The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Program requires APEGS members to complete ongoing professional development activities to maintain and improve their competence. It encourages members to engage in lifelong learning to protect public health, safety and welfare. The program provides tools for members to assess their current skills, knowledge and abilities, determine activities to maintain or enhance them and report completed activities online to APEGS as professional development credits. From more information, navigate to the CPD tab at apegs.ca.
Upcoming Professional Development Events
Looking for Ethics Training?
Of the many ways to get your annual ethics credit, here are two free online options that APEGS provides to help members who are working remotely:
• Module 1 – Professionalism and Ethics
• Module 2 – Conflict of Interest
For more information and to access the module, please visit the CPD tab at apegs.ca.
Get to the Point! Technical Writing Course
Online webinar coming in September. Further details will be posted on the APEGS website as they become available.
2020 Fall Professional Development Days
November 24-25, 2020 in Regina. Stay tuned for more registration and pricing details.
What Are My Annual CPD Requirements?
Are you uncertain about your annual CPD requirements? The following is an excerpt from the Continuing Professional Development Program document, that outlines member requirements.
Table 4: Annual Requirements for a CPD Program*
| Category | Credit Requirement | Minimum # of activity categories required | Annual ethics component required? | Annual reporting of CPD credits required? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Members-in-Training | 80 | 3 | Yes | Yes |
| Professional Members | 80 | 3 | Yes | Yes |
| Licensees | 80 | 3 | Yes | Yes |
| Temporary Licensees | 80 | 3 | Yes | Yes |
| Waiver Holder | 30 | 3 | Yes | Yes |
| Applicant | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Life Member | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
The CPD Program – The First Year is Now in the Books
With any change, a period of adjustment is always needed to get everyone on the same page. The same has proven true for the new APEGS CPD program.
APEGS completed its final round of compliance reviews for the 2019 CPD reporting year in June. Overall, 88 per cent of APEGS members were compliant with the CPD requirements. The 2019 reporting year was used as training for members, volunteers and staff; as such, no corrective actions were taken for those that did not comply. This will not be the case in future years.
For 2019, if there had been corrective actions taken:
- 945 members may have had their license administratively suspended at the discretion of the registrar.
- 507 members may have had a remediation plan assigned to them by the CPD Compliance Committee or the registrar.
- APEGS thanks those members who fulfilled their professional obligations by being aware of the CPD program requirements and either reported correctly, applied for a CPD variation orsubmitted a 2019 remediation plan.
- In fielding thousands of inquiries from our members in the last few months, APEGS reminds members of the following:
Program Basics
- Members have from January 1 – December 31 each year to undertake CPD activities. For members that join part-way through the year, activities undertaken between the date they became an APEGS member to December 31 are eligible for credit.
- While members can update their online report at any time, the final deadline for submission is January 31 of the following year.
- For members in extenuating circumstances (e.g. parental leave, medical leave, retirement) that cannot meet their annual requirements, they can apply for a CPD variation. The deadline to submit a 2020 CPD Variation Request application is September 30, 2020. For more information about this program, please see Section 5 in the CPD program document.
Online Reports
- APEGS is not able to provide the option for members to upload their supporting CPD documentation. Members are required to retain copies of all their CPD supporting documentation for at least three years. These documents are to be kept by the member and only submitted to APEGS if specifically requested to do so.
- After members have completed their ethics training for the year, they need to log into their online report and manually check the Ethics Training checkbox and claim the time as credits under Formal Activity.
- For assistance in navigating our online system, APEGS has two how-to documents available for download from the CPD page of our website.
- Each CPD Activity Category has an annual limit for how many credits can be claimed per year in each category. Reminders of these limits are posted beside each text box on the online reporting page. Please take these limits into consideration when calculating how many credits you can claim per year.
Compliance
- Submitting false reports to APEGS is a breach of the Regulatory Bylaws and the Code of Ethics. Falsification of records may result in the member being reported to the Investigation Committee.
- The compliance reviews suggest that a number of members have indicated that they are reporting CPD in another province/territory and are compliant with that program, when in fact, they are not. This action constitutes professional misconduct. Members are reminded that not reporting CPD to APEGS may result in an administrative suspension, but lying about it can result in a disciplinary suspension.