A rookie Liberal MP has apologized for incorrectly selling himself to voters as a professional engineer during last fall's federal election campaign.

Majid Jowhari, MP for the Toronto-area riding of Richmond Hill, now says he was licensed as a professional engineer from 1995 to 1999, after which his licence was cancelled for non-payment.

Under the Professional Engineers Act, unlicensed individuals are prohibited from using the titles "engineer" and "professional engineer."

Yet Jowhari used both those terms to describe his credentials during an all-candidates debate.

As a result, Professional Engineers Ontario, the regulatory body for the profession in the province, charged Jowhari with violating the act.

However, it withdrew the charges after Jowhari agreed to pen a public letter of apology and donate $5,000 to the Ontario Professional Engineers Foundation for Education.

In the letter, published Monday, Jowhari says his description of his credentials at the all-candidates meeting was "unscripted" and "incorrect" and, in retrospect, "potentially misleading."

"I did not intend to mislead anyone. I regret these statements and sincerely apologize for my actions," he writes.

"This experience has taught me a valuable lesson about the need for precision at all times when addressing my engineering education and credentials. In the future, I will refrain at all times from using restricted titles without clarifying that I was a member of PEO and am no longer licensed as a professional engineer."