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Related Items
Mandatory Continuing Professional Development
Members in public accounting and licensed public accountants
Members in industry and the public sector, who are not licensed public accountants
Retired members, who are not licensed public accountants
What Learning Qualifies as CPD
Verifiable (or Structured) Learning
What Happens if I Fail to Comply with the CPD Requirement
Members in public accounting and licensed public accountants
The requirements for members in public accounting and licensed public accountants began January 1, 2004 and are:
- minimum 20 hours per calendar year, with at least half this time verifiable learning, and
- minimum 120 hours in the 3-year period January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2006, with at least half of this time verifiable learning. A new 3-year period begins January 1, 2007 and ends December 31, 2009, with the same 120 hour requirement.
Members in industry and the public sector, who are not licensed public accountants
Members in industry and the public sector, who are not licensed public accountants, began their CPD requirements on January 1, 2006. Their requirements are:
- minimum 20 hours per calendar year, with at least half this time verifiable (or structured) learning, and
- minimum 140 hours in the 4-year period January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2009, with at least half of this time verifiable learning. Thereafter, the period will be 3-years with a new 3-year period beginning January 1, 2010 and ending December 31, 2012, with the same 120 hour requirement as those in public accounting.
Retired members, who are not licensed public accountants
Members who are retired from full-time employment, do not hold a public accounting licence, and are not performing any part-time work in accounting, taxation or compilation services are exempt from the continuing professional development requirement unless the new requirements below apply.
New Requirements for Some Retired CAs beginning January 1, 2010
The new Bylaw 801 includes changes to the CPD requirements for retired members who are retired from full-time practice, full-time employment or full-time business activity and:
- Are not licensed as public accountants, and
- Are not performing part-time accounting, taxation or compliation services,
but are involved in an activity where it is reasonable to believe that another party is relying on the member’s skills as a CA.
Retired members subject to full CPD requirement
A retired member involved in such activity will be subject to fulfillment of the minimum annual CPD requirement of 20 hours of which at least 10 hours must be verifiable and the minimum three-year CPD requirement of 120 hours of which at least 60 hours must be verifiable, if the member is:
- remunerated for the services provided, or
- serves on the board, governing body or audit committee of a reporting issuer that has either market capitalization or total assets of $10,000,000 or more (“reporting issuer” for this purpose is as defined in Rule of Professional Conduct 204).
Retired members subject to reduced CPD requirement
A retired member who serves on the board, governing body or audit committee of a public interest entity that has annual gross revenue that is greater than $100,000 will be required to complete a reduced CPD requirement of at least 10 CPD hours annually, of which at least 5 hours must be verifiable CPD and of least 60 CPD hours in each three-year reporting period, of which at least 30 hours must be verifiable CPD. Public interest entities for this purpose include large not-for-profit organizations, charities or foundations, hospitals, health authorities, publicly funded educational institutions, social service agencies and co-operative business enterprises.
Free Institute CPD offerings for some retired members
A retired members is eligible to register for up to three full-day Institute CPD courses each year without being required to pay the registration fee if he or she:
- is not licensed as a public accountant;
- does not provide any professional services for which he or she is remunerated; and
- does not receive remuneration, such as directors’ fees, for serving on the board or governing body of a reporting issuer or public interest entity.
What Learning Qualifies as CPD
Each member should undertake continuing professional development relevant and appropriate to the member’s work and professional responsibilities to develop and maintain the member’s competence necessary to provide high quality service to clients, employers, and other stakeholders.
To be recognized towards your CPD requirement, all learning activities must:
- contains significant intellectual or practical content, and
- be relevant and appropriate for your work and professional responsibilities.
A licensed public accountant must ensure that their CPD activities directly relate to the competencies needed to provide public accounting services.
Verifiable (or Structured) Learning
Verifiable CPD means that the learning can be objectively verified by a competent source and may include:
- participation in courses, conferences and seminars;
- organized employer-based in-house training sessions;
- research or student projects in areas that expand professional knowledge and that result in presentations, reports or similar documentation;
- research, including reading professional literature or journals for specific application in a professional role;
- participation and work on technical committees;
- published professional writing or academic work;
- writing technical articles, papers or books;
- teaching a course or a continuing professional development session in an area that is relevant to a professional role;
- participation as a speaker in conferences, briefing sessions or discussion groups;
- formal study such as leading to a degree or diploma;
- pre-professional re-examination or formal testing;
- self study involving successful completion of an examination or leading to a designation.
Unverifiable CPD
Unverifiable CPD means independent and informal learning activities and may include:
- on-the-job training for new software, systems, procedures or techniques for application in a professional role;
- self study that does not involve an examination or other objective certification of completion, such as conference reference material or self-study by electronic media or device;
- casual reading of professional journals or magazines that is not part of research for a specific application in a professional role.
Tracking and Reporting CPD
Members need to keep a record of their CPD activities and retain the supporting documentation. A blank CPD log is available here to help you track your CPD. In addition, an example of a completed CPD log is also available to assist you.
For verifiable CPD activities, you will need to provide the date, course name, the name of the course provider or sponsoring organizations, and the number of hours that you attended. Retain back-up documents (for example, the course description or outline) and records of enrolment for a total of seven years for possible review by the Institute.
For other CPD activities, you should record the nature of the activities (e.g. the research topic, the specific new competency acquired through on-the-job training) and the source, and the number of hours.
Each year, in conjunction with the Annual Membership Fee process, members will submit a CPD Declaration form, declaring whether they met the CPD requirement, did not meet the requirement or are exempt from the requirement. The documentation and CPD log are not filed with the Institute – you retain these. The Institute will periodically select a sample of members and ask them to submit their supporting CPD log and documents.
What Happens if I Fail to Comply with the CPD Requirement
If you don't meet the CPD requirement, a plan of action form or an exemption request must be filed. The plan of action indicates that you agree to complete the minimum verifiable and unverifiable CPD requirement within 120 days of the acceptance of the plan of action AND that you agree to notify the Institute once the required CPD has been completed. Failure to complete an approved plan of action within 120 days or failure to file the compliance declaration with 120 days of the plan’s acceptance date will result in membership suspension. In order to apply for reinstatement, the applicable reinstatement fee and compliance declaration attesting to having completed the required amount of CPD must be provided to the Institute. The Institute’s bylaws regarding reinstatement also apply.
Exemptions, in certain situations, may be approved if a member was not working for a total of 6 months or more between January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008 and was not involved in any activity in which it was reasonable to believe that another party relied upon the member’s skills as a chartered accountant for a total of 6 months or more during that time. This would include situations such as parenting, family care, medical leaves, unemployment or other extraordinary circumstances.