CPD Requirements – Verifiable vs. Unverifiable

(Posted October 2024)

As a Canadian CPA, you must complete a prescribed minimum number of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours annually and for the rolling three-calendar-year (triennial) period.

RequirementsAnnual PeriodTriennial Period
Minimum verifiable CPD hours1060*
Total CPD hours20120

* Of those 60 verifiable hours, at least 4 CPD hours must pertain to professional ethics. To learn more about your ethics CPD requirements, be sure to read our blog on the ethics requirements.

To count towards your CPD requirements, the CPD must be:

  • Relevant to your professional responsibilities and competencies as a CPA
  • Be quantifiable in terms of time spent
  • Contain significant intellectual or practical content

The onus is on you to use your professional judgment when selecting CPD to ensure it is relevant and appropriate to meet the regulatory requirements as dictated by your CPA provincial body. Some examples of what does not constitute CPD:

  • Volunteering (e.g., participation on boards of small community groups such as local sports teams, and school councils, except for audit committees of such boards, unless the work results in one of the verifiable activities below)
  • Networking such as social functions, lunch, dinner, etc. (unless it can be demonstrated that there was learning involved, e.g., there is a speaker for the duration of the networking event)
  • Activities that are unrelated to the CPA technical competencies (Financial Reporting, Strategy and Governance, Management Accounting, Audit and Assurance, Finance, and Taxation)
  • Activities unrelated to the CPA enabling competencies (e.g., leadership, professional and ethical behaviour, communication)
  • Language courses
Verifiable CPD

Verifiable CPD activities include:

Continuing Education
  • Courses, webinars, conferences, and e-learning
  • Formal study, including computer-based or e-learning of courses leading to a designation, degree, certificate, or diploma, and e-learning from CPA Canada
Instruction / Speaking
  • Teaching a course or session in an area relevant to your professional role and CPA competencies
  • Participation as a speaker in a conference, briefing session, or discussion group
Committees
  • Participation on a board or technical committee, including an audit committee of a public company, registered charity, or not-for-profit organization, CPA Provincial Body Council, or CPA Canada Board or Committee(s)
Research and Publications
  • Research projects in areas that expand your professional knowledge and result in presentations, reports or similar documents
  • Writing and publishing professional, technical, or academic articles, papers, or books
Verifiable CPD Hours

Examples of qualifying CPD hours:

  • Hours spent learning during a course, webinar, conference, or seminar
  • Hours spent preparing or studying for the course, conference, seminar, or exam
  • Hours spent preparing for the course/session
  • Hours spent learning while attending meetings
  • Hours spent preparing for the meetings
  • Hours spent preparing or researching the presentation or report
  • Hours spend researching, authoring, or contributing to the publication

Note: Depending on your provincial regulations, prep/study time may be limited. For example, CPA Ontario limits the number of qualifying CPD hours to a maximum of 5 hours for each hour of participation or teaching. We recommend that you contact your provincial CPA body if you have any questions about your CPD requirements.

Verifiable CPD Documentation

To be verifiable, you must have documentation from an independent provider to confirm your verifiable CPD hours.

Unless requested, there is no need to submit documentation for your verifiable CPD. However, you must keep your CPD documentation for a minimum of five years after the end of the reporting period.

Documentation Should IncludeExamples of Documentation
Description of learning activityIdentification of learning activity providerConnection of CPA to the learning activityIdentification of learning activity dateSupport for reasonableness of reported hoursOfficial transcriptCompletion certificateAttendance record or sign-in sheetCourse assignment and exam resultsCopy of course outline/agendaCopy of course payment/invoiceCopy of presentation materialA log of study/prep/research/presentation hoursConfirmation of membership, role, and meeting(s) attendedMeeting agenda or minutes  
Unverifiable CPD

Up to 50% of your CPD requirements (10 hours annually and 60 hours over the three-calendar-year rolling period) can be unverifiable. You must track these hours but supporting documentation is not required.

Examples of unverifiable hours:

  • On-the-job training or learning (e.g., related to new software, systems, procedures, or application in a professional role)
  • Self-study that does not involve an examination or other objective certification of completion
  • Technical reading, self-study of published materials
  • Reading professional journals or magazines that are not part of research for a specific application in your role as a CPA

Make sure that you meet your verifiable CPD hours requirement by December 31. Densmore can help you meet your CPD requirements with our asynchronous CPD courses.