Quality Assurance

The Quality Assurance Program is comprised of three main components which all registrants, except for those holding a Retired Certificate, must participate in:

• Self-Assessment Guide and Continuing Professional Development Plan (SAG)
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Program
• Peer Assisted Review (PAR)

Registrants are required to complete the Self-Assessment Guide (SAG) and CPD Program requirements on a regular basis, in keeping with their assigned two-year cycles. The frequency for SAG completion will depend upon a registrant’s certificate type. Participation in a Peer Assisted Review will only be required upon selection under certain circumstances.

All registrants are assigned a two-year Quality Assurance cycle based on their registration number and whether it is numerically even or odd. Cycles always begin on July 1^st and end on June 30^th two years later.

If your assigned registration number is numerically even, you will be included in the “Even Year” cycles, meaning the cycles that begin and end during even numbered years. Even Cycle Example: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2026

If your assigned registration number is numerically odd, you will be included in the “Odd Year” cycles, meaning the cycles that begin and end during odd numbered years. Odd Cycle Example: July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2025

Note: Newly registered members of the College will be added to an existing even or odd. The date of one’s registration is not relevant to their assigned cycle.

June 30 is the deadline to complete both SAG and CPD Declarations of Completion. The year each component and declaration are due will depend upon your Certificate type.

• Most registrants (with Autonomous, Academic, or Inactive Certificates) are required to complete the Self-Assessment Guide once every other year, during the last year of their two-year cycle. Some registrants (with Supervised or Interim Autonomous Practice Certificates) must complete the SAG annually.

The SAG tool is updated annually and made available on May 1. If registrants are required to complete the SAG during a given year, they will be notified when the updated tool is available for download from the College website.

• All registrants (with Autonomous, Academic, Inactive, Supervised or Interim Autonomous Practice Certificates) are required to complete the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Program requirements on an ongoing basis throughout their two-year cycle.

Registration renewals occur on an annual basis. During renewals, you will pay your registration fees and complete the practice update form to maintain your Certificate of Registration.

Quality Assurance participation, which includes the submission of your CPD and SAG Declarations of Completion, occurs separately from the registration renewal process. Please review your assigned QA cycle dates to determine when your declarations will be due.

The College requires you to make Declarations of Completion as attestations and documentation of your fulfillment of the required Quality Assurance Program components.

You will not be asked to submit your completed SAG or CPD documents when making your declarations, but these materials must be retained for a minimum period of five years. The College will request that you provide these materials should you be selected for an audit or review.

Registrants must submit declarations through the membership portal. There will be one declaration required for each component to attest to the completion of the CPD Program requirements as well as the SAG.

Registrants who have been members of the College for less than two years at the time their Declarations of Completion are due must still make their attestations. However, they will be able to submit an alternate declaration option for the CPD Program, which will indicate that they were unable to complete the full CPD Program requirements, as they did not have the benefit of a full two-year cycle.

All registrants must complete the Self-Assessment Guide and make a SAG Declaration of Completion by June 30 of the year in which it is due.

The electronic CPD and SAG Declaration of Completion forms will be available through your online College account by May 1 of the year in which they are due. E-mail notices will be sent to you by the College approximately two months before your CPD and/or SAG declarations are due.

Please refer to the above FAQs for additional information on cycle dates and component deadline requirements.

You are not required to submit your completed CPD or SAG records when making your Declarations of Completion. However, you must store all completed materials and supporting documentation related to your participation in the Quality Assurance Program for a minimum period of five years.

Upon request, such as during an audit, these materials must be provided to the College for compliance monitoring purposes.

Records which must be retained include completed Self-Assessment Guides, Continuing Professional Development activity tracking sheets, and supporting records to verify participation in the activities completed during a two-year cycle.

CPD activity hours and information must be tracked using an activity tracking sheet to demonstrate completion of the minimum CPD program requirements during a two-year cycle.

Downloadable tracking sheet templates are available through the College website here.

Registrants may create their own activity tracking sheet forms but are encouraged to reference a College sample to ensure they are including the required level of detail. One tracking sheet should be used for each two-year cycle.

You may complete CPD hours at your own pace throughout your assigned two-year cycle; there is no requirement for the number of hours which must be completed during each year of a two-year cycle. This provides flexibility to plan and complete continuing education and professional development activities based on your individual schedule and circumstances.

As an example, you may wish to complete 35 activity hours in Cycle Year 1, and 15 hours in Cycle Year 2. Alternatively, you may wish to complete all 50 hours in Cycle Year 2 if you believe this works best for your circumstances and learning needs.

The College does not endorse specific activities or providers of continuing education or professional development activities. You are expected to use your best judgement to choose CPD activities that will benefit your practice and enhance your professional competence.

When determining if an activity should be applied towards your CPD Program requirements, you must be able to reflect on, and describe the benefit of, the activity towards the maintenance of your professional knowledge, skill and judgment.

Further information about activity eligibility can be found in the CPD FAQs here.

Yes. In most cases, credits or CEUs are equivalent to CPD hours (1:1).

Behaviour Analysts completing the BACB continuing education requirements, which typically equate 50 minutes of activity to 1 CEU, are permitted to count 1 CEU as 1 CPD hour.

To maintain in good standing with the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario, registrants must fulfill all requirements issued by the College, including those for the CPD Program and Self-Assessment Guide components. Quality Assurance requirements issued by other regulators or boards are not monitored by the College.

The only exception to this is for those registered under an Interim Autonomous Practice Certificate (IAP). For the duration of one’s IAP Certificate, registrants may attest to the College that they have fulfilled their home regulator’s requirements. However, if an IAP registrant subsequently obtains a standard Autonomous Practice Certificate with the College, they must then begin to fulfill and declare completion of the College’s CPD and SAG requirements, as all other registrants do.

If you are also completing the requirements of another mandatory continuing education and professional development program, you do not need to earn unique or standalone credits for the purpose of fulfilling the College’s CPD Program requirements. However, registrants must address any gaps in the requirements of these programs (e.g., minimum hours, activity content), through additional CPD participation, to ensure they are satisfying all aspects of the College’s requirements.

Typically, only preparation time is eligible for CPD credit as the delivery of information is intended to benefit the recipient, rather than the speaker. Preparation time may involve research, consultation and other forms of professional development to maintain an up-to-date knowledge of the topics or information being taught or presented.

However, if the delivery of a presentation or training session involved components of peer interaction which were beneficial to your own development, such as an exchange of information among peers or trainees, this portion of the activity time may be counted separately under Section A: Professional Interaction and Interdisciplinary Activities.

All registrants of the College must participate in the QA Program, unless they hold a Retired Certificate.

The Quality Assurance Committee holds the authority to address concerns related to registrant compliance with the Quality Assurance Program in relation to their knowledge, skill and judgment. Failing to participate in the Program may be considered an act of professional misconduct.