Frequently Asked Questions

• 1. When is the new Continuing Education (CE) Program starting?

  Beginning July 1, 2021, mandatory continuing education requirements will take effect. Registrants will be required to report their CEP hours to Engineers and Geoscientists BC each June. The first reporting date will be June 30, 2022.  

• 2. Who does the CE Program apply to? Are all registrants required to complete all activities?

  The full program requirements apply to any registrant with full practice rights; in general, this means P.Eng., P.Geo., P.L.Eng., and P.L.Geo.

  Trainees (EITs and GITs) are exempt. 

  Registrants with a Non-practising or Retired designation have to complete minimum requirements. They are required to complete a minimum of one CE Hour each of ethical and regulatory learning every three years and record these in their online reporting system. Non-practising and Retired registrants are still required to submit a CE Program declaration every reporting year. 

• 3. Can registrants apply for exemptions?

  Yes, registrants can apply for exemptions using the form in Appendix C of the Guide to the CE Program for a variety of leaves: medical, parental, or compassionate care leaves. Registrants can also apply for an exemption for “other leaves due to extenuating circumstances”; these will be reviewed individually by the Audit and Practice Review Committee before granting the leave. Registrants who want to apply for an exemption for the reporting year must do so before April 30 to avoid a possible late fee.

• 4. What are the annual requirements for registrants?

   Every reporting year (July 1 – June 30), registrants need to complete the following: 

  • Complete at least one CE Hour in ethical learning; how this is done is up to each registrant but could be completed by watching an Engineers and Geoscientists BC webinar, taking an ethics course offered by their employer, studying past disciplinary decisions, etc. Other suggested activities can be found in the Guide. 
  • Complete at least one CE Hour in regulatory learning by watching the annual regulatory module offered by Engineers and Geoscientists BC. There will be a new module each year available on July 1; registrants have the full reporting year to watch it and record their viewing in the online reporting system. 
  • Complete and upload a CE Plan at least once during the reporting year. A template can be found in Appendix B of the Guide or another template can be used as long as it meets the requirements laid out in Section 3.3.1 of the Guide, including completing a risk-assessment.
• 5. What are the 3-year requirements for registrants?

  Every three-year rolling period, registrants have to complete at least 60 total CE Hours. This is an average of 20 CE Hours per year but the only minimum that must be met each year is to take the required ethical and regulatory learning.We would encourage registrants to try to meet the 20 average every year to ensure that they don’t fall behind and risk penalties.

• 6. What counts as a CE Hour or an eligible CE 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”. This means that only activities that are relevant to a registrant’s area of practice and help maintain competency should be recorded. In practice this can encompass a wide variety of activities including seminars, webinars, conferences, self-study of journals, self-study to learn a new skill, volunteering, and presentations, as long as they are relevant. A helpful test might be for a registrant to ask themselves “If I’m selected for a compliance audit, can I justify how this activity helps maintain my competency and is relevant to my area of practice?” The definition in the Guideline also notes studying for future changes in an area of practice, so learning new skills and areas are considered relevant.

• 7. Do my hours before 2021 count toward my CE Program hours?
  No. You can keep them for your records but we are not looking at any hours before 2021 for audit purposes. Activities taken between January 1 and July 1 of 2021 can be applied toward the first reporting year of the new program, however, registrants should keep track of these activities (including documentation) on their own and upload the activities to the new reporting system once it becomes available closer to July 1.
• 8. Do CE activities listed on the CE Plan need to match those actually completed?

  No. 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. 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.

• 9. How will people report their CE activities and upload their CE Plan? Do hours transfer to new system automatically?

  They will do this through an online reporting system that is not currently available but will be by the July 1, 2021 program start date. 
  
  We plan to continue to allow CE Hours for Engineers and Geoscientists BC activities to transfer into the new system easily, however, the systems for this are still under development. For activities taken between January and July of 2021, registrants should keep track of their activities using the older CPD Recording Centre or another method and expect to have to transfer them into the new system.

• 10. If I am already completing a CE program for another province, do I still have to report my CE Hours in BC?

  Yes, all registrants must complete the CE program requirements, including reporting eligible CE Hours and activities, even if they are completing a CE program elsewhere. The CE Program has some unique elements that are not captured in other provincial programs, so simply reporting compliance in another jurisdiction is not enough to meet the requirements. However, activities undertaken for other jurisdictions do qualify for CE Hours provided they are relevant to your area(s) of practice.

• 11. What happens if registrants don’t meet some or all the requirements by June 30?

  Registrants will have an additional 3-month late period within which to complete their requirements, but they will be subject to late fees. If they do not complete the requirements by the end of the late period on September 30, their licence will be suspended. Registrants will then have until December 31 to complete the requirements; if they do not, their registration will be cancelled on January 1.