30 by 30 Initiative

What is the 30 by 30 Initiative?

In 2011, Engineers Canada launched a bold mission, the 30 by 30 initiative, a commitment to raising the percentage of newly licensed engineers in Canada who are women to 30 percent by 2030. The 30 percent figure is widely accepted as the threshold for self-sustaining change. This commitment has been recently expanded in Engineers Canada’s Strategic Plan 2019 to 2021 to include the professional development and retention of women in the profession.


In September 2017, recognizing the pressing need to address the chronic underrepresentation of women in the engineering profession and better serve the public’s interest, PEO Council unanimously endorsed the 30 by 30 initiative. In June 2018, PEO Council approved the establishment of a Task Force to develop and launch an action plan for Ontario, and in September 2018, formally approved PEO's 30 by 30 Action Plan.


In 2018, the percentage of newly licensed engineers in Ontario who were women was 18%, a number that has not moved significantly for the last five years. Achieving the 30% goal will therefore be unattainable without the engagement of key stakeholders along the pathway to licensure, such as universities, employers of engineers, PEO as the Regulator, and the women engineering graduates and internationally educated women engineers pursuing their engineering licence.

Our Responsibilities - East Central Region

PEO organizes the engineers operating in Ontario by their geographic location. The East Central Region comprises the eastern portion of Toronto as well as the surrounding area.


For the individual chapters that make up the East Central Region, please refer to the links below.

Scarborough

York

East Toronto

Willowdale/Thornhill

Simcoe-Muskoka

Lake Ontario


The responsibilities of the chapters and organizing committee, as laid out by the PEO task force are listed below:

  • All chapters in Region develop invitee list of potential employers, universities and women engineering graduates (who are involved in the chapter), with particular focus on employers, within their catchment areas and forward to Chapter Host
  • Chapter Host, with the assistance of the regional chapters, determines the final invitee list
  • Chapter Host, with the assistance of the regional chapters, confirms the date and venue for the session in consultation with the assigned 30 by 30 Task Force member
  • Chapter Host to tailors template invitation to the PEO Chapter Hosted 30 by 30 Awareness Sessions to invitee list and distribute; invitation to allow for option of in person, or virtual attendance via teleconference or PEO’s virtual platform in order to cover geography
  • Chapter Host coordinates the responses to the session and who will be attending the event
  • Chapter Host, with support from the regional chapters, manages the session in terms of logistics, room and AV set up, catering, and other activities as required
  • Chapter Host, with willing members of the regional chapters, determines who will be delivering the session with the facilitative support of the PEO 30 by 30 Task Force assigned member
  • Funding for the session to be borne by the regional chapters (and not just the chapter host) – e.g. travel and accommodations for regional chapter members attending the session to be funded from their local chapter budgets; regional chapters to also allocate/share in the funding of the hosting of the event

PEO 30 by 30 Task Force Responsibilities:

  • A Task Force member will be assigned to a session hosted in the province and will work through the Chapter Host
  • Assigned Task Force member will support the Chapter Host in planning, logistics and facilitating the delivery of the session
  • Task Force will provide a copy of the invitation template and presentation to be used at the session

Task Force members will either attend the session in person, or through PEO’s virtual platform