Continuing education (CE) requirements at FP Canada™ go beyond maintaining technical competence. They are designed to support your ongoing professional development so you can continue to meet your clients’ needs.

FP Canada has updated the CE components of the  QAFP® certification policies and CFP® certification policies  to enhance the quality and consistency of professional development for certified professionals. CE from FP Canada is now organized into three streamlined and restructured categories.

CE categories

The Financial Planning category now includes CE focussed on professional skills. This addition emphasizes the importance of developing and maintaining professional skills as a core competency of professional financial planning.

Qualifying CE in the Professional Skills category includes the knowledge and skills to build and maintain professional relationships and to manage complex client scenarios through understanding the behavioural factors that affect client decisions and their implementation of advice. CE focused on equality, diversity, and inclusion also qualifies in this category.

Qualifying CE must be related to one or more aspects of the FP Canada Standards Council™ Competency Profiles, the foundation of certification requirements leading to CFP certification. CE in this category must be accredited by FP Canada and must cover one or more of the financial planning areas and related technical knowledge.

Effective January 1, 2025, FP Canada now requires that CE in the Professional Responsibility category be pre-accredited by FP Canada before it qualifies to meet the Professional Responsibility CE requirement. As a result, CE providers must seek accreditation by FP Canada before a CE activity will qualify in the Professional Responsibility category. As accreditation in the Professional Responsibility category is not available after-the-fact, make sure your Professional Responsibility activities have been pre-accredited before you count them towards your Professional Responsibility CE requirement.

Qualifying CE in the Professional Responsibility category includes pre-accredited courses and activities that are directly relevant to the standards of professional responsibility expected of QAFP professionals and CFP professionals, and that require application of the principles, rules, and practice standards in the FP Canada Standards Council Standards of Professional Responsibility. CE in this category should include the use of scenarios and practical examples. CE activities that focus only on rote recall of the Standards of Professional Responsibility without demonstrated understanding will not qualify.

The Professional Responsibility CE requirement is designed to enhance your understanding of your professional responsibilities and helps you identify and address ethical dilemmas and challenges you may encounter in practice.

The General CE category includes activities related to financial planning, financial advice or services, or the financial services industry. Activities in this category include authoring financial planning articles or texts, teaching in a financial planning field, or completing CE related to a financial services designation or license. In addition, CE which previously qualified in the categories of Practice Management, Product Knowledge, and Giving Back may qualify in the category of General CE.

Practice Management

Qualifying CE includes the knowledge and skills to build professional relationships and grow a professional practice, such as business planning, business development, networking and sales skills.

Product Knowledge

Qualifying CE includes information on products that planners use to advise on and sell products, or comment on products held by their clients.

Giving Back

Qualifying CE includes volunteering with FP Canada, community organizations, industry associations or charitable groups to help Canadians understand the importance of financial planning or enhance their financial well-being. 
This includes pro bono activities that:

  • support the work of the Canadian Foundation for Financial Planning™
  • involve teaching or developing pre-certification education programs or continuing education programs for CFP professionals and QAFP professionals
  • support financial planning research or financial literacy programs
  • involve serving on  financial planning-related committees, panels or boards
 
 

QAFP® professionals—12 Annual credits required (January 1 to December 31)

Breakdown by Category Minimum Required Credits AnnuallyMaximum Claimable Credits AnnuallyCarry-Over Permitted to Next Calendar Year
Financial Planning including Professional Skills 
7*
Unlimited11
Professional Responsibility 1UnlimitedNo**
General CE including Giving BackNo minimum 4No

* The sub-category of Professional Skills was added as a new CE category under Financial Planning, defined below, effective January 2025.

** If more than 1 credit in the category of Professional Responsibility is completed in a given year, the additional credit(s) may be applied under the Financial Planning category.

 

CFP® professionals—25 Annual credits required (January 1 to December 31)

Breakdown by Category Minimum Required Credits AnnuallyMaximum Claimable Credits AnnuallyCarry-Over Permitted to Next Calendar Year
Financial Planning including Professional Skills 
12*
Unlimited23
Professional Responsibility 2UnlimitedNo**
General CE including Giving BackNo minimum 11***No

* Effective January 2025, CFP professionals must complete 12 hours (formerly 10) of CE in the category of Financial Planning annually. The sub-category of Professional Skills was added under Financial Planning, defined below, effective January 2025.

** If more than 2 credits in the category of Professional Responsibility are completed in a given year, the additional credit(s) may be applied under the Financial Planning category.

*** A maximum of 5 credit hours may be claimed in the sub-category of Giving Back on an annual basis. CE which previously qualified in the category of Product Knowledge may qualify in the category of General CE.

 

Updated certification policies

Review the updated QAFP certification policies and CFP certification policies to learn more.

 

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