Defending a PEO Complaint

The screening stage is documentary by statute. There is no hearing and no oral submission, and the two week written response is the whole of your case at that point.

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Complaints CommitteeDisciplineEvidence RulesPublication

Screening | Discipline | Appeal | Publication

Provisions worth knowing.

Section 24 requires that you be given at least two weeks to respond in writing.

Section 24(5) says no hearing and no oral submissions are required at screening.

Discipline hearings apply the strict rules of evidence, which is unusual.

Where an allegation is found unfounded, publication of that fact is available on request.

Quick Answer

What happens when someone complains about an engineer to PEO?

The Professional Engineers Act sets a specific and mandatory sequence. Under section 24(1) the Complaints Committee cannot act on a complaint unless it is in writing on the Association’s form and filed with the Registrar, the member has been notified and given at least two weeks to submit a written explanation, and the Committee has examined or made every reasonable effort to examine all relevant records and documents. Section 24(2) then gives it three options: refer the matter, in whole or in part, to the Discipline Committee; direct that it not be referred; or take such action as it considers appropriate. Section 24(5) is the provision that shapes everything: the Committee is not required to hold a hearing or to afford any opportunity for oral submissions. The screening stage is documentary by statute, so the two week written response is not preliminary. It is the submission.

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THE TWO WEEKS

A Mandatory Step, and a Reviewable Defect

The two week opportunity to respond is not a courtesy. It is a precondition in section 24(1) that must be satisfied before the Committee can deal with the complaint at all, alongside the requirement that the complaint be in writing on the proper form and that the Committee examine the relevant records.

That has a consequence worth understanding. A referral made without giving that opportunity is vulnerable, because the statutory condition was not met. It is one of the few procedural points in Ontario regulatory practice that is written plainly enough to be relied on.

The corollary is that the response has to be built for the decision it is addressing. The Committee is deciding whether to refer, and it is deciding on paper. A response that reads as an explanation, without engaging with whether the conduct alleged could amount to professional misconduct as defined, is answering a question nobody asked.

THE OUTCOMES

Three Options, and the One That Is Not in the Act

Section 24(2) gives the Committee three choices: refer to discipline in whole or in part, direct that the matter not be referred, or take such action as it considers appropriate.

Engineers frequently receive a written caution or letter of advice and assume these are named statutory outcomes. They are not. The word caution appears nowhere in the Professional Engineers Act. There is no statutory power to caution, to give advice, or to require a member to appear to be cautioned. Those are health college powers under a different statute.

What the Association does in practice comes out of the residual third option. That is not a criticism of the practice, and it does not make a caution meaningless. But it does mean the label carries no fixed statutory content, which in turn means what a particular disposition actually involves is a matter for negotiation rather than something prescribed.

IF IT IS REFERRED

Strict Evidence Rules, and What Is Available

Discipline hearings under the Act have a feature that sets them apart from most Ontario administrative tribunals: they apply the strict rules of evidence rather than the relaxed admissibility of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act.

That is a real advantage for a respondent and it is regularly overlooked. Hearsay that would be admitted as a matter of course before most tribunals is open to objection here. Documents need to be proved. The regulator carries an evidentiary burden closer to a civil trial than to an administrative hearing.

It also changes preparation. A defence built on submissions about reasonableness, in a forum where the evidentiary route to the underlying facts can be challenged, is starting in the wrong place. The first question is what the Association can actually prove and how it intends to prove it.

AFTERWARDS

Review, Appeal and the Unfounded Allegation

A complainant who is dissatisfied with a decision not to refer may go to the Complaints Review Councillor. A member facing a discipline finding has an appeal under section 31. Separately, since December 2023 the Registrar reports to a member who has been the subject of a Registrar’s investigation, which had not previously been the position.

The provision most worth knowing, and the one least used, is section 28(6). Where an allegation has been found to be unfounded, the member may request that the fact be published. It is a mandatory remedy on request.

That matters because publication is otherwise a one way ratchet. Findings and suspensions are published and named; vindication is invisible unless somebody asks for it. An engineer who has been through a discipline process and come out of it without a finding should be asking for that publication rather than assuming the absence of a finding speaks for itself.

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to respond to a PEO complaint?

At least two weeks, and it is a statutory precondition rather than a courtesy. Section 24(1) prevents the Complaints Committee from dealing with a complaint unless the member has been notified and given that opportunity. A referral made without it is open to challenge.

Will there be a meeting or a hearing at the complaints stage?

No. Section 24(5) provides expressly that the Committee is not required to hold a hearing or to afford any opportunity for oral submissions. The screening stage is documentary, which is why the written response carries so much weight.

Is a caution a formal outcome under the Act?

No. The word caution does not appear in the Professional Engineers Act at all. Written cautions and advice are issued in practice under the residual power to take such action as the Committee considers appropriate. That means the content of a particular disposition is negotiable rather than fixed by statute.

Can PEO order me to pay the complainant?

No. The Association states plainly that it cannot pay you money, give engineering advice, or order an engineer to pay you money. Its function is regulatory. Compensation is a matter for the courts, and a civil claim runs on its own timetable alongside any complaint.

The complaint against me was unfounded. Can that be published?

Yes, and it is worth asking. Section 28(6) provides for publication of the fact that an allegation was found unfounded, on the member’s request. It is under-used, and without it the public record shows only adverse outcomes.

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The two week window is short and it is the substantive stage. If you have received a notice, send it to us before you draft a reply.

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Defending a PEO Complaint

What happens when someone complains about an engineer to PEO?

Speak to a Regulatory Defence Lawyer

A Mandatory Step, and a Reviewable Defect

Three Options, and the One That Is Not in the Act

Strict Evidence Rules, and What Is Available

Review, Appeal and the Unfounded Allegation

Frequently Asked Questions

Discuss a PEO Complaint

Lexaltico LLP

Ready to Talk? Start My Enquiry

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