21300 Civil engineers

What this occupation covers

Civil engineers plan, design, develop and manage projects for the construction or repair of buildings, earth structures, powerhouses, roads, airports, railways, rapid transit facilities, bridges, tunnels, canals, dams, ports and coastal installations and systems related to highway and transportation services, water distribution and sanitation. Civil engineers may also specialize in foundation analysis, building and structural inspection, surveying, geomatics and municipal planning. They are employed by engineering consulting companies, in all levels of government, by construction firms and in many other industries, or they may be self-employed.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 14 main duties for this code.

• Confer with clients and other members of the engineering team and conduct research to determine project requirements
• Plan and design major civil projects such as buildings, roads, bridges, dams, water and waste management systems and structural steel fabrications
• Develop construction specifications and procedures
• Evaluate and recommend appropriate building and construction materials
• Interpret, review and approve survey and civil design work
• Conduct field services for civil works
• Ensure construction plans meet guidelines and specifications of building codes and other regulations
• Establish and monitor construction work schedules
• Conduct feasibility studies, economic analyses, municipal and regional traffic studies, environmental impact studies or other investigations
• Monitor air, water and soil quality and develop procedures to clean up contaminated sites
• Conduct technical analyses of survey and field data for development of topographic, soil, hydrological or other information and prepare reports
• Act as project or site supervisor for land survey or construction work
• Prepare contract documents and review and evaluate tenders for construction projects
• Supervise technicians, technologists and other engineers and review and approve designs, calculations and cost estimates.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 3 of its 14 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 70010 Construction managers
• 20010 Engineering managers
• 21320 Chemical engineers
• 21331 Geological engineers
• 70020 Managers in transportation

Excluded from this code

• Construction managers (See 70010 Construction managers)
• Engineering managers (See 20010 Engineering managers)
• Environmental chemical engineer (See 21320 Chemical engineers)
• Geological engineers (See 21331 Geological engineers)
• Managers in transportation (See 70020 Managers in transportation)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

airport engineer · appraisal engineer · architectural engineer · asphalt engineer · bridge engineer · building envelope engineer · buildings and bridge engineer · cartographic engineer · chief civil engineer · civil engineer · civil engineer project manager · civil engineering project manager · civil environmental engineer · civil inspection engineer · civil pipeline engineer · civil structural engineer · coastal engineer · concrete engineer · construction engineer · construction project engineer · consulting civil engineer · county engineer · dams engineer · district engineer

Employment requirements

• A bachelor's degree in civil engineering or in a related engineering discipline is required.
• A master's degree or doctorate in a related engineering discipline may be required.
• Licensing by a provincial or territorial association of professional engineers is required to approve engineering drawings and reports and to practise as a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.).
• Engineers are eligible for registration following graduation from an accredited educational program, and after three or four years of supervised work experience in engineering and passing a professional practice examination.
• Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification is offered by the Canada Green Building Council and may be required by some employers.