Professional Development Bylaw - 2009

In 2009, members were asked to ratify a bylaw committing practising members to undertake a minimum amount of professional development each year and to report annually that this requirement has been met. This would have brought BC professional engineers and geoscientists into line with the vast majority of self-regulated professions as well as with their counterparts across the country.

Why a Mandatory Program?
The question of whether to implement a mandatory continuing professional development (CPD) program has been long-standing for APEGBC. For the last two decades, the idea of professional development requirements has been considered by a number of committees, task forces and councils.

In making the decision to bring a bylaw to APEGBC members, Council recognized that it is now standard for regulatory bodies to require professionals to participate in an ongoing professional development program. Almost all regulated professions in BC—this includes architects, doctors, lawyers and accountants—and most engineering and geoscience regulators in Canada require members to participate in and report their professional development activities. The ability to easily access professional development has also increased over the years, with options for greater flexibility and new distance learning technologies.

As a self-regulatory body, APEGBC must first and foremost act in the public interest. An Angus Reid survey conducted last year indicated that the public expects regulators to ensure that the professionals they license are competent and safe practitioners. One way that the public believes this is demonstrated is through requirements such as mandatory continuing professional development.

Currently APEGBC members may voluntarily report their continuing professional development hours. In 2008, 40.9% of practising members reported that they had participated in CPD during that calendar year. In today’s work environment, requiring members to do a minimum amount of CPD may provide the necessary incentive for both professionals and their employers to prioritize keeping up to date. It will also provide the means through which the association can demonstrate to the public that its members are keeping current in their area of practice.

Proposed Program Requirements for 2009 Bylaw
In designing the program requirements, it was determined that the following criteria must be met:

1. the program must clearly demonstrate to the public that all practising members are keeping up to date;
2. minimum expectations are clearly outlined;
3. program requirements align with the member’s practice and are flexible in recognizing how members can meet those requirements;
4. the program is auditable and transparent; and
5. the program meets best practice standards for professional regulatory bodies.

Had the bylaw been ratified by two-thirds of voting members, each year practising members would have been expected to undertake a minimum of 30 hours of professional development activities. These activities can fall within four categories: formal, informal, participation, and contributions to knowledge. Formal activities include courses through accredited post-secondary institutions, employer training programs, short courses or seminars over four hours in length, and practice review. Informal activities include self-directed study such as reading technical, managerial and business journals, seminars or webcasts less than four hours, conferences, tradeshows, and educational tours. Activities that fall within the participation category include attendance at meetings of technical, professional or managerial associations, mentoring, and serving on community boards in a professional capacity. Giving presentations, preparation of research papers or journal articles, development of codes and standards, and conducting research and developing patents are recognized activities under the contribution to knowledge category. While a maximum of 20 hours can be claimed in each category in a given year, there is no minimum requirement for a specific category. For example, members do not have to attend formal courses or seminars in order to be in compliance with the program.

Members would have been expected to undertake professional development relevant to their current or anticipated area of practice. Those who are practising technical engineering or geoscience would focus on activities that assist them in staying current with or upgrading their technical skills. Managers or those who wish to become managers could participate in activities that improve or develop management skills. Non-technical courses such as communication or business skills would also be considered as acceptable activities. Professional practice is not considered an eligible activity for this program.

While members are expected to undertake a minimum of 30 hours each year, a provision was made in the bylaw to allow members to “catch-up” in the next subsequent year if necessary.

Who needs to comply?
In addition to members who are actively practising, those members who have retained their practising status, but who are now practising outside of the areas of engineering and geoscience would also need to demonstrate they are keeping up to date in their current area of practice (eg, lawyers will need to demonstrate that they are keeping up to date in the area of law in which they practice). However, the bylaw would have allowed Council to approve and consider equivalent the continuing professional development programs of other organizations. In other words, if Council were to approve the Law Society’s continuing professional development program as equivalent, members who are also members of the Law Society would only need to meet the requirements of that program. It is also likely that programs of other Canadian professional engineering and geosciences regulatory bodies would have been accepted as equivalent.

Reporting
Each year members would have been asked to confirm that they are in compliance with the requirements of the continuing professional development program by ticking a box and stating the total number of hours achieved either in the online system or on the paper copy of their dues renewal form. As members may be audited to confirm compliance, where possible, proof of activities undertaken (eg, receipts, certificates) must be kept for four years.

The Facts About the Proposed 2009 Bylaw

• 30 hours of professional development activity will be required on a yearly basis for practising members.
• Members can accrue professional development hours in a number of ways including: journal reading, courses, seminars, presentations, tradeshows, educational tours, mentoring and committee meetings.
• Members do not need to attend formal courses or seminars in order to be compliant.
• There is no requirement to attend APEGBC-sponsored or -accredited seminars. Courses, seminars, webcasts and conferences can be offered by any provider as long as members can demonstrate that the material presented is relevant to their current or planned field of practice.
• Activities must relate to members’ area of current practice but do not have to be technical engineering or geosciences based. Communication, management or business skills are acceptable activities.
• Council will have the ability to exempt members from APEGBC’s CPD Program if they are in compliance with another Council-approved CPD program.
• All members with practising status will be required to comply. Those with non-practising status (eg, retired members) will be exempt.
• To report, members will be asked to tick a box to indicate compliance with professional development requirements and to indicate the total number of activity hours.

What does compliance look like?

For a Project Engineer at a medium-size mechanical consulting firm, this is what compliance might look like: