There's plenty of people and jobs titled Software Engineer (or QA Engineer, or Site Reliability Engineer, etc).
You can't misrepresent yourself as a P. Eng. however. Here in Ontario, PEO will probably nail you for it:
Though from what I understand they frown on it because they want complete ownership of the term (but their critique really has no teeth unless you make like you are indeed licensed by a central regulatory body such as PEO):
http://www.peo.on.ca/index.php/ci_id/2266/la_id/1.htm
edit: Just some further information on the subject in Canada—Software Engineer (among others) is a nationally recognized and distinct title (can overlap, but doesn't necessitate a P.Eng certification):
http://noc.esdc.gc.ca/English/noc/ProfileQuickSearch.aspx?va...
It looks like if you want to call yourself an engineer nationally you need to be a P.Eng, and it's up to the provincial bodies to regulate the usage in each province.
> Experience as a computer programmer is usually required.
That's amazing, you need to be an engineer, but don't need to know how to program to be a Software Engineer.
It sounds like you can call yourself an engineer all you like—particularly with relation to software. There appear to be no hard requirements.
However if you want to bill yourself as a Software Engineer and work as a Professional Engineer (the protected title in Canada) then you must have your P.Eng.
Similarly: A Software or IT Architect isn't required to be certified by the CACB. Nor does a Web Designer need to be a member of the GDC.
So— all Professional Engineers could bill themselves as Software Engineers (situation providing), but not all Software Engineers can work as Professional Engineers.
This isn't actually that non-sensical when you consider how being a PE works in other disciplines. You're legally responsible for reviewing and approving design documents, but you won't be doing all the work by yourself. You'll have a team reporting to you, and you sign off on their work. In the case of software, you don't necessarily need to be a programmer to review the design and high-level aspects of a program.
And yes, that's what I'm suggesting - there needs to be a formalization of terms for software. I'm not saying exclude the X week course individuals, but in Accounting there are "tiers" of accountant, based upon education, focus, and experience, and that may need to be instituted, allowing people to see at a glance what designation you've achieved, even if that means the bootcamp grad has to write a 50 question test at the end of their X weeks.
I know, I know, pipe dreams.