More about continuing education

Report your continuing education activities

To renew your annual certification, you must have completed your continuing education (CE) requirements for the previous year and reported them to FP Canada™.

Follow these steps to report your continuing education

• Confirm you have completed your CE requirements.  
• You can use the FP Canada online CE Tracker to compile your CE credits as you complete them. 
• Keep supporting documentation for your CE credits to show your successful completion of each CE activity. 
  • You must have supporting documentation for all your CE credits, but you do not have to submit it at each certification renewal. 
  • Keep all supporting documentation for at least three years in case you are selected for a FP Canada CE audit.

What supporting documentation do I need for my CE activities?

• If your CE activities are audited by FP Canada, you will need to provide documentation that shows the CE you completed for the year or years under review.
• If your CE activities were accredited by FP Canada, your proof of successful completion of the activities is all that is needed. Suitable proof may include a certificate of completion issued by the CE provider or other documentation that shows you attended the activity in full and/or successfully completed any assessment activities.
• For CE in the General CE category, if your CE activities were not accredited by FP Canada, you will need to provide additional supporting documentation that will allow us to evaluate both the CE activity, and your successful completion of your CE requirements.
  • Supporting documentation that will allow FP Canada to verify the educational content of the activity should include a description of the activity, including the duration where applicable, and a summary of the content.
  • Supporting documentation that will allow FP Canada to verify your successful completion of the activity may include:
    • Courses – a certificate of attendance or transcript issued by the CE provider
    • Training or volunteering – written confirmation from the company or organization
    • Authoring financial planning materials – a copy of the article or other material, which must be written in the year it is reported as CE.
    • Teaching financial planning courses – a copy of the course syllabus and/or a teaching contract, including duration of the course.

FP Canada may accept other forms of supporting documentation for CE activities.

CE audits

FP Canada reserves the right to audit any QAFP^® professional or CFP^® professional at any time and for any reason, including failure to comply with the CE requirements or CE audit requirements.

There are two types of CE audits:

Random CE audit

To maintain the integrity of FP Canada’s certification programs, a percentage of QAFP professionals and CFP professionals are selected randomly each year for a CE audit.

If you are selected for a random audit, you will be asked to submit supporting documentation for the CE credits you completed in the year under review.

If you are missing documentation for a CE activity, it will not be included as a CE credit.

Automatic CE audit

If your certification has lapsed and then been reinstated, you are automatically subject to audit.

If you are found to have falsified your CE declaration on your certification renewal application, you are in breach of the FP Canada Standards Council Code of Ethics, as outlined in the Standards of Professional Responsibility, and you may be subject to disciplinary action under the FP Canada Standards Council Disciplinary Rules and Procedures.

CE exemptions

You may be eligible for continuing education exemptions. There are two types of exemption.

1. Completion of an FP Canada Professional Education Program

To recognize the extent and currency of learning acquired by successfully completing an FP Canada Professional Education Program, QAFP professionals and CFP professionals are exempt from CE requirements in all categories, including the category of Professional Responsibility, in the year they pass the QAFP exam or CFP exam.

Candidates are also eligible for this exemption for two consecutive years after passing their exams. Candidates who do not obtain certification within the two years following the year they pass the QAFP exam or CFP exam are not eligible for these CE exemptions.

2. Leaves of absence

Maternity and parental leave

The CE exemption for maternity and parental leave is one calendar year, but you can ask for the exemption to be split across two consecutive calendar years. The timing of this exemption depends on your specific situation, and you will need to contact us to arrange it.

In order to request a maternity or parental leave CE exemption, you must submit a CE Exemption Request Form to FP Canada with a copy of your child(ren)’s birth certificate or adoption papers.

Medical and disability leave

You will be exempt from the annual CE requirement in the calendar year you take an approved medical or disability leave of at least six months. You must submit a CE Exemption Request Form to FP Canada with a current medical report and/or a qualified medical professional’s note.

If a CE exemption is required for more than one year, you must re-apply for the CE exemption annually and provide an up-to-date medical report and/or a qualified medical professional’s note that explains the reason for the extended medical or disability leave. Consecutive CE exemptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

All other requests for CE exemptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.