CE Requirements
In Canada, there are various organizations that require continuing education (CE) credits. This page is split into four sections:
- Designation Holders (financial services)
- Investment Licensees
- Insurance Licensees
- Chartered Professional Accountants
It is possible for an individual to require CE credits from multiple organizations. If you face this situation, please use the filtering tool located on our Courses page.
Note: the information provided below is for informational purposes only. To obtain the official requirements, each organization should be contacted directly. In each case, we cite the “Source” for our information and provide a link. Should a link be broken, please advise us by using our Contact Us page.
Designation Holders
QAFP® Designation – Qualified Associate Financial Planner
Each calendar year, QAFP Professionals are required to complete 12 hours of verifiable credits. Of these 12 credits, 1 credit must be in the Professional Responsibility category, and a minimum of 7 credits must be in the Financial Planning category.
A maximum of 5 credits (in total) may be obtained from the following categories: Practice Management, Product Knowledge, and Giving Back.
The QAFP designation is offered by FP Canada™.
Source: https://www.fpcanada.ca/planners/continuing-education
To verify the accreditation of our courses, please click here and type “monkey” into the search field.
CFP® Designation – Certified Financial Planner
Each calendar year, CFP Professionals are required to complete 25 hours of verifiable credits. Of these 25 credits, 2 credits must be in the Professional Responsibility category, and a minimum of 10 credits must be in the Financial Planning category.
A maximum of 5 credits may be obtained in the Practice Management category.
A maximum of 5 credits may be obtained in the Product Knowledge category.
A maximum of 5 credits may be obtained in the Giving Back category.
The CFP designation is offered by FP Canada.
Source: https://www.fpcanada.ca/planners/continuing-education
To verify the accreditation of our courses, please click here and type monkey into the search field.
CLU Designation – Chartered Life Underwriter
Each calendar year, CLU holders are required to complete 30 CE credits. Of these 30 credits, a minimum of 15 credits must be accredited by The Institute, and a minimum of 2 credit must be from a recognized ethics program.
Source: https://iafe.ca/faq/
To verify the accreditation of our courses, please click here and select Monkey Credits Inc. in the dropdown bar.
CHS Designation – Certified Health Insurance Specialist
Each calendar year, CHS holders are required to complete 10 CE credits which relate to insurance. Of this amount, a minimum of 1 credit must be from a recognized ethics program.
Should an individual hold both the CLU and CHS designations, then he/she must complete the CE requirements for the CLU designation (which will also satisfy the CHS designation requirements).
Source: https://iafe.ca/faq/
To verify the accreditation of our courses, please click here and select Monkey Credits Inc. in the dropdown bar.
PFA Designation – Professional Financial Advisor
Each calendar year, PFA designation holders are required to complete 20 CE credits. Of these 20 credits, a minimum of 10 credits must be accredited by The Institute, and 1 must credit must be from a recognized ethics program.
Source: https://iafe.ca/faq/
To verify the accreditation of our courses, please click here and select Monkey Credits Inc. in the dropdown bar.
PFP Designation – Personal Financial Planner
Each calendar year, PFP designation holders are required to complete a total of 20 hours of CE Credits. Of these 20 hours, 15 hours must relate to professional development, and 5 hours must relate to ethics and compliance.
As courses cannot be specifically approved/accredited for PFP designation holders, we recommend consulting the courses and hours posted on the IIROC/CIRO website. CE content must fall within the competencies in the PFP Professional Competency Profile.
The PFP designation is offered by Canadian Securities Institute (CSI).
Source: https://www.csi.ca/en/credentials/pfp/maintenance/
CIM Designation – Chartered Investment Manager
The CE cycle and CE requirements for CIM designation holders is aligned to that of CIRO.
Every two year period, designation holders are required to complete 20 professional development hours and 10 compliance hours.
As courses cannot be specifically approved/accredited for CIM designation holders, we recommend consulting the courses and hours posted on the CIRO website.
For CIM holders, the content of CE courses should also fall within the CIM Professional Competency Profile.
The CIM designation is offered by Canadian Securities Institute (CSI).
Source: https://www.csi.ca/en/credentials/cim/maintenance/
CSI has also published a document entitled “Course Guidelines for Continuing Education (CE) Activities” which provides additional details for CIM designation holders.
Pl. Fin. - Planificateur Financier / Planificatrice Financière
Offered by the Institut de Planification Financière, designation holders are required to complete a total of 40 PDUs during each 2-year cycle. The current cycle runs from December 1st, 2023 to November 30th, 2025.
The 40 credits must be completed in the following categories:
Integrated personal financial planning (IPFP) - 15PDUs
Training Activities in one or more of the financial planning areas (SFPA) - 15 PDUs
Training activities in subjects pertaining to compliance with standards, ethics and business conduct (SC) and training activities in subjects pertaining to compliance with standards, ethics and business conduct related directly to financial planning (SC-FP) - 10 PDUs, of which 5 must be SC-FP (which must be taken directly with the IQPF every second cycle).
Source: https://www.iqpf.org/en/professional-development/requirements-and-regulations
Investment Licensees
CIRO - Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization - IDD Division
Previously referred to as IIROC.
CIRO registrants are required to complete 30 credits biannually (every 2nd year). These are comprised of 20 credits relating to Professional Development (PD) and 10 credits relating to compliance.
The current 2-year cycle ends on December 31st, 2025.
For Cycle 10, course approvals can be verified here. Please scroll down to "Accredited Courses (excel)" to verify our approvals. It's at the bottom of the page (above the grey box).
CIRO has a "one and done" rule, meaning that once a course has been completed for CE credits once, it cannot be counted a second time.
CIRO - Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization - MFD Division
Previously referred to as the MFDA.
The current cycle begins on December 1st, 2023 and ends on November 30th, 2025. Each cycle, participants must complete a total of 30 credits which include 20 Professional Development Credits, 8 Business Conduct Credits, and 2 MFD Compliance Credits.
The 2 MFD Compliance Credits are offered directly by the CIRO only.
More information can be found here.
Our courses have been submitted and recognized by CIRO - MFD. Confirmation can be found inside the MFDA CERTS system.
Insurance Licensees
There are no continuing education requirements for insurance licensees in Canada’s three territories. The provinces are listed alphabetically.
Alberta
In the province of Alberta, Life and Accident & Sickness licensees must complete 15 hours of continuing education (CE) each year (in each category). In Alberta, the CE term begins on July 1st and ends on June 30th annually.
Source: https://www.abcouncil.ab.ca/ongoing-education-requirements/
To verify the accreditation of our courses, please click here and enter "monkey" in the search field.
British Columbia
In the province of British Columbia, Life and Accident & Sickness licensees are required to complete 15 hours of continuing education (CE) each year. In British Columbia, the period begins on June 1st, and ends on May 31st.
Source: https://www.insurancecouncilofbc.com/continuing-education/ce-guidelines/
The accreditation of our courses can be verified here. Please click on the list of Accredited individual courses.
Manitoba
In the province of Manitoba, Life and/or Accident & Sickness licensees are required to complete 15 hours of CE credits. In Manitoba, the CE term begins on June 1st and ends on May 31st of each year.
Source: https://www.icm.mb.ca/continuing-education-ce-information38?id=67
To verify the accreditation of our courses, please click here and enter "monkey" in the course provider field.
The ICM has a "one and done" rule, meaning that once a course has been completed for CE credits once, it cannot be counted a second time.
New Brunswick
There are no continuing education requirements for those who are licensed to provide insurance in the province of New Brunswick.
Newfoundland & Labrador
There are no continuing education requirements for those who are licensed to provide insurance in the province of Newfoundland & Labrador.
Nova Scotia
There are no continuing education requirements for those who are licensed to provide insurance in the province of Nova Scotia.
Ontario
In the province of Ontario, Life insurance and Accident and Sickness licensees are required to complete 30 hours of CE credits biennially (every 2 years) from the date he/she became licensed. This means the due date is different for every licensee.
As courses cannot be specifically approved/accredited for Ontario life insurance licensees, we recommend consulting the courses and hours posted on the website of Advocis (The Institute). This link can be found under the CLU Designation section (higher up on this page).
Source:
Prince Edward Island
There are no continuing education requirements for those who are licensed to provide insurance in the province of Prince Edward Island.
Quebec - Chambre de la Sécurité Financière
In the province of Quebec, continuing education is referred to as Professional Development Units (PDUs), or UFCs in french, and is overseen by the Chambre de la Sécurité Financière (CSF) for those licensed in one of the following four categories:
- Mutual Funds
- Scholarship Plans
- Insurance of Persons
- Group Insurance of Persons
The requirement for each licensee (regardless of their registration category) is to complete 10 PDUs that relate to general subjects, 10 PDUs that relate to compliance, standards, ethics and business conduct, and an additional 10 PDUs in each category of registration.
In addition, the CSF has a mandatory compliance requirement every 4 years.
One PDU equates to one credit hour.
The current PDU cycle is from December 1st, 2023 to November 30th, 2025.
We have a number of course which have been submitted to, and approved by the CSF, but no public listing is available to search these courses. Please consult the filtering tool on our Courses page for a list of eligible courses.
Source: https://www.chambresf.com/en/education/professional-development
Source: https://www.chambresf.com/en/professional-development/professional-development-requirements
Saskatchewan
In the province of Saskatchewan, Life insurance licensees, and Accident & Sickness licensees are required to complete 15 hours of CE credits during each reporting period. A reporting period is for a period of one year and ends the last day of the month in which a licensee obtained their license.
For courses related to financial planning (including securities and mutual funds), a maximum of 5 credits is permitted. A minimum of 10 credits must relate directly to life and/or accident & sickness coverage.
Source: https://www.skcouncil.sk.ca//licensee-resources/continuing-education/life/
Within 3 years of becoming licensed, and every 5 years following (the initial 3-year period), licensees are required to complete 3 hours which relate to ethics.
Source: https://www.skcouncil.sk.ca/licensee-resources/ethics/
To verify the accreditation of our courses, please click here and scroll to the section which lists Monkey Credits.
Chartered Professional Accountants
Each active Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) is required to complete 120 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) during each triennial period (each rolling three years). The CPD year runs from January 1st to December 31st each year.
In addition to the rolling 3-year requirement, CPAs must complete a minimum of 20 hours each calendar year, and no less than 50% of the CPD credits obtained must be verifiable, both annually and triennially.
In addition to the above, CPAs must complete a total of 4 ethics related CPD hours during each triennial period.
For CPA professionals, CPD reporting (and auditing) is conducted to the provincial chapter, and not to CPA Canada. As such, the guidelines that are set out for CPAs in each province will be a little different.
To learn more about how each provincial chapter determines what constitutes or qualifies for CPD credits, please continue reading below. In each case, we've cited the source of the information. Should any link be broken, please use the Contact Us page to advise us.
At the current time, no provincial CPA chapter approves CPD courses.
Alberta
The Alberta chapter provides the following information on their website.
Source: https://www.cpaalberta.ca/Members/CPD-Reporting
British Columbia
The following guidance is provided for CPAs in the province of BC.
"CPD is learning that develops and maintains professional competence to enable members to continue to perform their professional roles. Any new learning and development that is relevant and appropriate to a member’s work/professional responsibilities and growth as a CPA will qualify for CPD."
Source: https://www.bccpa.ca/member-practice-regulation/continuing-professional-development-cpd/
Manitoba
The following guidance around CPD is provided in the FAQs section of the website.
"Learning activities offer significant intellectual or practical content that provides a member the opportunity to develop new or existing competencies in areas relevant to a member’s professional responsibilities and growth."
Source: https://cpamb.ca/main/Regulatory/Continuing-Professional-Development--CPD-.aspx
New Brunswick
The following is published on the New Brunswick CPA website.
“A member shall sustain professional competence by keeping informed of, and complying with, developments in professional standards in all functions in which the member provides professional services or is relied upon because of the member’s calling”
Source: https://www.cpanewbrunswick.ca/
Newfoundland & Labrador
No guidelines were available when consulting the public website for Newfoundland & Labrador.
Source: https://www.cpanl.ca/
Northwest Territories & Nunavut
The following information is available on their website.
Source: https://www.cpa-nwt-nu.ca/en/professional-development/cpd-policy-and-requirements
Nova Scotia
In Nova Scotia, the following information is published on their website:
If the Member has a Public Accountants Board of Nova Scotia license to perform audit engagement, they must undertake CPD related to public accounting, and will be required to complete an annual self-assessment and declaration in accordance with national guidelines which have been established to address IES 8 - Professional Competence for Engagement Partners.
Source: https://cpans.ca/Main/Main/CPA-Nova-Scotia.aspx
Ontario
In Ontario, all CPD must:
- Be relevant to your professional responsibilities and competencies as a CPA.
- Be quantifiable, meaning it's able to be expressed in terms if a specific time requirement- contain significant intellectual or practical content.
- Pertain to activities directly related to the competencies needed to engage in the practice of public accounting, if you are applying for or renewing a Public Accounting License.
Source: https://www.cpaontario.ca/
Prince Edward Island
In PEI, the following guidance has been provided in the CPAPEI CPD Policy. Learning activities must:
- Be quantifiable in terms of hours or parts of an hour.
- Be directly related to the competencies the member is required to demonstrate to practice as a chartered professional accountant or, where the member is a licensee, as a public accountant.
- Be relevant to the member's current practice or long-term career interests.
- Contain significant intellectual or practical content related to practice as a chartered professional accountant or, where the member is a licensee, as a public accountant.
Source: https://www.cpapei.ca/en/professional-development/cpd-policy-and-requirements
Quebec
The CPA chapter in Quebec provides guidelines for all CPAs regarding what qualifies for CPD credits. Additional information is available here.
Point number three specifies the following: "Every continuing education activity must allow members to maintain, update, improve or extend the skills and knowledge required for the practice of public accountancy."
Source: https://cpaquebec.ca/en/
Saskatchewan
The Saskatchewan chapter provides its members with a Guide for CPD Reporting which is available on their website.
Source: https://cpask.ca/member/fees-cpd
Yukon
The CPD requirements in the territory of Yukon are aligned to those in the province of British Columbia. Please visit their webpage for further information.
Source: https://www.bccpa.ca/
This page was last updated in January 2024.