Regulatory Matters CPD Online

What's New

1. All members have the same CPD requirements, regardless of your employment or other activity, membership status or residency.
   
   
2. CPD exemption (waiver) criteria are simplified and are now based on your activities as a member – they are no longer based on an income/earnings test.
   
   
3. The minimum annual CPD requirement has increased from 10 hours to 20 hours, of which 10 hours must be verifiable.
   
   
4. The minimum CPD requirement for the three-year fixed cycle has increased from 70 hours to 120 hours, of which 60 must be verifiable.
   
   
5. Terminology changes – gone are the terms “structured” and “unstructured” CPD. The new CPD terms are “verifiable” and “unverifiable” learning activities, but the intent and meaning of both terms remain unchanged.
   
   
6. The minimum number of hours for specific verifiable CPD activities has been removed.
   
   
7. You can now report your CPD compliance on-line.
   
   
8. By harmonizing the CPD requirements across Canada, each provincial Institute of Chartered Accountants now has common categories and definitions of qualifying study – this will benefit those members who move between provinces to be able to manage their personal CPD requirements, exemption provisions, methods of reporting and monitoring and ways of dealing with non-compliance.

What’s remained the same?

1. Areas of study are not mandated by the new CPD requirements—as in the past, you should choose learning opportunities that you have identified as relevant to your particular practice or employment situation and that allow you to develop new or existing competencies needed for your overall professional responsibilities and growth.
   
   
2. CPD compliance continues to be monitored during a calendar year (January 1 to December 31) and on a 3-year fixed cycle.
   
   
3. The reporting deadlines remain the same. You’re required to report your CPD annually by no later than the January 31 of the following year.
   
   
4. The monitoring and auditing process will remain unchanged; each year ICABC staff will be reviewing a random sample of members’ CPD reports and request that the selected members provide additional CPD details for verification.
   
   
5. The measurement remains “hours based” (i.e. hours of study involved in the learning activity).

How do these changes affect you?

1. Criteria for CPD exemptions are no longer income/earnings based—exemption from the CPD requirements is now based on your activities as a member. If you were previously exempt from the CPD requirements for any reason – be sure to consider the new CPD exemption criteria.
   
   
2. It is anticipated that the majority of members already meet or exceed the new CPD requirements. Therefore the new standard is not expected to result in significant change for the vast majority of members.
   
   
3. If you are performing any service, for which you are remunerated that has another party relying on your skills as a CA you will have a CPD requirement.
   
   
4. If you are retired, inactive or no longer in the workforce, but are a volunteer who is NOT involved in any paid activity where it is reasonable to believe that another party is relying on his or her skills as a CA and/or does NOT serve on a board or governing body of a public company or reporting issuer, you are exempt from the CPD requirements.