Not for the Engineer listing, which accepts a baccalaureate degree or a state or provincial licence and provides no experience alternative. Some other listings do accept experience, which is why the specific entry must be read.
Experience counts only where the listing says so
The professions list sets a credential rule for each entry, and those rules differ sharply. Several entries accept a post-secondary diploma or certificate together with three years of experience, one accepts five years of experience in the field as an alternative to a degree, and others, including Engineer, name a degree or a licence and stop there. An officer applies the entry as written; there is no general principle that long service in a field cures a credential gap, and arguing that the work is equivalent invites a refusal rather than a discussion. The practical step is to read the entry for the exact title being claimed, in the treaty text itself, before the employer drafts a letter. Where the credential does not match, look for a different entry that genuinely describes the work, or pursue the licence.
Hypothetical example: a librarian receives an offer from a university archive that calls the position knowledge-management lead. Her graduate degree is clear, but the first review compares the daily duties with the Librarian entry before the employer chooses a fashionable internal title. The decisive record is the duty list, reporting line and degree, not an endorsement from a former supervisor. If the actual work is data engineering, the employer must identify another truthful route; relabelling it as library work creates a contradiction that the organization chart will expose.