Continuing Professional Development

Governance Professionals Never Stop Learning

Undertaking professional development allows you to keep your knowledge and business skills up to date, develop your personal skills, support professional growth, and may further your career. All members of CGIC are encouraged to partake in ongoing professional development.

Chartered members have annual mandatory professional development requirements as governed by our Continuing Professional Development policy to ensure ongoing professional development and growth. Mandatory professional development is a commitment to the public to ensure Chartered members abide by the highest standards in the profession.

About Continuing Professional Development

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the maintenance, enhancement, and continuous improvement of knowledge, skills, and abilities. The focus of CPD is firmly on results – the benefits that professional development can bring you in the real world.

Effective January 1, 2012, all Associates and Fellows of the Institute, except those who have retired, are required to undertake a minimum of twenty (20) hours of professional development annually in order to remain members in good standing. This activity must consist of at least five (5) hours of structured activities; the balance may be unstructured activities. Chartered members are asked to make an annual declaration that they have met the minimum number of CPD hours required as part of the renewal process.

Structured CPD activities include, but are not limited to:

attendance at seminars, workshops, symposia, conferences, webinars (including pre-recorded) or other events presented by the Institute or by professional groups or with the profession;
participation in such events as a speaker, presenter or facilitator; writing an article for CGIC's magazine or for another periodical or website, where the topic of such article relates to the profession;
writing educational materials for courses run by the Institute or for another professional body related to corporate governance, or another educational body in a matter related to governance;
conducting scholarly research on topics related to the profession;
attending group-learning activities, e.g., seminars, in-house formal training, non-credit courses, post-secondary courses or special interest study groups;
teaching or presenting seminars, in-house training, post-secondary courses and non-credit courses;
tutoring or marking assignments for post-secondary credit courses or distance-education courses;
participating in technology-assisted activities that provide a certificate of completion or an assessment process, e.g., an online course or webcast;
authoring, critiquing or reviewing an article, book or course that is published by a third party; and,
developing a seminar or course presented to a third party.

Unstructured CPD activities include, but are not limited to:

reading articles in other periodicals related to the profession;
serving on Boards of Directors or Committees of the Institute or other organizations (both for-profit and not-for-profit);
researching relevant professional material on the Internet;
independent study using published learning materials (e.g., study manuals, video or course CD without an assessment process), and other forms of self-directed learning such as technical reading or self-study of published materials; and,
undertaking non-remunerative responsibilities as an officer or committee member of a professional or not-for-profit organization that result in learning new skills.

Recent Online CPD Sessions

Disaster in the Boardroom: Six Dysfunctions Everyone Should Understand

When companies experience major scandals and downfalls, it often reveals that their boards have failed in their fiduciary duties. Despite the frequency of corporate scandals around the world, little to no changes are made to the systems of corporate governance. During this webinar, Randall S. Peterson, Professor of Organizational Behaviour at London Business School, will explore the common attributes of scandals, such as lack of independence from management, missing key voices, cultural amplification, diffusion of responsibility, rule-bound cultures, and groupthink as covered in his latest book with Gerry Brown, chairman of private equity house Novaquest Capital.

Ever-evolving ESG: Oil and Gas and Beyond!

ESG considerations in corporate governance and the finance/investment industries have gained significant traction. It’s no longer an emerging issue or a trend, but is here to say and will become an even greater focus in the future. There is now a growing consensus among executives and investment professionals that ESG programs create shareholder value, both long-term and short-term. This session will provide an in-depth overview of ESG issues for corporate governance professionals and provide insights about tackling ESG issues in corporate governance programs.

The Role of the Board in Overseeing Culture

In this session, “The Role of the Board in Overseeing Culture,” led by Mary Larson, a Partner at MNP’s Montreal Office and National Strategy Practice Leader. With her extensive experience in leading global strategic executive roles at international companies and partnerships in top-tier consulting firms, Mary brings a wealth of knowledge in strategy, sustainability, and organizational culture. Her focus on sustainability over the past two decades has led to a national leadership role in ESG, particularly emphasizing the “Social.”

Board Composition and Director Selection: Moving Beyond the Skills Matrix

In this session, Dr. William Holmes shares his extensive knowledge and expertise on board composition and director selection and provides insights on how companies can move beyond the traditional matrix approach to create more diverse, effective, and innovative boards. With his impressive academic background and wealth of corporate experience, Dr. Holmes is the perfect resource to help companies elevate their governance practices and drive better business outcomes. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from one of Canada’s most respected experts in corporate governance.

A copy of the presentation is available for download

Strategy and Risk Management for Boards in Challenging Times

The global pandemic, the virtual workplace, the Great Resignation – with all of these issues impacting the workforce and how we do business, how can Boards shift their thoughts, processes, and structure to support management during these challenging times? In this session, guest speakers Christine E. Carter, JD, FCG, Acc. Dir., Corporate Secretary & Director of Governance, BC Lottery Corporation, and Jennifer Barbosa, Director of Enterprise Risk Management Services, BC Lottery Corporation, look at some of the innovative approaches that BCLC is taking to implement new policies and strategic initiatives as well as manage risk, during a time of accelerated change.

A copy of the presentation is available for download

Standards for Canadian Health Data Protection During a Health Emergency

On January 4, 2023, Professor Jawahitha Sarabdeen, Fellow (FCG) of The Chartered Governance Institute Canada, delivered a complimentary CPD session on Standards for Canadian Health Data Protection During A Health Emergency – An Analysis of Privacy Regulations and Laws.

A copy of the presentation is available for download, as well as a published article.

The Board’s Duty in Fostering EDI within the Organization

On November 2, 2022, The Chartered Governance Institute of Canada hosted a complimentary CPD session, The Board’s Duty in fostering EDI within the Organization with Mary Larson, ICD.d, Partner, MNP’s Consulting Services, and Sandra Porteous, B.Ed, M.Ed, Senior Manager of Consulting Services with MNP’s Consulting Group.

Visit the CGIC Youtube Page for more online CPD recordings.

Looking for structured CPD activities?

VIEW EVENTS CALENDAR AND REGISTER

What Do I Need to Track?

It is good practice to maintain records of your personal CPD efforts. You will only need to demonstrate your activities if you are selected at random audit, where we will work with you to determine if the policy criteria has been met:

What type of CPD the activity falls into (structured or unstructured)
The name of the course or event, if applicable
What the activity involved
The date/s you completed the activity
How many hours you spent on the activity
Your feedback/thoughts on the activity – what you learned and how this has helped you/will help you

Consider downloading this CPD Tracking spreadsheet to keep track of the CPD you complete throughout the year.

Questions? We have the answers!

VIEW FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS