Engineers and Geoscientists BC
HomeContinuing Education Continuing Education Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

  • 1. Who is required to participate in the Continuing Education Program?

    Registrants with practice rights must complete the requirements of the CE Program including those who are completing a CE or CPD Program elsewhere in Canada.

    Exclusions:

    • New registrants whose license was granted between May 1 and June 30 do not have to report in the current year. See section 3.1.4 of the Guide to the CE Program for more detail.
    • Registrants with an approved exemption to the CE Program requirements are also not required to report for the current year (application form is available from the CE Resources page).
    • Participation in the CE Program is not required (optional) for registrants without practice rights (Trainees, Non-Practising, and Retired designations).

    Annual Reporting is sometimes confused for Continuing Education reporting; however, they are different requirements. See the Annual Reporting webpage for information regarding its applicability and exclusions.

  • 2. How do I see the status of my reporting requirements?

    Log into your egbc.ca account to review your personalized Account Dashboard.

    Under the Continuing Education Reporting banner,  click on the “Click to Show Requirements” button to see a list of your CE requirements and their status.

    Watch this video for instructions on how to complete your Continuing Education requirements and submit your Annual Reporting.

  • 3. What are the CE Program requirements?

    In every reporting year, professional registrants must:

    • Complete the Mandatory Regulatory Module;
    • Record 1 CE Hour of Ethical Learning;
    • Complete a CE Plan; and
    • Submit a declaration confirming all CE requirements have been completed between May 1 and June 30. The declaration is completed in the Annual Reporting System.


    In each 3-Year Rolling Period, professional registrants must:

    • Record 60 CE Hours of activities (20 hours per year on average); and
    • Designated Structural Engineers must record an additional 60 CE Hours of Technical Learning.

    Watch this video for a visual example how the 3-Year Rolling Periods work.

     

  • 4. What counts as a CE Hour or CE eligible activity?

    The program is based around CE Hours, with a CE Hour defined as “one hour of learning that contributes to a registrant’s maintenance of competency in their Area of Practice”.

    A helpful test to determine if an activity should be counted towards your CE Hours is to ask yourself these three questions:

    • Is it relevant to my area and industry of practice?  
    • Will it help to maintain my skills or knowledge?  
    • Is it outside of my day-to-day work duties? 

    If the answer to all three is "yes" then it should be recorded in your CE Reporting System.

    How to Add Activities: Go to your CE Reporting System then click the blue “Activity” button and then “Add New Activity”. See FAQ #5 for help with recording videos and courses completed in our Knowledge Center.

    Types of Activities: Relevant CE activities can include seminars, webinars, conferences, self-study of journals, self-study to learn a new skill, volunteering, and presentations, and much more. See Table 7 in the Guide to the Continuing Education Program for more examples.

    How Many Hours: Registrants record the real-time hours (or partial hours) spent learning or advancing skills and knowledge. This is different from many other CE or CPD Programs which allocate hours based on the type of activity you are undertaking.

    Maximum CE Hours: There are no maximum CE Hours overall or in any single category, however registrants should be able to justify how each activity recorded contributes to the maintenance of their Competency if selected for a compliance audit.

    Accredited Providers: CE providers do not need to be accredited to count towards your CE Hours and a certificate of completion is also not required. However, registrants do need to retain documentation showing that they completed activities and provide these if requested during a compliance audit.

    If you are a continuing education provider and would like to inquire about featuring your event, please see our Provider webpage.

    Carry-Forward Hours: CE activities must be recorded in the same year they were undertaken (CE Hours cannot be carried forward).

  • 5. How do I record CE Hours for Knowledge Center offerings or events?

    Online Courses: Knowledge Centre offerings that are labeled “Online Course”, such as the regulatory module, are automatically added to your CE requirements in the reporting system once the course has been completed.

    Videos: Knowledge Centre offerings that are labeled “Video” require registrants to “Add to Collection” before watching the video. Once the video has been completed, a new activity will be added to your CE Reporting System. If the activity is not recorded automatically, return to the video in the Knowledge Centre and click the “Report CE Hours” button below the video. Blue notice boxes in the Knowledge Centre contain instructions for recording CE Hours.

    Events: In most instances, registrants must self-report CE Hours for registered events. We recommend reaching out to the contact provided on the Events webpage for clarification.

    Annual Conference: Registrants must self-report CE Hours for sessions attended at conference.

    To self-report an activity in the Reporting System, click “Activity” then “Add New Activity” and enter the relevant details.

  • 6. How do I complete the ethical learning requirement?

    Choose an ethical learning topic from any source (not restricted to offerings from egbc.ca) and spend at least 1 hour learning about that topic. This could be completed by watching a recorded video in the Knowledge Centre, attending an event, taking an ethics course offered by your employer, studying past disciplinary decisions, etc. Examples of ethical learning topics can be found in Table 7 of the Guide to the CE Program.

    To record an activity in the Reporting System, click “Activity” then “Add New Activity” and enter the relevant details. See this instructional video (fast forward to minute 3) for help with reporting ethical learning activities in your online reporting system.

  • 7. How do I complete my CE Plan and Risk Assessment requirement?

    Registrants must create and maintain a CE Plan on an annual basis that notes the registrant’s area of practice, risks of their practice, learning goals, and activities to help meet those goals.

    The status of the CE Plan requirement will be marked “Complete” when the registrant submits their Annual Reporting declarations. See this instructional video for help with completing your CE Plan requirement in your online account.

    Templates: Registrants can use any template for a CE Plan (e.g., the Engineers and Geoscientists BC template, a template from an employer, or one from other professional association). The CE Plan must also include a practice risk assessment. Templates are available from our CE Resources webpage.

    Where to Save: Your completed CE Plan must be saved to your personal records for at least 10 years and will be reviewed if you are selected for a compliance audit. In February 2023, the upload button for the CE Plan was removed from the Reporting System.

    Completing Activities: Activities listed on the CE Plan do not need to match those actually completed. The intent of the CE Plan is to think critically about upcoming CE activities, but due to a variety of reasons (e.g., cost, availability, change in job role) the activities listed on the CE Plan may not actually match those completed.

    Downloading Your Plan: Professional registrants can download their previously completed CE Plans from the CE Reporting System by clicking on the "Status" button then clicking "Download Your Plan". Tip: most registrants will find this button under the 2021-2022 reporting year (e.g., when the CE Plan was uploaded).

    Next Year’s Plan: A typical CE cycle would include completing the CE Plan, trying to undertake CE activities in line with your Plan throughout the year, then reviewing what was completed and what was not to inform next year’s CE Plan.

    See section 3.3 of the Guide to the Continuing Education Program for more information.

  • 8. The regulatory module is locked; how do I unlock it?

    The requirement is completed by watching the Mandatory Regulatory Learning Module for the current reporting year. Other activities recorded under the regulatory Area of Learning count towards your Three-Year Rolling Period (i.e., 60 CE Hours) requirement.

    Open the Regulatory Learning Module for the current reporting year in our Knowledge Centre and log into your egbc.ca account. If the module has not already been added to your collection, click “Add to Collection” now.

    Launch the module in your browser and complete the first chapter to unlock the next chapter. The chapters will not unlock if a section has been missed; be careful to read the instructions in the blue font (e.g. click the images or watch the video) and complete the required actions. Review the chapter called “How to Navigate the Course” for additional technical support.

    The Regulatory Learning requirement is automatically marked as complete in your CE Reporting System and a new activity is added. If the status hasn’t updated, navigate back to the module in the Knowledge Centre and refresh the page to see the “Completed” message.

    Regulatory Learning Modules

    • 2023-2024 on climate change and sustainability.
    • 2022-2023 on Truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
    • 2021-2022 on changes to registrant obligations under the Professional Governance Act (PGA).


    If you encounter errors with saving your progress or with pop-up blockers, please contact [email protected] and provide:

    • As much information as possible about the steps you took and the error that is occurring.
    • Screenshots are helpful to quickly diagnose the issue.
    • Your 6-digit registration ID.
  • 9. How do I complete the Three-Year Rolling Period (60 CE Hour) requirement?

    In each Three-Year Rolling Period, professional registrants must:

    • Record 60 CE Hours of activities (20 hours per year on average) in your CE Reporting System; and
    • Designated Structural Engineers must record an additional 60 CE Hours of Technical Learning in their CE Reporting System.


    Review FAQ #4 to understand which activities are eligible for CE Hours.

    How to add activities: Go to your CE Reporting System then click the blue “Activity” button and then “Add New Activity”. See FAQ #5 for help with recording CE Hours for offerings from our Knowledge Center or registered events.

    Designated Structural Engineers: When adding technical CE activities in your CE Reporting System, check the box: “Apply this activity to my additional 60 CE Hours of Technical Learning required as a Struct.Eng.”

    Past Activities: Registrants can record activities any time during the Three-Year Rolling Period. This means that a registrant accessing their reporting system today can still enter CE activities which were completed during a past reporting year.

    Changing the Reporting Year: When adding or editing an activity in your CE Reporting System, click on “Reporting Year” to expand the dropdown menu and select the reporting year.

    Three-Year Rolling Period: Three-year rolling periods are made up of three consecutive reporting years e.g., July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024. The first day of each reporting year is also the start of a new three-year rolling period.

    The first Three-Year Rolling Period deadline is June 30, 2024 unless your professional license was granted on or after May 1, 2022. See the Guide to the CE Program for a breakdown of requirements for new registrants.

  • 10. I missed the June 30 reporting deadline, what should I do now?

    July 1 to September 30

    • Complete any overdue CE requirements and pay the late fee in the Annual Reporting System to avoid suspension on October 1.
    • Look for an email confirming your reporting has been successfully submitted.
    • You can also check your registration status in your Account Dashboard.


    October 1 to December 31

    • Complete any overdue CE requirements and pay the late fee in the Annual Reporting System to avoid cancellation on January 1.
    • Look for an email confirming your suspension has been lifted within 5 business days of your Annual Reporting submission.
    • You can also check your registration status in your Account Dashboard.


    After January 1

    • Apply online to reinstate your registration.
    • Professional applicants are required to complete missed continuing education activities in their online account before reinstatement will be granted.
  • 11. How do I pay the late fee?

    Late fees are paid within the Annual Reporting System.

    • Proceed to the “Payment” step and enter your credit card details then click “Pay”
    • If your payment was successful, a receipt can be downloaded from your online account and you will also receive a confirmation email to your preferred email address.
     

    Professional registrants must complete CE requirements before the Annual Reporting can be submitted. See FAQ #2. "How do I see the status of my reporting requirements" for support with completing late requirements.

  • 12. How do I report a technology error in my egbc.ca account?

    Report the issue to [email protected] and include:

    • As much information as possible about the steps you took and the error that is occurring.
    • Screenshots are helpful to quickly diagnose the issue.
    • Your 6-digit registration ID.
  • 13. I haven’t been receiving email or letter mail notices regarding my registration. What’s wrong?

    Confirm that your preferred email and mailing address are accurate by logging into your account and clicking Update Personal Information from the left menu.

    If your preferred contact details are correct and you haven’t been receiving emails, please contact [email protected] to request that the issue be investigated.

    Please be advised that it is the responsibility of the registrant to update their personal and professional contact information within 30 days of the change taking effect (Bylaws 5.29 and 5.30). Unfortunately, we must decline all appeals where the reporting deadline was missed on this basis.

  • 14. How do I request a fee waiver, exemption, or deferral?

    Late Fee Waivers or Refund: Registrants who missed the reporting deadline due to circumstances beyond their control may apply for a late fee waiver.

    Medical, Parental, or Compassionate Care Leave: Professional registrants who were on leave for six months or more of the reporting year can apply for an exemption to the Continuing Education Program requirements.

    Annual Reporting Deferral: Registrants with extenuating circumstances can request to defer the Annual Reporting deadline. The application period is between May 1 and June 30 each year.

    Dispute Suspension or Cancellation: Registrants whose registration was suspended or cancelled in error can apply for reconsideration.

    Log in to your account to review the criteria and complete the application form.