CPD

Continuing Professional Development

Many professional regulators and organizations across Canada require their members to engage in continuing professional development (CPD) in order to maintain their good standing and/or licences.

Lancaster House provides professional education programs that qualify for CPD credit for human resources professionals, lawyers, and paralegals across Canada.

Accreditations a program has received and/or suggestions for the amount of CPD credit professionals from different jurisdictions may wish to claim for program completion will be indicated on individual Lancaster House programs.

Human Resources Professionals

Lancaster House has been pre-approved as a CPD provider by both the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA), which regulates human resources professionals in Ontario, and CPHR BC and YK, which is the professional organization for human resources professionals in British Columbia and Yukon.

Lancaster House’s practice is to obtain CPHR Alberta’s approval for programs of interest to human resource professionals in Alberta.

Safety Professionals

The Lancaster House National Health & Safety Conference contains 3 technical hours or .3 CEUs for safety practitioners accumulating CPD for a BCRSP certification. BCRSP is a national certification organization for OHS practitioners in Canada.

Lawyers in All Canadian Jurisdictions and Ontario Paralegals

Many of Canada’s law societies require the lawyers they regulate to participate in a certain number of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours annually (or for a specified reporting period).

In most cases, Lancaster House’s conferences, workshops, skills training sessions, professional learning programs, and webinars count towards some or all of these CPD hours.

Below is an explanation the CPD requirements applicable to lawyers (and, in Ontario, paralegals) in Canadian jurisdictions as well suggestions for reporting participation in Lancaster House programs. The interpretations are meant to assist lawyers and paralegals in deciding what CPD activities to report to their regulators; they are not a substitute for professional judgement in reporting CPD hours.

All information is believed correct at the time of posting (June 21, 2021), but please consult your law society’s website for definitive and up-to-date information.

While the mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) filing requirement has been suspended for 2020 and 2021, the Law Society of Alberta encourages all Alberta lawyers to remain committed to professional development activities that are of-interest or where there may be room for growth.

For further information, please visit: https://www.lawsociety.ab.ca/lawyers-and-students/continuing-professional-development/

In each calendar year, full-time and part-time practising lawyers must complete at least 12 hours of accredited continuing professional development. At least 2 of the 12 hours must pertain to any combination of professional responsibility and ethics, client care and relations, or practice management.

Lancaster House’s practice is to obtain accreditation for all webinars and for conferences, workshops, skills training sessions, and professional learning programs likely to be of interest to British Columbia lawyers.

Reviewing a previously recorded course (such as one of Lancaster’s webinars or MP3 recordings of audio conferences) counts towards a lawyer’s CPD hours.

For further information, please visit: https://www.lawsociety.bc.ca/support-and-resources-for-lawyers/continuing-professional-development/

Practicing lawyers must complete one hour of CPD activities for each month during which they maintain active practising status (12 hours per year).

Lawyers who maintain active practising status for 3 or more months in a year must ensure that one and one half hours (1.5 hours) of their total CPD hours for the year relate to ethics, professional responsibility, or practice management.

Examples of eligible CPD activities include (among others):

  • Live programs, workshops, and conferences
  • Watching and discussing a recording of a CPD program in an organized group setting (but not by yourself)

The Law Society of Manitoba does not accredit programs or providers. It is up to individual lawyers to determine if an activity is an eligible CPD activity.

Manitoba lawyers may count Lancaster House conferences, workshops, skills training sessions, professional learning programs, or live webinars towards their CPD requirements.

Manitoba lawyers may also consider claiming CPD credit for watching recorded Lancaster House webinars in an organized group setting (with colleagues).

For further information, please visit: https://lawsociety.mb.ca/regulation/education/mandatory-continuing-professional-development-cpd/

All practising members of the Law Society of New Brunswick must complete and report at least 12 approved CPD hours by December 31 each year.

The Law Society of New Brunswick accredits eligible activities, and it is Lancaster House’s practice to obtain accreditation from for all webinars and for conferences, workshops, skills training sessions, and professional learning programs likely to be of interest to New Brunswick Lawyers.

Credits may be obtained for reviewing a previously recorded course; therefore, lawyers may consider counting time spent reviewing a recording of a Lancaster House webinar towards their CPD requirements.

For further information, please visit: http://lawsociety-barreau.nb.ca/en/for-lawyers/continuing-professional-development/

Every practising member of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador (LSNL) must participate in at least 15 hours of eligible Continuing Legal Education (CLE) activities each year and report such participation using the Law Society’s CLE Annual Report form.

The Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador does not assess or accredit CLE providers or activities, taking the position that “[i]t is each member’s responsibility to ensure that a proposed CLE activity meets the content requirements set out by the Law Society and, therefore, qualifies as an eligible CLE activity.”

Members of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador may wish to count participation in Lancaster House conferences, workshops, skills training sessions, professional learning programs, or webinars towards their CLE requirements.

They may also consider counting time spent reviewing recorded Lancaster House webinars.

For further information, please visit: https://lsnl.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Mandatory-CLE-Requirements-1.pdf

Each reporting year, members of the Law Society of the Northwest Territories must complete 12 hours of continuing professional development activity, two hours of which must focus on legal ethics or law practice management.

Eligible CPD activities include participating in courses (including “real time” courses streamed online) and reviewing previously recorded courses.

Members of the Law Society of the Northwest Territories may wish to count participation in Lancaster House conferences, workshops, skills training sessions, professional learning programs, or webinars towards their CPD requirements.

They may also consider counting time spent reviewing recorded Lancaster House webinars.

For further information, please visit: https://www.lawsociety.nt.ca/lawyers/continuing-professional-development-cpd

The Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society (NSBS) requires practising lawyers to complete and implement an annual professional development plan, and to report that they have done so in their Annual Lawyer Report. As part of this plan, each practising lawyer must complete a minimum of 12 hours of continuing professional development in each reporting year.

The NSBS does not accredit courses. Individual lawyers bear responsibility of ensuring that CPD activities meet the NSBS’s requirements.

Activities that may be counted towards the CPD requirement include not only formal in-person education courses and conferences but also online courses and webinars.

Nova Scotia lawyers may consider including Lancaster House conferences, workshops, skills training sessions, and professional learning programs, or webinars in their professional development plans.

For further information, please visit: https://nsbs.org/legal-profession/your-practice/responsibilities-requirements/professional-development/

For the NSBS’s listing of upcoming CPD events of interest (including Lancaster House events), see: http://nsbs.org/events

All active members of the Law Society of Nunavut are required to complete a minimum of 12 hours of compulsory professional development (CPD) annually, including at least 1 hour devoted to professional responsibility and ethics.

Members can claim up to 2 hours for “restricted self study,” which includes “reviewing recorded seminars” and up to 2 hours of “unrestricted self study.”

Nunavut lawyers may count Lancaster House conferences, workshops, skills training sessions, professional learning programs, and webinars towards their CPD requirements.

They may also consider counting the watching/listening up to 4 hours of Lancaster’s webinar or audio conference recordings.

For further information, please visit: https://www.lawsociety.nu.ca/index.php/en/policies-and-requirements

Lawyers and paralegals regulated by the Law Society of Ontario must complete at least 12 hours Continuing Professional Development (CPD) annually.

The 12 hours must include 3 “Professionalism Hours” accredited by the Law Society of Ontario as such.

The 3 Professionalism Hours must include 1 Professionalism Hour that addresses issues of equality, diversity, and inclusion and is accredited by the Law Society of Ontario as “EDI Professionalism Hours.”

The remaining 9 hours of CPD Ontario lawyers and paralegals must complete each year do not need to be accredited. The Law Society of Ontario only accredits Professionalism Hours, including EDI Professionalism Hours. It does not accredit CPD programs, or parts of CPD programs, that deal with substantive or procedural law topics and/or related skills.

Time spent participating in any of Lancaster House’s conferences, workshops, skills training sessions, or professional learning programs may be counted toward 9 of the 12 hours of mandatory CPD each year if the lawyer or paralegal claiming such credit deems the content relevant to their practice and professional development.

Only CPD programs – or portions thereof –accredited by the Law Society of Ontario as containing “Professionalism Hours” can be counted towards the annual requirement to complete 3 Professionalism Hours. Lancaster House programs containing accredited professionalism content will be clearly marked.

Only CPD programs – or portions thereof – accredited by the Law Society of Ontario as containing “EDI Professionalism Hours” can be counted towards the annual requirement to complete 1 EDI Professionalism Hour. Lancaster House programs containing accredited EDI Professionalism content will be clearly marked.

Viewing or listening to recorded CPD programs (such as Lancaster House audio conferences or webinars) without a colleague may now be counted for up to 6 hours of CPD credit per year.

For further information, please visit: https://lso.ca/lawyers/enhancing-competence/continuing-professional-development-requirement

Practising members of the Law Society of Prince Edward Island are required to complete and report at least twenty-four (24) hours of continuing professional development (CPD) activities by June 30every two years.

At least four (4) hours of the required twenty-four (24) hours of CPD must pertain primarily to any one or any combination of the following topics: professional responsibility, ethics, practice standards, the code of professional conduct, conflicts of interest, rules of the law society, client relations, or practice management.

Up to 4 hours of self study may be counted in any 2-year period.

For further information, please visit: http://lawsocietypei.ca/continuing-professional-development

The Barreau du Québec requires members, except those who are retired, to complete at least 30 hours of approved training during each 2-year reference period. Of these, 3 hours must come from a list of activities offered by the Barreau du Québec that address ethics, professional conduct, or professional practice.

It is up to individual members to participate in CPD activities that best respond to their professional development needs (and to report such participation to the Barreau). The Barreau may remove from a member’s report a CPD activity that does not meet the requirements of the Règlement sur la formation continue obligatoir des avocats. In other words, the Barreau will not allow a member to claim CPD credit for any activity that does not help the member to acquire, maintain, update, improve, and deepen professional competencies and ethics related to the practice of the profession.

Quebec lawyers should exercise their judgement in reporting participation in Lancaster House conferences, workshops, webinars, skills training sessions, or professional learning programs.

For further information, please visit: https://www.barreau.qc.ca/fr/ressources-avocats/formation-continue/ [Available in French only.]

All active members of the Law Society of Saskatchewan must complete 12 hours of accredited CPD each calendar year. Of these, at least 2 hours must be “Ethics Hours.” To count towards the ethics hours requirement content must pertain primarily to one of (or a combination of) the following topics:

  • Professional responsibility
  • Ethics
  • Practice standards
  • The Code of Professional Conduct
  • Conflict of interest
  • Rules of the Law Society
  • Client care and relations
  • Practice management

Viewing a recorded version of an accredited webinar qualifies for self-study credit.

The Law Society of Saskatchewan accredits eligible activities, and it is Lancaster House’s practice to obtain accreditation for webinars as well as for conferences, workshops, skills training sessions, and professional learning programs likely to be of interest to Saskatchewan lawyers.

For further information, please visit: https://www.lawsociety.sk.ca/continuing-professional-development/cpd-policy/

The Law Society of Yukon requires that by December 31 of very year, each member must complete one hour of CPD activities for each full or partial month during the calendar year that the member was an active member.

The Law Society of Yukon does not accredit courses or course providers.

The Law Society’s general guideline states, “Eligible CPD activities must contain significant substantive or practical content with the primary objective of increasing lawyers’ professional competence.”

Eligible CPD activities include (among others): in-person courses and webinars (live or recorded).

Members of the Law Society of Yukon may consider including any Lancaster House conference, workshop, skills training session, professional learning program, or webinar as a CPD activity in their annual reports.

For further information, please visit: https://lawsocietyyukon.com/for-the-lawyer/continuing-professional-development/