The Engineering Institute of Canada Pre-1920

The Engineering Institute of Canada is a technical society established in the late 1800s to promote the advancement of engineering knowledge. It would eventually go on to found the individual regulatory bodies within each province.

First Engineering Professional Regulatory body - 1881

The first attempt at formalizing the engineering profession came in 1881 when a bill to regulate the practice of civil engineering was introduced in the Ontario legislature. However, the bill lacked support and never became law. Over the next several years a number of further attempts were made without success.

Establishment of Canadian Society of Civil Engineers - 1886

Then, in 1886, at Montreal, a meeting regarding the topic was held and a motion was passed that a society should be formed and that it should include members from all the engineering branches. Later that year a provisional committee was set up to carry out the establishment of the society. By the official founding date of February 24, 1887 there were 288 members within all classes. They then applied to the Dominion Government and the Parliament of Canada for an official charter, which received royal assent on June 23, 1887. Under the name of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers (CSCE), their mandate was “to facilitate the acquiring and interchange of professional knowledge among its members and to encourage investigation in connection with all branches and departments of knowledge connected with the profession.”

Reflecting on the founding of CSCE, its third president elaborated on its origins:

I am unable to say when the first agitation for the formation of a Canadian Society of Civil Engineers began. I know it was a subject of discussion among engineers, and I believe also of newspaper communications by engineers, long before any concerted action was attempted....

I think the agitation dates from the formation of the Land Surveyors into a close corporation. Formerly, the surveys in connection with the right of way upon canals and railways were made by the Engineers engaged upon the work, as well as the topographic surveys connected therewith. Engineers out of employment were prohibited from practising as Land Surveyors, without first undergoing an apprenticeship, as well as passing an examination. On the other hand, Land Surveyors, whether competent or not, could practice as Civil Engineers. It was natural, therefore, that a feeling should grow up that not only was a standard of qualification required, but that the profession should be put on the same footing as land surveying and be restricted to those who were qualified by law; but whenever this was proposed, the general sentiment was found to be against it. This was probably due to the knowledge that the great Institution, organized at the Kendall Coffeehouse in Fleet Street on 2nd January 1818—of which Telford was the first president—had proved a magnificent success without protection; as well as the reflection that the founders of the profession in Great Britain and the United States were born Engineers, and sought only a free field and asked no favours.

The CSCE was, through its 1887 charter, given power to make by-laws and regulations for its governance and administration, and for the upholding of the honour and dignity of the profession. The by-laws also made it clear that the term ‘civil’ included all types of engineering activity other than military. The society’s first headquarters were in Montreal, at McGill University, where the secretary/treasurer was the Dean of Applied Science. But headquarters were soon moved to a series of off-campus locations in the heart of the city.

Those who lived within 50 miles of the headquarters were deemed to be ‘residents’, and the others ‘non-residents.’ In 1887 and 1888, each resident in the member grade paid annual fees of $8, and non-residents $6. The corresponding fees for associate members were $6 and $4, and students paid $1.

First Branch of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers - Toronto, Ontario - 1890

The by-laws also made provision for the formation of branches across the country. The first branch was formed in Toronto in 1890 but was discontinued in 1893, then later revived in 1906. The second was formed in Cape Breton in 1905. It, too, was discontinued not long afterwards and was not reformed until 1921. By 1910 there were branches in Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver.

First Annual Dinner of the Winnipeg Branch of the CSCE - 1908
In 1908 the first annual dinner of the Winnipeg branch was held at the Royal Alexandra. 1st Annual Dinner of the Manitoba Branch of CSCE

25^th Anniversary Dinner was hosted by the Winnipeg Branch of the CSCE - 1911
In 1911 Winnipeg played host to CSCE's national 25th anniversary dinner. 1911 CSCE 25th Anniversary Banquet

First attempt to enact provincial legislation - Manitoba - 1896

By the end of the 1800s the importance of an engineer’s role in society and the prestige of CSCE was sufficient to promote Manitoba’s decision in 1896 to become the first province in Canada to enact legislation establishing the right-to-title and the right-to-practise with respect to engineering, with CSCE to be the regulatory body. However, the act implied only that CSCE was to be the regulatory body within the province, but it did not explicitly state its name. With the local branch having yet to be created in Winnipeg, it is unclear if CSCE ever attempted to regulate engineering in Manitoba as envisioned by the act. So, despite the act being on the books, it was never properly enacted and was deemed ineffective. It was repealed in 1913.

Growth in membership - 1910

By 1910 CSCE’s membership had increased nearly ten-fold, from 288 in 1887 to 2750 in 1910. This included 550 members, 950 associate members, and 1200 students. By this time there were four “disciplines” within the organization; general (civil), electrical, mechanical, and mining.

CSCE Transactions

Papers read before branch meetings or at headquarters meetings in Montreal could be submitted for publication in the society’s semi-annual Transactions. The publication was an important means for members to communicate and to learn about new ideas and advancements in the field. Transactions was an important vehicle because without it the ability to learn and to share knowledge in this era was severely hampered and not universally available. Not surprisingly, the majority of the papers read during the first decade of CSCE’s activities were related to civil engineering.

Continued Growth in membership - 1920

The first two decades of the 20th century saw significant growth in the numbers of university-educated engineers and a reduction in the average age of CSCE’s membership as a whole. At the start of the First World War, membership had reached approximately 3,000 members. However, the impact of the war meant that increases in membership numbers stalled and remained static for the duration of the war. By the end of the war almost 1,000 members had served in the armed forces, nearly a third of its total membership. More than 100 members received decorations, while an additional 100 were killed in action or died of wounds from active service.

A new name - The Engineering Institute of Canada - 1918

During the First World War, there was a feeling within CSCE that the society was not meeting the needs of a growing number of the younger members of the profession, and especially those in the electrical and mechanical disciplines. Its published papers were also criticized for providing too much description and too little theory. Additionally, the semi-annual publication of Transactions was seen as too slow for some authors, so they were turning to other, non-Canadian, vehicles. As a result, the CSCE council asked its committee on society affairs to study the situation, and by 1917 a report recommending a number of significant changes was issued. Among them were a change in name for the society that better reflected the increasing diversity and interests of its membership; the publication of a monthly magazine to improve communications; enabling the Transactions to carry more theoretical material; and the appointment of a full-time secretary to handle the increasing administrative load that was coming with a larger potential membership. So, in order to better reflect its more diverse membership and areas of discipline, CSCE officially changed its name to the Engineering Institute of Canada in April 1918. The first issue of the monthly Engineering Journal appeared the following month, and a full-time secretary was hired.

The Journal of the Engineering Institute of Canada
The official title was (The) Journal of the Engineering Institute of Canada. Copies of the first three years can be found at the following location: See https://www.electriccanadian.com/magazines/engineering.htm

During this early timeframe, CSCE and later the renamed EIC were considered the pre-eminent body with respect to the engineering field. Many, if not most, of the respectable engineering practitioners would have been members. In an era when information sharing and communication were slow to non-existent, the body and its journal played vital roles in disseminating knowledge, connecting like-minded people and promoting engineering as a specialized professional field.

Reference

This article was developed by referencing the EIC collection of Engineering History Papers found at the following location. https://eic-ici.ca/engineering-history-papers-collection/

ENGINEERING HISTORY PAPER #4 “The Founding of the Original Canadian Society of Civil Engineers”
ENGINEERING HISTORY PAPER #5 “The early years of CSCE and the name change to EIC”
ENGINEERING HISTORY PAPER #6: “The Engineering Institute from the 1880s to the 1960s”
25th Anniversary Year Book, Association of Professional Engineers of the Province of Manitoba

Compiled by

Ryan G. Bernier, PEng, FEC
Review Glen N. Cook, PEng (SM), FEC
Editing by James Burns, PhD

Posted by

Glen N. Cook, PEng (SM), FEC

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