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What is Continuing Professional Development (CPD)?
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is ongoing learning, both formal and informal, that allows professionals to keep their knowledge and skills current and relevant in today’s rapidly evolving work world.
What is the OACETT CPD Program?
OACETT’s CPD program provides a framework for certified members to guide their professional development choices. The program requires OACETT members to complete a minimum amount of professional development over a three year cycle in order to maintain their membership. Professional development activities that count towards this minimum amount are divided into four categories:
1. Contributions to the Profession
2. Peer and Professional Interaction
3. Contributions to Technical Knowledge
4. Management/Leadership Training
The four categories are designed to make professional development flexible and accessible. They capture professional learning that OACETT members regularly take part in, either individually or for their employers, including in-house training, external workshops, volunteering, and mentoring new professionals. Go to
Sample CPD Activities for examples of activities in each of the four categories.
Who Does the OACETT CPD Program Apply to?
The CPD program applies to all Certified OACETT members as well as to Life and Fellow OACETT members and Associate members who are not within their 3 or 6 year certification timeline.
The CPD program does NOT apply to Associate members still within their 3 or 6 year certification timeline, student members, retired members (not working more than 100 hours per calendar year), and honourary members.
How Much CPD is Required?
1 mandatory course + 3 other activities = CPD compliant
Over a 3-year cycle, you are required to complete 4 activities. One activity must be from either the Contributions to Technical Knowledge OR Management/Leadership Training categories. Any activity in those two categories must be a formal course at least 3 hours in length, or an informal course or self-directed study at least 6 hours in length.
The other three activities can be from any of the 4 categories; however, any activity in either the Contributions to Technical Knowledge or Management/Leadership Training categories must also meet the same minimum time requirements given above. All CPD activities must be at least 1 hour in length no matter the category.
Note that CPD you complete over and above the CPD required by OACETT cannot be carried over into the next 3-year compliance cycle; CPD must be on-going throughout your career.
What Evidence of CPD is Required?
Members must collect documentation from their CPD activities to confirm completion, for example: a certificate of completion or attendance, a receipt of payment with a course outline, or a letter from an employer. Click
here for more information.
Why is the OACETT CPD Program Important?
OACETT’s CPD Program provides direction to OACETT members as they invest in their careers to own their professional futures. Lifelong learning is a cornerstone of today’s work life. With workplace change coming from all sides, we need to build and maintain the knowledge and skills to enable us to navigate this change successfully. In engineering technology and applied science, we need to ensure that we stay current with the rapidly changing technologies of our profession. We also need to maintain the soft skills needed to interact and communicate effectively with our clients, employers, government, and general public. Engaging in ongoing learning related to our profession keeps us motivated and positions us to take advantage of more opportunities and options throughout our careers.
As engineering technician and technology professionals we also have an ethical commitment to our employers and to the general public to engage in continuing professional development. We are committed through our Code of Ethics first “to keep informed to maintain proficiency and competence, to advance the body of knowledge within [our] discipline and further opportunities for the professional development of their associates” and “to hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public, the protection of the environment and the promotion of health and safety within the workplace.”
For More Information
If you have questions about the OACETT CPD program, send an email to
cpd@oacett.org.