Career establishment: licensing

The same occupation, place by place

Regulation is provincial. The same work can need a licence in one province, a certificate in the next, and nothing at all in a third, and the body, the route and the fees change with it. These are the differences, set out side by side.

Being allowed to work in an occupation and being allowed to come to Canada are two separate decisions, made by two different bodies. Nothing on this page is part of your immigration assessment, no rule in that assessment reads it, and meeting everything here does not make you eligible for any immigration program. The reverse is also true: an immigration approval gives nobody permission to practise a regulated occupation.

Software developers and programmers (NOC 21232)

Add ?province=Ontario&province=Alberta to the address to compare particular places. With none chosen, the comparison shows the places we have checked for this occupation.

Choose an occupation

Pick an occupation to compare. The comparison then shows every province we have checked for it.

Which occupation?

Search the 516 occupation groups of the National Occupational Classification.

Differences between Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon

The differences between the places you chose, set out side by side. Nothing here puts one province above another and nothing here is advice about where to go: which of these differences matters depends on your own qualifications, your family and your work, which only you can weigh. Where a cell says we have not checked, that is what it means, and not that there is nothing there.

Software developers and programmers (NOC 21232) in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon
Question	Alberta	British Columbia	Manitoba	New Brunswick	Newfoundland and Labrador	Northwest Territories	Nova Scotia	Nunavut	Ontario	Prince Edward Island	Quebec	Saskatchewan	Yukon
Is a licence or certification required by law to do this work?	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	No licence or certification is published as required by law here	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	No licence or certification is published as required by law here	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this
Which body issues it?	College of Registered Nurses of Alberta, Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta, Apprenticeship and Industry Training	British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives, Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia, SkilledTradesBC, Inspire Global Assessments	College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba, Apprenticeship Manitoba	College of Nursing of New Brunswick, Engineers and Geoscientists New Brunswick, Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification Branch	Newfoundland and Labrador College of Nurses, Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador, Apprenticeship and Trades Certification Division	College of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists, Apprenticeship, Trades and Occupations	Nova Scotia Nursing and Midwifery Regulator, Engineers Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Agency	College of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists, Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupations Certification	College of Nurses of Ontario, Professional Engineers Ontario, Skilled Trades Ontario, International Credential Assessment Service of Canada, International Credential Evaluation Service, British Columbia Institute of Technology, World Education Services	Prince Edward Island College of Nursing and Midwifery, Engineers PEI, Apprenticeship Section, Education and Lifelong Learning	Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec, Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, Centre administratif de la qualification professionnelle	College of Registered Nurses of Saskatchewan, Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan, Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission	Yukon Registered Nurses Association, Engineers Yukon, Apprenticeship Training, Yukon Education
What is published that is not permission to work?	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published
Which routes to it are published?	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet
How many published steps can be started before arrival?	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count
How much of the fee material has the body published?	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price
What have we checked here?	Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada, so no licence is needed to write software in Alberta either. Engineering titles are reserved province by province and we have not read Alberta's rules, so ask the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta before using the word engineer to describe your work there.	Checked pathway. Covered, and the answer is that no licence is needed: the occupation is not regulated in Canada. What is covered here is the reserved titles and the reserved practice under British Columbia's Professional Governance Act and the Engineers and Geoscientists Regulation, read on 2026-10-22. Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia's own registration requirements are not covered: its site would not answer an automated request. The page reaches a reader only once a lawyer has published it.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. Engineering titles are reserved province by province and we have not read Manitoba's rules, so ask Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba before using the word engineer to describe your work there.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read New Brunswick's rules on engineering titles, so ask Engineers and Geoscientists New Brunswick before using the word engineer to describe your work there.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read Newfoundland and Labrador's rules on engineering titles, so ask Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador before using the word engineer to describe your work there.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read the rules on engineering titles in the Northwest Territories, so ask the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists before using the word engineer to describe your work there.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read Nova Scotia's rules on engineering titles, so ask Engineers Nova Scotia before using the word engineer to describe your work there.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read the rules on engineering titles in Nunavut, so ask the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists before using the word engineer to describe your work there.	Checked pathway. Covered, and the answer is that no licence is needed: the occupation is not regulated in Canada. What is covered here is the title restriction in Ontario's Professional Engineers Act and the test the Act uses for the practice it reserves, read from the consolidated legislation on 2026-10-22. Professional Engineers Ontario's own registration requirements are not covered: its site would not answer an automated request. The page reaches a reader only once a lawyer has published it.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read Prince Edward Island's rules on engineering titles, so ask Engineers PEI before using the word engineer to describe your work there.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. Quebec's rules on engineering titles and practice are its own and we have not read them, so ask the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec before using the word engineer to describe your work there.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. Engineering titles are reserved province by province and we have not read Saskatchewan's rules, so ask the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan before using the word engineer to describe your work there.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read Yukon's rules on engineering titles, so ask Engineers Yukon before using the word engineer to describe your work there.

Alberta in full·British Columbia in full·Manitoba in full·New Brunswick in full·Newfoundland and Labrador in full·Northwest Territories in full·Nova Scotia in full·Nunavut in full·Ontario in full·Prince Edward Island in full·Quebec in full·Saskatchewan in full·Yukon in full·All licensing pages

What this comparison is not

A list of differences, not a verdict about where to go

This is not a complete directory of regulated occupations in Canada. A pathway becomes public only when one of our lawyers publishes it, which they may do only where every mandatory requirement on it rests on an excerpt from the regulator’s own page: publishing records the lawyer’s name and the day, so there are occupations and provinces we simply have not reached. Where we have not, we say so and send you to the official lookup and to the regulator itself, which are the places that can answer for your case in any event.

Software developers and programmers (NOC 21232) in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon

Question

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

New Brunswick

Newfoundland and Labrador

Northwest Territories

Nova Scotia

Nunavut

Ontario

Prince Edward Island

Quebec

Saskatchewan

Yukon

Is a licence or certification required by law to do this work?

We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this

No licence or certification is published as required by law here

We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this

No licence or certification is published as required by law here

We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this

Which body issues it?

College of Registered Nurses of Alberta, Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta, Apprenticeship and Industry Training

British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives, Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia, SkilledTradesBC, Inspire Global Assessments

College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba, Apprenticeship Manitoba

College of Nursing of New Brunswick, Engineers and Geoscientists New Brunswick, Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification Branch

Newfoundland and Labrador College of Nurses, Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador, Apprenticeship and Trades Certification Division

College of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists, Apprenticeship, Trades and Occupations

Nova Scotia Nursing and Midwifery Regulator, Engineers Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Agency

College of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists, Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupations Certification

College of Nurses of Ontario, Professional Engineers Ontario, Skilled Trades Ontario, International Credential Assessment Service of Canada, International Credential Evaluation Service, British Columbia Institute of Technology, World Education Services

Prince Edward Island College of Nursing and Midwifery, Engineers PEI, Apprenticeship Section, Education and Lifelong Learning

Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec, Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, Centre administratif de la qualification professionnelle

College of Registered Nurses of Saskatchewan, Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan, Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission

Yukon Registered Nurses Association, Engineers Yukon, Apprenticeship Training, Yukon Education

What is published that is not permission to work?

None published

Which routes to it are published?

No route published here yet

How many published steps can be started before arrival?

No published steps to count

How much of the fee material has the body published?

No published steps to price

What have we checked here?

Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada, so no licence is needed to write software in Alberta either. Engineering titles are reserved province by province and we have not read Alberta's rules, so ask the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta before using the word engineer to describe your work there.

Checked pathway. Covered, and the answer is that no licence is needed: the occupation is not regulated in Canada. What is covered here is the reserved titles and the reserved practice under British Columbia's Professional Governance Act and the Engineers and Geoscientists Regulation, read on 2026-10-22. Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia's own registration requirements are not covered: its site would not answer an automated request. The page reaches a reader only once a lawyer has published it.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. Engineering titles are reserved province by province and we have not read Manitoba's rules, so ask Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba before using the word engineer to describe your work there.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read New Brunswick's rules on engineering titles, so ask Engineers and Geoscientists New Brunswick before using the word engineer to describe your work there.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read Newfoundland and Labrador's rules on engineering titles, so ask Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador before using the word engineer to describe your work there.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read the rules on engineering titles in the Northwest Territories, so ask the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists before using the word engineer to describe your work there.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read Nova Scotia's rules on engineering titles, so ask Engineers Nova Scotia before using the word engineer to describe your work there.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read the rules on engineering titles in Nunavut, so ask the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists before using the word engineer to describe your work there.

Checked pathway. Covered, and the answer is that no licence is needed: the occupation is not regulated in Canada. What is covered here is the title restriction in Ontario's Professional Engineers Act and the test the Act uses for the practice it reserves, read from the consolidated legislation on 2026-10-22. Professional Engineers Ontario's own registration requirements are not covered: its site would not answer an automated request. The page reaches a reader only once a lawyer has published it.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read Prince Edward Island's rules on engineering titles, so ask Engineers PEI before using the word engineer to describe your work there.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. Quebec's rules on engineering titles and practice are its own and we have not read them, so ask the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec before using the word engineer to describe your work there.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. Engineering titles are reserved province by province and we have not read Saskatchewan's rules, so ask the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan before using the word engineer to describe your work there.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only. The occupation is not regulated in Canada. We have not read Yukon's rules on engineering titles, so ask Engineers Yukon before using the word engineer to describe your work there.