Each year, the Quality Assurance Committee conducts audits to provide education and monitor compliance with the CPD Program requirements. Registrants included in the most recently completed cycle will be eligible for random selection, or targeted selection if they failed to submit their required Declaration.
If you have been notified of your selection for auditing, you must provide all materials relevant to your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities over the past two years.
Preparing Your Submission
To ensure the Quality Assurance Committee can assess your materials for completion accurately and efficiently, please follow the submission guidelines below. Submissions that do not adhere to the guidelines may be returned to the registrant for resubmission.
The following records must be included in your submission:
- A copy of the CPD goals you set in your last completed Self-Assessment Guide and Continuing Professional Development Plan (e.g., if you are audited for the 2023-2025 CPD cycle, please submit the CPD goals documented in your 2023 SAG)
- A completed CPD Tracking Sheet containing all activity details and professional self-reflections. Tracking sheet templates can be downloaded here.
- Supporting documentation to verify your participation (see examples below).
Submission Format:
- All documents for the audit must be submitted electronically in PDF format as individual files. If you are unable to submit materials electronically, please notify College staff.
- When supporting documentation is available, no more than one record per CPD activity is required.
- Supporting documents must contain information which clearly identifies the related activity on your tracking sheet. Additionally, electronic PDF files should be named in a manner that reflects the related activity (e.g., name the PDF file “Event Name/Activity Description – Date Completed” => “Barbara Wand Seminar – June 13, 2025”).
- Ensure all details necessary to verify activities are included in the descriptions within your tracking sheet (e.g., date of completion, name of activity organizer/speaker/presenter, name(s) of colleagues involved, professional topics or content discussed).
DEMONSTRATING COMPLETION OF THE CPD PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
The activity details and supporting records you submit must reflect your fulfillment of the program requirement structure you followed during the two-year cycle.
Using HOURS Only for Activities Occurring Within the Correct Two-Year Cycle
Only those activities completed within the two-year cycle are eligible for credit. Please check the beginning and end dates of the cycle being audited when reporting your CPD activities.
Including Sufficient Detail about Activities
When determining how much detail to record in a CPD tracking sheet or other record, consider what information an auditor would need to understand what may have been learned and how the activity could be independently verified.
For example, more information is required than the simple declaration that “supervision” or “reading” had occurred. If reporting supervision hours, identify the supervisee as well as the date and length of each meeting, as well as a general description of the nature of the supervision. If using acronyms to record and report activities, consideration should be given to how widely known the acronym is. Although it may be expected that acronyms like “WISC” or “CBT” may be recognized by most within the profession, the full names of local associations, organizational committees and less widely known tools and techniques should be used.
When documenting relevance to Professional Ethics and Jurisprudence, unless the name of the activity makes it clear that the subject matter is directly related to professional ethics, please explain in your description how the activity satisfied this requirement. While there would be no need to explain the relevance of workshop titles like “Informed Consent with Children in Care” or “Developments in Privacy Legislation”, it is necessary to explain how, for example, a webinar about scoring a new test would satisfy this requirement, in the event that such an activity has a dedicated component related to Professional Ethics or Jurisprudence.
When documenting relevance to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, unless the name of the activity makes it clear that the subject matter is directly related to EDI-related topics, please explain in your description how the content considered assisted with your understanding of practices which might be experienced as harmful or oppressive to some individual or groups, and how to avoid these practices.
Supporting DOCUMENTATION TIPS:
- If you have retained more than one piece of supporting documentation for an activity, please provide one document which provides the clearest information regarding your attendance or completion.
- This may include certificates of completion, program agendas or registration documents and correspondence confirming events (e.g., for participation in professional boards, associations, committees, professional interest groups or grand rounds).
- The following hierarchy is provided:
- CE Certificate from event/activity organizer
- Registration or attendance confirmation e-mail addressed to you, including the event/activity name and date
- Activity materials created by or provided to you (e.g., a poster presentation, slide deck, draft of written or edited article or link to published text, etc.)
- Personal notes
- The following hierarchy is provided:
- Forms of supporting documentation that are NOT required:
- Complete copies of texts you have published, edited or read (e.g., full PDF or scanned copies of articles, readings or test manuals). Copies of abstracts for journal articles which were read or published may be provided in addition to the citation information.
- If reporting on a client-related activity, such as supervision, consultation, or outcome monitoring, do not include identifying information about clients.
- Photos or digital scans of hard copy books.
Resources
Lessons from a “Mock Audit” of Member CPD Records originally published in the January, 2019 e-bulletin and some of the information provided is summarized here to guide members in preparing their materials for submission.
If you require assistance when preparing your CPD Audit submission, please contact Quality Assurance staff via e-mail at qualityassurance@cpbao.ca.