Environmental engineering education in Canada

Environmental engineering education has been an active option for engineers from all disciplines for nearly 50 years at the graduate level. Some gradu ate programs expanded to integrate students with undergraduate science degr ees with the engineering programs, since the cross discipline interaction i s required outside the academic programs. In the mid-1980s interest increas ed to such a level that undergraduate programs began to form. Several of th ese programs have been accredited in their various forms recognizing the di versity of the field and those presenting the programs. The progression fro m graduate-degree-based specializations to broad-based undergraduate progra ms reflects both the increased knowledge in the field and the increased dem and for professional engineers capable of responding to public health and e nvironmental protection issues. Graduate programs greatly expand fundamenta l knowledge of physical, chemical, and biological processes and their appli cation to protection problems. Of course, the doctorate is dedicated to the development of significant new knowledge. This paper defines several of th e basic components of the environmental engineering profession and the educ ational process needed to produce qualified environmental engineers.