Associations

PEO’s 24-Month Experience Rule (July 2026): What Changed for Your P.Eng. Application

Published September 27, 2026

Since July 1, 2026, Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) requires at least 24 months of engineering experience after your bachelor's degree is conferred, down from 48 months. The change comes from Regulation 941 as amended by O. Reg. 126/26, and it applies to P.Eng. applicants. Co-op, internship and other work done before your degree no longer counts toward the minimum.

The standard you must meet has not moved. You still need a validated example for each of the 34 competencies at PEO's minimum ratings, and PEO says applicants need three to four years on average to get there. Two years is the earliest you can finish, not the usual timeline.

At a glance (as of September 2026)

Minimum experience: 24 months in the practice of professional engineering after your bachelor's degree is conferred (in force July 1, 2026). It used to be 48 months.
Co-op and other pre-graduation work no longer counts toward the minimum, but it can still support your CBA examples.
Unchanged: the CBA, its 34 competencies in 7 categories, and the minimum ratings.
PEO says applicants need three to four years of experience on average to show all 34 competencies.
You must pass the NPPE before you submit your application (since October 24, 2025).
You can start building your CBA in PEO's portal as soon as you open an application.

What the rule says

Regulation 941, s. 33(1) now requires at least 24 months of experience in the practice of professional engineering "after the bachelor's degree or equivalent". PEO Council approved the cut from four years to two in principle on November 28, 2025 and made the amending regulation, O. Reg. 126/26, on March 27, 2026. It took effect on July 1, 2026, and the same amendment wrote the CBA into the regulation.

PEO's August 2026 Applicant Guide explains how the rule works in the portal:

The 24-month period begins on the date your recognized four-year Bachelor of Engineering degree is conferred.
Undergraduate work before that date, such as co-op or an internship, does not count toward the 24 months, but it "may be applied to the CBA" if it meets the criteria.
Eligible engineering work during a master's or doctoral program may count toward both the 24 months and the CBA. PEO gives no credit for the degree itself.
You can mark the experience requirement complete only after you have entered at least 24 months of eligible experience and your CBA has been completed and validated.

What changed and what stayed the same

Rule	Before July 1, 2026	Since July 1, 2026
Minimum experience	48 months	24 months after your bachelor's degree is conferred
Co-op and pre-graduation work	Up to 12 of the 48 months, if earned after completing half the degree	Does not count toward the minimum; can support CBA examples
Canadian experience	Not required (since May 15, 2023)	Not required
Competency framework	34 competencies in 7 categories, rated 0 to 5	Unchanged
Minimum ratings	Category averages 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 2 and 3; professional standards competencies at 3 (6.2 at 2); all others at least 1	Unchanged
NPPE	Must be passed before you apply (from October 24, 2025)	Unchanged

Why co-op stopped counting

The regulation now measures the minimum from your degree. The new wording counts experience "after the bachelor's degree", and the old clause that let you earn up to 12 months after finishing half your program is gone. In a June 5, 2026 blog post, PEO called demonstrated competence the standard for licensure and described the 1998 move from two years to four as "neither evidence- nor risk-based".

Co-op still has a use. A strong co-op project can be your example for a competency if it meets the criteria and is validated like any other example. For co-op work in Canada, the validator must have been a P.Eng. licensed in Canada when you did the work.

No one's minimum got longer. Under the old rule, a graduate with a full year of co-op still needed 36 months after graduation to reach 48. Now the floor is 24 months after graduation for everyone.

How Ontario compares with other regulators

Regulator	Minimum experience	Pre-graduation work toward the minimum
PEO (Ontario)	24 months after the bachelor's degree is conferred	None since July 1, 2026 (can support CBA examples)
APEGA (Alberta)	48 months	Up to 12 months, after two years of engineering study
APEGS (Saskatchewan)	48 months, validated	Up to 1 year, after half the program, supervised by a P.Eng./P.Geo. or equivalent
EGBC (British Columbia)	4 years	Up to 12 months, after half the program, supervised by a P.Eng./P.Geo. or equivalent
Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba	4 years recommended, covered by validators	Can be reported; no cap published
Engineers Nova Scotia	48 months	Up to 12 months, after 50% of the degree
APEGNB (New Brunswick)	48 months (CBA accepted from 45)	Up to 1 year, after half the degree
Engineers PEI	4 years	Up to 1 year, after 50% of the degree
PEGNL (Newfoundland and Labrador)	48 months (CBA accepted from 45)	Up to 1 year, after half the program
NAPEG and Engineers Yukon	4 years	Up to 1 year (NAPEG); up to 12 months of co-op (Yukon)
OIQ (Quebec)	24 months of supervised practice	Internships after 60 credits count for up to 8 months of duration

Am I eligible now? A quick check

Your bachelor's degree was conferred at least 24 months ago, and you have 24 months of eligible engineering work since then.
You can write a real example for each of the 34 competencies, in the first person, using Situation–Action–Outcome. The August 2026 guide rules out hypothetical situations and work done by colleagues or your team.
Your examples can reach the minimums: category averages of 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 2 and 3; at least 3 on competencies 1.1, 1.6, 1.9, 2.3 and 5.1; at least 2 on 6.2; and at least 1 on everything else.
Each example has a validator with first-hand knowledge of it. For work in Canada, that person must have been a P.Eng. licensed in Canada when the work was carried out. One validator can cover all 34, but each competency gets only one validator.
You have passed the NPPE. Regulation 941 requires the pass before the date you submit.
Your academics are accepted and you have completed the good character assessment in the portal.

Meeting the 24 months alone won't get you licensed; the assessors' ratings of your examples decide. PEO will not review your experience before you submit, so check your examples against the competency indicators first. How the CBA scoring scale works explains what each level means.

Who gains most from the change

Recent graduates in broad roles: if your job already gives you design decisions, code work, budgets and client contact, you may be able to show all 34 competencies well before the old 48 months.
Graduate-degree holders: eligible engineering work during a master's or PhD may count toward both the minimum and the CBA.
Internationally trained engineers with long careers already exceed any time minimum, so the NPPE-first rule and the validator timing rule matter more to them. Canadian experience has not been required since May 15, 2023.
Graduates in narrow roles gain the least: categories such as Project and Financial Management or Professional Accountability may still take three or four years to cover.

Start your CBA when you open your application

PEO's guide says you "don't need to wait until you reach the minimum number of years" to start building your CBA. Starting early also helps with the steps around it:

Write the NPPE early. PEO lets you write it before applying, attempts before you apply are unlimited, and a pass does not expire.
Ask your validators while they still see your work. Once PEO notifies them, you cannot change your experience information. If no P.Eng. oversees your work, plan a licensed client or consultant validator now (see what to do when there is no P.Eng. at your company).
Keep a running project log with dates, your role, the codes and standards you used, your decisions and the results. Those notes become your Situation–Action–Outcome examples.

Validators rate your examples independently, and their ratings and comments are confidential, so a clear written example is the best help you can give them and the assessor.

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CBA Pro interviews you about your own work, competency by competency, and turns your answers into a formatted draft for you to review and improve. It shows you where information is still missing, and every fact comes from you.

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Frequently asked questions

Does my co-op experience still count for anything?

Yes, for the CBA. PEO says pre-graduation work may be applied to the CBA if it meets the required criteria, so a co-op project can be your example for a competency. It no longer counts toward the 24-month minimum, and co-op work in Canada still needs a validator who was a licensed P.Eng. when you did it.

My degree was conferred in June 2024. Can I apply now?

If you have worked in engineering since then, you passed the 24-month mark in June 2026. Whether you are ready depends on your examples: all 34 competencies must reach PEO's minimum ratings and be validated, and you must pass the NPPE before you submit. PEO says the average applicant needs three to four years to get there.

Does a master's degree count toward the 24 months?

The degree alone earns no credit. Eligible engineering work you did during a master's or doctoral program may count toward both the 24-month minimum and the CBA if it meets PEO's criteria. See how co-op, master's and PhD credit works in each province.

Did the CBA itself change on July 1, 2026?

No. PEO says the CBA and its 34 competencies are unchanged, and the minimum ratings are the same. The August 2026 guides did change the validator wording (licensed at the time the work was carried out) and ruled out hypothetical or team examples.

Will other provinces accept an Ontario P.Eng. earned after two years?

Mobility between Canadian regulators is based on the licence you hold, and no regulator asks an engineer already licensed in Canada to complete a CBA. Each regulator still applies its own mobility rules, so check with the one you are moving to. See 2026 mobility timelines.