Welcome to the Central Canada Branch

The Central Canada Branch is based in Greater Toronto and supports over 400 members in the Provinces of Ontario and Manitoba together with adjacent states in the USA. Our members work in industries ranging from pulp and paper, metals mining and refining to automobile manufacture, aircraft and engine manufacture, nuclear power, and space exploration.

Our history can be traced back to the mid 1920's when Professor E A Allcut was appointed by the Institution to chair the Canadian Advisory Committee. Meetings of the Commonwealth Engineering Conference in 1946 and 1950 resulted in Canadian members being encouraged to join the Engineering Institute of Canada. Since the EIC has a mostly civil engineering membership, and is based in Montreal, this did not adequately meet the needs of mechanical engineers in the Ontario Region. Three Canadian committees were formed in 1964 along with a central coordinating committee, which was to promote liaison with the EIC as well as the Institution HQ in London. The Central Canada Branch was created in October 1971 and continues to perform its core functions of disseminating information from the IMechE H.Q. in London, representing the views of the members in central Canada, supporting members' professional development and representing and promoting the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in central Canada.

Our committee maintains regular communication with the IMechE H.Q. in London to express our views and inputs to the IMechE's strategic thinking and give a Canadian perspective on international development.

We publish the branch newsletter "Counter-Torque" twice a year to give members news and highlights of recent events and let them know about coming events.

We organize between seven and ten events each year - social outings, plant tours, and lectures - to give members the opportunity to meet and build professional relationships with other members of the IMechE and members of other UK and Canadian engineering organizations.

We assist members seeking to enhance their membership standing in the IMechE and we also work with students at Canadian University Engineering Schools to provide guidance and support in their career development as Mechanical Engineers. Some of our younger members come from these schools.

We work to establish strong relationships with other UK and Canadian engineering organizations to raise the profile of the IMechE in Canada and to address issues of mutual concern and to further the recognition of the professional engineer in society.