Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Information
The purpose of CPD
Continuing professional development (CPD) is the maintenance and enhancement of an actuary’s professional knowledge, skills, attitudes and professionalism throughout the individual’s career.
It is a positive tool that benefits actuaries and is an essential component of the commitment the profession makes to the public to provide actuarial services competently and ethically.
The CIA has an important role to play in supporting the efforts of actuaries to maintain and enhance that competence and commitment.
It also has a duty to ensure that all persons who provide actuarial services in Canada meet standards of learning, professional competence and conduct that are appropriate for the actuarial services they provide. This will strengthen and promotethe credibility, reputation and brand of the profession as a whole.
The CIA’s CPD requirements
All members are required to do 80 hours of guided and/or self-study CPD over a rolling two-year period (including a minimum of 30 hours of guided CPD), as well as a mandatory core CIA professionalism module every two years.
They may also be deemed compliant if they are attending university full-time in a relevant program, wrote an actuarial exam or module in the last two years and are not yet a Fellow of the CIA (FCIA), or if they are not a Canadian resident, are doing no Canadian work and comply with the requirements of another actuarial association. In any of these situations, they are still required to complete the professionalism module. For detailed CPD requirements, members may log in here[[link]].
Compliance with CPD requirements
All CIA members must submit a CPD compliance statement annually unless they have been approved for an exemption.
What happens if a member is not compliant?
If a member is not compliant, they must file a remedy plan outlining how they plan to make up the required hours to be in compliance in a reasonable timeframe. If a member does not file a compliance statement or submit an exemption application or remedy plan by the deadline, they are charged a fee of $100 and may be subject to immediate suspension pursuant to our bylaws. Members are only able to remain suspended for a maximum period of one year, at which time their enrolment in the Institute would terminate.
Is the CPD compliance of a member ever audited ?
The Professionalism and Compliance Monitoring Board conducts an annual audit of CIA members’ CPD statements and records, in accordance with the Qualification Standard. The audit serves as an educational tool for members and ensures the integrity of the CIA’s overall CPD program. Normally, around 3% of the members who filed are selected for audit, as well as any member who submitted a remedy plan in the previous reporting period or who was reinstated as a member within the last calendar year.
How can I check the CPD compliance status of a member?
The CPD compliance status of all members are visible on the CIA Public Member Directory.
What exemptions from compliance are available? How does a member obtain the exemptions?
Members must submit an application if they believe they qualify for one of the following exemptions:
- Retirement (see the Qualification Standard for definition)
- Special circumstances (e.g., family leave of longer than one year, disability)
The exemption will be effective only once the CIA has approved the application.
CIA members can review member-specific FAQs by logging in to CPD compliance.