1. Beginning in the Fall of 2019, the FP Canada Institute^™ will begin offering Professional Education Programs. These will be e-learning programs that help prospective and existing financial planners develop essential professional skills and gain a strong grasp of their ethical obligations. Students will apply their technical knowledge in practice, learn how to communicate important messages effectively and understand the key psychological and behavioural factors that motivate clients.


2. On January 1, 2020, FP Canada will launch the Qualified Associate Financial Planner^™ designation. QAFP^™ certification, which will replace FPSC Level 1^® certification, is a new designation designed to demonstrate that a financial planner has the knowledge, skills, experience and ethics to provide holistic financial planning strategies and solutions for clients with less complex financial planning needs. Unlike the previous path to certification, the education requirements for QAFP certification will be decoupled from the education requirements for Certified Financial Planner^® certification.


3. Beginning January 1, 2020, Candidates will have the choice to pursue QAFP or CFP certification directly, or pursue QAFP certification first, and continue their studies to complete CFP certification at a later date. A variety of paths to CFP certification will be available to provide flexibility to candidates with relevant qualifications, including a QAFP-to-CFP Certification Bridge Program for QAFP certificants.

Learn more about the new paths to certification

1. Effective January 1, 2020, all current FPSC Level 1 certificants will automatically become QAFP certificants.


2. QAFP professionals who have been automatically transitioned from FPSC Level 1 certification have two options:
• Candidates who choose not to immediately pursue CFP certification must complete Introduction to Professional Ethics (IPE) and the QAFP Professional Education Program by July 31, 2021, to maintain QAFP certification.
• Candidates who wish to pursue CFP certification immediately must either:
  • Complete the Advanced Curriculum Program, the IPE course and the CFP Professional Education Program*; or
  • Complete IPE and QAFP Professional Education Program by July 31, 2021 and the QAFP-to-CFP Certification Bridge Program.

*Candidates wishing to maintain QAFP certification while pursuing CFP certification must complete IPE and CFP Professional Education Program by July 31, 2021.

Former FPSC Level 1 certificants who have let their certification lapse, and who have not reinstated before January 1, 2020, must (in addition to the usual reinstatement requirements) complete IPE and QAFP Professional Education Program to qualify for QAFP certification. Only FPSC Level 1 certificants in good standing on December 31, 2019 will be eligible to automatically transition to QAFP certification.

Existing CFP professionals are not affected by the program changes.

There are no changes to the reinstatement requirements for CFP professionals.

Introduction to Professional Ethics (IPE) equips students with the requisite foundational knowledge of the ethical obligations owed by all professionals, and the specific application of these obligations to financial planning practice.

IPE teaches students the distinction between integrity-based professional obligations and compliance-based obligations, with emphasis on the financial services landscape. The course introduces the specific professional obligations of QAFP professionals and CFP professionals, why they matter and what they mean in practical terms.

The QAFP Professional Education Program teaches students how to integrate the body of knowledge they have acquired from their Core Curriculum Program courses and apply best practices for undertaking financial planning in less complex client engagements. This program introduces models and techniques for undertaking all phases of the financial planning process in less complex client engagements.

QAFP Professional Education Program teaches students how to apply their technical knowledge and learn and apply key facets of human behaviour and fundamental professional skills in the areas of communications, critical thinking and managing relationships. This program also addresses the application of ethical obligations in these less complex client engagements.

QAFP Professional Education Program learning uses real-world case scenarios for students to develop a deep understanding of, and competence in the integrated, holistic nature of financial planning practice.

The CFP Professional Education Program teaches students how to apply the totality of the body of knowledge gained in their core and Advanced Curriculum Program courses in an integrated fashion and to the practice of financial planning. This program introduces models and techniques for undertaking all phases of the financial planning process with clients who have situations and/or needs at various levels of complexity.

CFP Professional Education Program teaches students how to apply their technical knowledge and learn and apply fundamental and advanced principles of human behaviour and professional skills in the areas of communications, critical thinking, managing relationships, ethical obligations and dilemmas, all which may be required in client engagements that are both more and less complex. CFP Professional Education Program learning uses real-world case scenarios for students to develop a deep understanding of, and competence in the integrated, holistic nature of financial planning practice.

1. As of the June 2020 CFP exam, the Capstone course will no longer be required or accepted as a prerequisite for first-time writers.


2. Candidates who wrote the CFP exam prior to June 2020, but were unsuccessful, can continue to challenge the CFP examination subject to completing IPE as a prerequisite and subject to education currency and exam attempt limits.

Beginning in 2020, FPSC will offer a QAFP-to-CFP Certification Bridge Program for QAFP certificants who have completed the QAFP Professional Education Program. The Bridge Program will offer a streamlined version of Advanced Curriculum and CFP Professional Education Program, eliminating any duplication between education programs. QAFP certificants who have not completed QAFP Professional Education Program may take CFP Professional Education Program to qualify to write the CFP examination. In all instances, FP Canada-Approved Advanced Curriculum Program is a prerequisite for CFP Professional Education Program.

Effective April 1, 2022, new applicants for QAFP certification must hold a post-secondary diploma from an accredited college or university.

Effective April 1, 2022, new applicants for CFP certification must hold a post-secondary degree from an accredited college or university.

Exemptions will be granted from the new post-secondary prerequisites if, as of March 31, 2022:

1. The applicant has passed the QAFP examination or the CFP examination, in which case they will be subject to normal certification time-limits; or


2. The applicant has more than 15 years of relevant work experience, provided they become certified on or before March 31, 2024.

Effective January 2020, candidates must demonstrate one year of relevant work experience to qualify for QAFP certification. Work experience may be obtained before or after passing the QAFP exam.

There will be no changes to the current three-year work experience requirement.

1. There will be no change to the minimum 12-hour annual CE requirement, including one hour in the category of Professional Responsibility.


2. QAFP Professional Education Program must be completed within one year of QAFP certification (if it was not already completed prior to writing the QAFP exam).


3. QAFP certificants are exempt from CE requirements in all categories, including the category of Professional Responsibility, in the year they pass the QAFP exam and the following two calendar years, in recognition of completion of QAFP Professional Education Program.

1. There will be no change to the minimum 25-hour annual CE requirement.


2. Effective January 2020, CFP professionals must complete two hours of CE in the category of Professional Responsibility annually (a change from the current one-hour annual requirement).


3. CFP professionals are exempt from CE requirements in all categories, including in the category of Professional Responsibility, in the year they pass the CFP exam and the following two calendar years, in recognition of completion of CFP Professional Education Program.