Become a Continuing Education Provider

FP Canada-Approved CE Activities

FP Canada-Approved CE activities have been reviewed to ensure they meet FP Canada’s CE requirements. They are the CE activities of choice for CFP professionals and QAFP professionals, providing assurance that they will count toward their annual requirement to maintain certification. Providers of FP Canada-Approved CE activities receive many benefits including:

• inclusion in the FP Canada Continuing Education Search Tool, which is the primary tool used by CFP professionals and QAFP professionals to find CE activities
• promotion of CE activities by FP Canada to approximately 17,000 FP Canada certificants through a variety of promotional materials, e-newsletters and other communications; and
• use of the FP Canada-Approved CE logo to advertise CE activities as meeting FP Canada’s requirements.

“Continuing Education is a mainstay of the profession, assuring clients that they are dealing with individuals dedicated to continual self-improvement. With FP Canada-Approved CE, a CFP professional or QAFP professional can budget not only their monetary resources, but more importantly the precious resource of their time. The program gives busy individuals the peace of mind of unambiguously determining the value associated with their CE efforts in advance.”

–Terry McCullough, CFP professional and Professor of Financial Planning and Investment Courses, George Brown College, Toronto

FP Canada Approved by MFDA as Third Party Accreditor for CE

FP Canada™ has been approved by the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) as a Third Party Accreditor for Continuing Education (CE). As a Third Party Accreditor, FP Canada is recognized by the MFDA to perform assessments of CE activity against standards established by the MFDA. This important recognition from the MFDA recognizes the merits of the longstanding FP Canada CE Approval Program.

New CE requirements for all MFDA Approved Persons come into effect on December 1, 2021. Each CE activity must be accredited by Accreditors recognized by the MFDA in order to count towards the fulfilment of the new CE requirements.

FP Canada completed a rigorous application process to earn approval as a Third Party Accreditor. To be approved by the MFDA, Third Party Accreditors must prove that they have at least five years’ experience in acting as a non-profit professional body which administers established proficiency requirements for a certification or designation related to the securities industry, have a code of ethics, and have an enforcement regime which includes a formal, transparent disciplinary process. Applicants must also provide a detailed outline of their CE accreditation policies and procedures, and demonstrate how those processes align with the MFDA’s accreditation requirements.

What this means for you

Given that more than 40% of FP Canada certificants are also MFDA licensed, the opportunity to have programs accredited both for FP Canada CE requirements and MFDA CE requirements is beneficial for both CE providers and professional financial planners.

Beginning Dec. 1^st, organizations that submit courses as part of the FP Canada CE Approval Program will have the opportunity to have those courses reviewed for accreditation by the MFDA. Providers must then register the program separately with the MFDA, and a fee will be required by the MFDA.

CE Categories

There are four categories of FP Canada-Approved CE activities. If you offer CE in any of the following areas, don’t miss the opportunity to submit your CE activities for FP Canada-approval.

Submit Your CE activities to the FP Canada CE Approval Program

Create an account on the FP Canada Portal to submit your CE activities to the FP Canada CE Approval Program for assessment. Through the FP Canada Portal, you will be able to:

• easily and conveniently submit CE activities through our online application;
• track the status of your CE activities;
• modify CE activity details;
• view your payment history; and
• edit your organization’s information.

Resources for Continuing Education Providers

Questions?

For more information about FP Canada CE requirements or the application process to become a provider of FP Canada-Approved CE activities, please contact Hellen Kountouros, Stakeholder Support Coordinator at hkountouros@fpcanada.ca.