Engineers and Geoscientists BC
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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.

    Watch this video to learn how to navigate your Account Dashboard and view your requirements and deadlines.

  • 3. What are the CE Program requirements?

    In every reporting year, professional registrants must:

    • Complete the Mandatory Regulatory Module;
    • Record 1 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.
     

    See the CE Requirements webpage for a list of what is required this year.

  • 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.

    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 minutes) 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, 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. 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. What is the difference between CE and Annual Reporting?

    The CE Program requires practising registrants to record CE activities and prepare CE Plans.

    • CE activities and plans must be completed by June 30 every year and tracked in the CE reporting system.
     

    Annual Reporting is the process by which all registrants update their personal and professional contact information and complete annual declarations.

    • AR must be completed by June 30 each year in the Annual Reporting System.
    • The Annual Reporting submission takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.
  • 6. How do I complete the ethical learning requirement?

    Choose an ethical learning topic that interests you and spend at least 1 hour learning about that topic. This could be completed by watching a recorded video in the Knowledge Centre, adding an event, taking an ethics course offered by their employer, studying past disciplinary decisions, etc. Examples of ethical learning topics can be found in Table 6 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.

  • 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 the Requirements webpage.

    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 for at least 10 years and will be reviewed if you are selected for a compliance audit. Effective February 2023, registrants are no longer required to upload their CE Plan to 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.

    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?

    Open “How to Navigate the Course” and complete the tasks noted in blue font. Once complete, the chapters will unlock, and you can proceed through the module.

  • 9. I registered for an event; will it be recorded towards my CE Hours?

    In most instances, registrants will need to manually add CE Hours for attended events. We recommend reaching out to the contact provided on the Events webpage for clarification.

    CE Hours from sessions attended at our 2022 Annual Conference will be automatically recorded IF you registered with an email address associated with your egbc.ca account and you were in attendance for at least 75% of the session.

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

    For questions regarding events you are registered for or trying to register for, contact our Events team at [email protected] for assistance.

  • 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.
  • 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. I completed training in the Knowledge Center, will it be recorded towards my CE Hours?

    Offerings that are labeled “Online Course”, such as the regulatory modules, are automatically added to your CE requirements in the reporting system.

    Offerings that are labeled “Video” require registrants to “Add to Collection” before watching the video and then clicking the “Report CE Hours” button below the video once it is completed.

    Blue notice boxes in the Knowledge Centre contain instructions for recording CE Hours.