The first step is education. Then you need to acquire experience, pass an exam and obtain a licence. We have offices throughout the country, and one which gives accreditation for all engineering programs. That is how it works everywhere. If you get your degree in Quebec and you want to be able to practice in B.C., you get a checkmark next to education. However, given the nature of our country—and that is its beauty—there are various jurisdictions and provinces. The issuing of licences is a provincial area of jurisdiction. Each province has legislation regulating the issuing of engineering licences, and the body is trained to issue these licences.
For quite a while now the profession has been attempting to standardize the accreditation process for the 12 groups which grant licences, to facilitate moving from one province to the next.
In 1999, we signed an interprovincial mobility agreement. We were one of the first professions to do so. Today, over 2,500 engineers a year ask for licences in other provinces. They do so under this agreement, and in 99% of cases, they obtain their licence within five business days, and in more than 50% of cases, it probably only takes two days.
Mobility is now a reality. In four provinces they now simply ask to see our licence before they give us another. There's no real difference. To answer your question, I would say it goes back a number of years now, perhaps even to the Constitution.