The Continuing Competence (CC) program can be an area of confusion for many members. As a new CC cycle is soon to begin, we thought it would be beneficial to provide a reminder of how the program works.

What is the CC Program?

Every profession regulated under the Health Professions Act (HPA) is required to maintain currency in their practice, as well as enhance and expand their knowledge and skills through a Continuing Competence (CC) program. The CC program fosters individual improvement and growth of professional practice, improving the level of service and care provided to Albertans.

The CC program is broken down into two parts:

  1. Credit Requirements
    • This section breaks down the credits required for each regulated member during a CC cycle and the two different types of activities that can be taken to achieve credits.
  2. Continuing Competence Audits
    • This section covers the audit process that the College undertakes every year. Regulated members are required to participate in the audit if they are selected.

What is required of me in order to successfully complete the CC program each cycle?

The CC cycle follows the membership year from October 1 to September 30. Regulated members must complete a minimum of 60 credits each CC cycle. At least 30 of those 60 credits must be earned in the category of Continuing Education activities to be eligible to renew their practice permit.

Continuing Education (CE) activities are courses or professional development activities that meet the College’s Continuing Education Requirements. CE activities are generally assigned three credits for one hour of activity. For an activity to be considered CE it must meet the Continuing Education Requirements and go through an approval process. A full list of the CE approved activities can be found on the College website and in the CC form in your member portal.

Self-directed (SD) activities are professional development activities identified by the individual member based on their specific interest and learning needs. These activities do not need to meet the College’s Continuing Education Standards. SD activities are assigned one credit for one hour of activity.

How do I claim/record my CC activities?

All continuing competence activities need to be recorded in your member portal. This can be done through the CC form on the CC page. Regulated members will not be able to renew each year until they have met all their CC requirements. The CC form in the member portal also provides a breakdown of credit requirements and will display if there are any mandatory learning activities that need to be taken each CC cycle.

All CE activities are built into the CC form and can be searched by name. If an activity does not appear in the CC form, then it is a self-direct activity and can be entered as “self-directed” in the search function. A step-by-step guide for recording credits can be found here.

What supporting documents do I need to keep and for how long?

All regulated members must retain supporting documentation for every CC activity recorded. As per the Health Professions Act (HPA), documentation must be kept for a minimum of five years after the end of the CC cycle in which the activity was recorded. For example, all documentation for the 2022-2023 CC cycle must be kept until the end of the 2027-2028 CC cycle.

All CE activities provide a certificate of completion once the activity is done. This should be saved as your supporting documentation. Self-directed activities can be different as not all courses may provide a certificate of completion. All supporting documentation must include the following:

  • Activity provider name and/or branding
  • Name of activity
  • Regulated member’s name
  • Date completed
  • Number of hours awarded

The College will accept the following as supporting documentation:

  • Certificates of completion
  • Activity logs
  • Transcripts
  • Letters of completion or attendance
  • Record of Attendance form
  • Self-study Summary form
  • Meeting minutes
  • Developed materials including published articles

Receipts along will not be accepted as valid completion documentation.