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Last year Professional Engineers of Ontario had six successful prosecutions for the fraudulent use of engineering stamps and the PEO expects that number to rise in 2026.

Jennifer Quaglietta, CEO and registrar of the PEO, says over the past three years the regulatory body has been increasing prosecutions and seeking more Superior Court injunctions to prevent perpetrators from reoffending.

“Seal fraud is not something new, but we have substantially improved how quickly we address the matters and prosecute the violators.”

Fraudulent stamps result either when a legitimate engineer’s stamp is used without the engineer’s knowledge or a forged or fake stamp is created possibly with a fictitious licence number or name.

Among the reasons it is done is to save time and money.

Quaglietta says such forgeries are an offence under the Ontario Professional Engineers Act and they can result in a Criminal Code offence if the conduct meets the code’s definition of forgery or fraud.

Last October the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto sentenced a man to two weeks in jail and ordered him to pay a large fine for violating a 2011 court injunction, prohibiting him from using a professional engineer’s seal and offering engineering services to the public unless licenced by the PEO.

“That was a big win for us,” says Quaglietta.

Fraudulent stamps represent about five to 10 per cent of all of the complaints filed with the PEO. 

But fraud has been made easier with the increase in digital and online work where offenders can forge digital signatures and fake stamps, operating anonymously in different regions. 

Seal fraud has prompted an awareness campaign by official regulators in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Yukon.

Called Verify Before You Hire, the campaign has attracted interest from other provinces.

“It’s been successful enough that other engineering regulators are thinking of collaborating to take it to the next step,” says Jeanette Southwood, executive vice-president of corporate affairs and strategic partnerships with Engineers Canada.

The online initiative shares true accounts (without names) of fraudulent experiences.

While it serves to raise the profile of the problem among professionals in the field, the campaign also aims to increase public awareness of the importance of verifying licensure, she says.

The PEO’s Unlicensed Practice Enforcement team works closely with municipal building officials to investigate suspected fraudulent use of engineering titles and misuse of engineering seals on documents in the approvals process, Quaglietta says.

She adds while the PEO offers its members education on fraudulent seals and engineers can use subscription software to authenticate digital seals, fraud can also be prevented if municipalities check the PEO’s directory to vet the certificate of authorization seal.

PEO distributed a visual seal guide to all Ontario municipalities and building officials last year “to help them know what to look for.”

B.C. is also experiencing seal fraud but if engineers use the appropriate digital-field technology, it is difficult for fakes to pass as a professional’s credentials, says Amy Fehr, acting associate director professional practice, Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C.

She says when the EGBC is notified of an incident, it goes through a complaints investigations process which remains confidential until findings are made.