, Québec graduates in engineering
enjoy the privilege of recognition of their title in France and may be
registered in the Répertoire français du CNISF. Although the French
professional system is very different, the title of engineer held by Québec
graduates has the same value as that of engineers who earned their degree in
France. The formalities for a Québec engineering graduate to register in
France will thus be simplified. The arrangement provides procedures for its
application.
    The guiding principles of the MRA signed today are protection of the
public, maintenance of the quality of professional services, respect for the
standards regarding the French language, equity, transparency and reciprocity.

    Full reciprocity for graduates from France

    French engineers who wish to practice in Québec will have
responsibilities, obligations (e.g. ethics, discipline) and privileges (e.g.
permit to practice, reserved services) that are equivalent to those of Québec
professionals here at home. Furthermore, admission of an engineer trained in
France who wishes to practice in Québec will be as easy as for a Québec
graduate. The president of the OIQ pointed out that: "Compared to
foreign-trained professionals (FTP) from a country without such an agreement
with the OIQ, the time required for admission to the OIQ will be noticeably
shorter."
    "Québec companies looking for engineers will thus have access to a larger
pool of professionals, which is an important consideration in a context of
virtually full employment for engineers," notes Mr. Ghavitian.

    The OIQ in the avant-garde

    The OIQ has always showed itself to be in the avant-garde and has adopted
measures to facilitate access by FTPs to the profession. The MRA with France
is another on the list of actions already taken by the OIQ along these lines.
The OIQ was one of the first orders to adopt concrete measures to enhance FTP
integration. "For the last 6 years, we have had a program to assist immigrant
applicants in preparing for prescribed admission examinations (at the Ecole
Polytechnique and Université Laval), and this year we signed an agreement with
the Department of Immigration and Cultural Communities to better inform and
coach immigrants about what awaits them even before they leave their native
country," Mr. Ghavitian pointed out..

    Some statistics

    
    - Nearly 10% of the 56,000 members of the OIQ were trained abroad.
    - Foreign-trained professionals account for 30% of the total number of
      applications (about 3,000 per year) for permits received by the OIQ,
      and the number is constantly rising.
    - The OIQ admits about 150 graduates from France per year.
    - Among the members of the OIQ, there are more graduates from France than
      from any other foreign country (about 1,000 French graduates out of
      56,000).
    

    Founded in 1920, the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec consists of
56,000 engineering professionals in all fields but forest engineering. The
term "engineer" designates any member of the OIQ holding a permit to practice
that confers the right to perform professional services on an exclusive basis.
The role of the OIQ is to supervise the practice of engineering in order to
ensure the quality of the services rendered by its members and thus ensure
protection of the public.

For further information:

For further information: Danielle Frank, ARP Communications Counselor,
Communications and public affairs, Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, (514)
845-6141, 1-800-461-6141, ext. 3111