Many Registrants Not Meeting CE Plan Requirements

Every year, practising registrants are required to create an updated Continuing Education (CE) Plan. The plans help ensure registrants meet their regulatory compliance obligations and also help them learn and grow. 

However, many registrants are not meeting the requirement. Engineers and Geoscientists BC auditors found that 1 in 6 registrants were either failing to create a CE Plan or submitting a deficient one. 

“After about a year and a half of completing individual compliance audits, we regularly see registrants failing to complete a CE Plan every year,” said Stuart Nash, Manager, Individual Audits and Practice at Engineers and Geoscientists BC. “For the CE Plans that are created, we often see a lack of detail in the goals and activities listed, as well as missing practice risk assessments.”  

Value of a CE Plan 

Creating and maintaining a CE Plan helps practising registrants identify gaps in knowledge and choose activities that help fill those gaps. The plan also gives practising registrants the opportunity to discuss their goals and learning plans with peers and employers, gaining valuable feedback.  

“CE Plans are essential for setting learning goals and prioritizing activities that maintain professional competency and mitigate risks,” said Samantha Williams, Competency Program Coordinator at Engineers and Geoscientists BC. “By keeping CE Plans updated, practising registrants not only ensure regulatory compliance but also stay at the forefront of their profession, empowering continuous growth and career excellence.” 

The CE Plan must: 

• define the practising registrant’s area(s) of practice and any anticipated or desired changes; 
• include a declaration that the practising registrant has assessed the risks their practice poses to the public and the environment and a description on how the assessment was done; and 
• identify the practising registrant’s learning goals and the activities the registrant plans to undertake to achieve those priorities. 

Registrants cannot use the same CE Plan for multiple reporting years. Practising registrants must set new learning goals or provide progress updates for learning goals that are still in-progress every year. 

A CE Plan can be created any time during the 12-month reporting year, which starts on July 1. Practising registrants are encouraged to create their CE Plan at the same time each year to avoid gaps between plans. They must also update their CE Plan when their circumstances change, such as changing roles or employers or expanding into new industries and areas of practice.  

Additionally, registrants must keep CE Plans for at least 10 years after the reporting year ends, per Engineers and Geoscientists BC requirements around supporting documentation.  

“Through the compliance audit process, we’re continuing to work one-on-one with registrants to improve their CE Plans, but we also want registrants to use our proactive guidance, which includes our CE Plan templates and online FAQs, to ensure CE Plans are completed on-time and with sufficient detail,” Nash said. 

A fillable and downloadable CE plan template is on the CE webpage. For support with creating a CE Plan, practising registrants can also watch How to Create a High-Quality CE Plan in the Knowledge Centre, or contact [email protected].