INNOVATION-July-August-2020

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CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAM: NEW MODEL AND REQUIREMENTS FOR 2021 The Professional Governance Act (PGA) requires all regulators under the legislation, including Engineers and Geoscientists BC, to establish and maintain a mandatory continuing education program to promote high standards and competency among registrants. The new requirements will come into effect in 2021. Engineers and Geoscientists BC’s Council reviewed the required Bylaw for the Continuing Education (CE) Program at their June 2020 meeting. The Bylaw will now be submitted to the Office of the Superintendent of Professional Governance for approval. Earlier in the year, Council also approved recommendations for the new CE Program model from the Continuing

• Risk-informed . Requirements within the CE Program need to be informed by, and focused on, reducing risk to the public and the environment. • Proactive. The purpose of requirements within a CE Program is to create a culture of learning and to promote good practices for maintaining competency. Application. The CE Program is mandatory and applies to all registrants with practice rights. Non-practicing and retired registrants will have to complete minimum requirements to maintain ethical and regulatory competency. Engineers- in-training and geoscientists-in-training are exempt from the program. Registrants can apply for an exemption on a yearly basis for parental, medical, or compassionate care leave, or for other extenuating circumstances.

Education Program Advisory Group. The Phase 2 Report – Recommendations for New Continuing Education Program is available at

egbc.ca/Continuing-Education . The new CE Program follows a competency-focused approach that supports registrants in maintaining competency in their professional practice, while incorporating industry best practices and feedback received from consultation with registrants. The program is designed to meet regulatory requirements under the PGA while also emphasizing simplicity and providing enhanced flexibility to registrants in how they can achieve their continuing education requirements. NEW PROGRAM COMPONENTS The development of the CE Program has been broadly influenced by a few key principles on how best to design and implement a CE Program for engineering and geoscience professionals. These principles are:

Ethical & Regulatory Learning

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CE Hours

As part of their CE hours, registrants must complete at least one hour of ethical and one hour of regulatory learning each year.

Registrants must complete 60 hours over a 3-year rolling period or 20 hours per year on average.

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Reporting

CE Plans

By June 30, all registrants must report their CE activities and hours and submit their CE Plan using the online recording system.

Each year, registrants must complete a Continuing Education Plan.

Quantity of CE Hours. CE hours will be counted over a three-year rolling period. In each three-year period, a registrant must complete at least 60 Continuing Education Hours, or 20 hours a year on average.

• Competency-focused. The primary purpose of the CE Program is to help professionals maintain competency in their scope of practice.

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