CBA

PEO Refused Your Licence? The Notice of Proposal, the Hearing and Your Options

Published September 27, 2026

If PEO decides you don't meet the requirements for a P.Eng., the Registrar serves you a Notice of Proposal to refuse, with written reasons. You then have 30 days after it is served to require, in writing, a hearing by PEO's Registration Committee. If you let that window pass, the Registrar may carry out the refusal (Professional Engineers Act, s. 19).

Your realistic options are to request a hearing, or to close the gaps and reapply, which means paying the application fee again. In 2025, PEO changed 110 of the 156 registration decisions that went through internal review or appeal, and experience was the top issue raised. This guide explains each step as of September 2026.

At a glance (as of September 2026)

A PEO decision has two possible outcomes: a licence, issued when you pay the registration fee, or a Registrar's Notice of Proposal to refuse.
To contest a proposal, deliver a written request for a Registration Committee hearing within 30 days after the notice is served.
After a hearing, the Committee can direct PEO to issue the licence, issue it with terms or conditions, exempt you from a requirement, or refuse. Its decision can be appealed to the Divisional Court.
In 2025, PEO processed 156 internal reviews and appeals and changed 110 decisions. Experience was the top issue raised.
Since January 1, 2026, Ontario law requires written assessment decisions within 10 business days, with details of competency gaps when the decision is negative.
Reapplying means paying the full application fee again ($360 plus HST as of September 2026).

How PEO reaches a decision

After you submit, PEO confirms within 10 business days whether your application is complete. If it isn't, you get 60 days to make one attempt to fix it. PEO then assesses complete applications within 90 days. For experience, PEO's assessors score each of your 34 examples from 0 to 5, and their ratings alone determine whether you are ready for licensure. Your self-ratings and your validators' ratings are supplementary, and validator ratings and comments are confidential, so you will not see them.

The result is one of two outcomes. Either the licence is granted once you pay the registration fee, or the Registrar issues a Notice of Proposal to refuse. PEO does not publish an interview step in its current process. For more on who decides, see how assessors and validators differ.

The Notice of Proposal and your 30 days

Section 19 of the Professional Engineers Act sets out what happens next:

The Registrar must serve the notice with written reasons (s. 19(1)).
You are entitled to a hearing by the Registration Committee if you deliver a written notice requiring one within 30 days after the Notice of Proposal is served on you (s. 19(3)).
If you don't require a hearing, the Registrar may carry out the proposal and refuse the licence (s. 19(4)).
The Registration Committee must schedule the hearing within 30 days after it receives your request (s. 19(5)).
If the Committee finds you meet the requirements, it directs the Registrar to issue the licence. If it finds you don't, it can still exempt you from a requirement or issue the licence with terms, conditions or limitations, provided it is satisfied you will practise with competence and integrity; otherwise it directs a refusal (s. 19(7)).
You can appeal the Committee's decision to the Divisional Court (s. 31(1)).

Note the date the notice was served on you and count forward 30 days; if you are unsure which date counts as service, ask PEO right away. If you are still undecided as the deadline nears, filing the written request keeps the hearing option open. A hearing is a legal proceeding, so consider advice from a lawyer who works on professional regulation.

What PEO's 2025 appeal numbers show

PEO's 2025 Fair Registration Practices Report, filed with Ontario's Office of the Fairness Commissioner, counts the internal reviews and appeals of registration decisions it processed that year:

Where applicants trained	Internal reviews and appeals processed	Decisions changed
Ontario	31	22
Internationally trained	125	88
Total	156	110

Experience was the top issue applicants raised (146 appeals), followed by experience and the NPPE together (10). Experience was also the top reason PEO did not register internationally trained applicants (117), ahead of experience and the NPPE (8). The report shows no applicants seeking external review by a tribunal or court. For scale, PEO registered 5,579 new P.Eng.s in 2025.

Read these numbers with care. The report does not say what each changed decision became, so "changed" does not necessarily mean "licensed", and past results don't predict any single file.

Hearing or reapplication: how to choose

Start with the written reasons. Since January 1, 2026, Ontario's fair registration law requires regulators to communicate assessment decisions in writing within 10 business days, with reasons and details of competency gaps when the decision is negative. PEO says it already met the 10-day standard.

A hearing makes sense when

The reasons misread or overlook evidence that is already in your application.
The decision turns on a fact you can document, such as your employment dates or a validator's licence status when the work was done.
You believe you meet the requirements, or that the gap is narrow enough for the Committee to issue a licence with terms or conditions.

Reapplying makes sense when

The gaps are real: your roles have not yet given you work at the required level in a category such as Project and Financial Management or Professional Accountability.
Professional standards competencies (1.1, 1.6, 1.9, 2.3, 5.1 or 6.2) fell below their minimums and you need new projects to show them.
You need a different validator who knew your work first-hand.

A new application means the full fee again. If the gap is experience, get the missing exposure first; rewording the same examples does not create experience you don't have. For review routes in other provinces, see what happens after you submit your CBA.

How to close competency gaps before you reapply

List every gap by number. Note each competency and category the reasons mention and compare them with PEO's minimums: category averages of 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 2 and 3; at least 3 on 1.1, 1.6, 1.9, 2.3 and 5.1; at least 2 on 6.2; and at least 1 on everything else.
Separate evidence gaps from experience gaps. An evidence gap is an example that described team work with "we", stayed vague, skipped the codes you applied or left out your own decisions. An experience gap is work you have not yet done at the level required.
Rewrite evidence gaps in Situation–Action–Outcome form. Use "I", name the standards and methods, and state measurable results. PEO's August 2026 guide rules out hypothetical situations and work done by colleagues or your team.
Ask for the missing experience at work. Own a small budget, run a design review or check drawings against a code, then write about it once you have done it.
Choose validators who saw the work. For work in Canada, the validator must have been a P.Eng. licensed in Canada when the work was carried out. Validators rate independently and their ratings stay confidential, so your job is a clear example, not coordinating scores.

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Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to respond to a Notice of Proposal?

You must deliver a written request for a Registration Committee hearing within 30 days after the notice is served on you. If you don't, the Registrar may carry out the proposal and refuse the licence (Professional Engineers Act, s. 19(3) and (4)).

How soon will the hearing happen?

The Act requires the Registration Committee to schedule the hearing within 30 days after it receives your request. That is the deadline for scheduling, not for holding the hearing, so confirm the date with PEO once it is set.

Do I pay again if I reapply?

Yes. Reapplicants pay the full application fee again, which was $360 plus HST as of September 2026.

Can I see what my validators said about me?

No. PEO keeps validator ratings and comments confidential, including any reason a validator gives for declining. The written reasons for PEO's decision are what you have to work with.

What are my chances if I request a hearing?

No one can say for a single file. PEO changed 110 of the 156 decisions it reviewed in 2025, but the report does not say how many of those became licences, and each case turns on its own evidence.

What if the Registration Committee also refuses?

You can appeal the Committee's decision to the Divisional Court under section 31 of the Professional Engineers Act. The other route is to gain the missing experience and reapply.