My Professional Development Obligations
Why do damage insurance professionals need to develop their skills constantly? Here are three good reasons:
- To refine their working methods with best practices
- To better serve their clients
- To meet the highest industry standards
Mandatory professional development is one pillar of the ChAD’s mission.
The ChAD meets the highest standards required by certified professionals. It also helps build the public’s trust in the industry and the expertise and know-how of its professionals.
To fulfill their professional development obligations, ChAD members must:
- Earn 20 professional development units (PDUs) during each two-year reference period, in the following categories:
- Compliance (minimum 3 of PDUs), including the compulsory course entitled You Be the Investigator! (2 PDUs in Compliance)
- Administration, Insurance techniques or Law
- Professional development (maximum of 5 PDUs)
Reference period
The current compliance period begins on January 1, 2022 and ends on March 31, 2024. Due to recent regulatory changes, the current period has an exceptional duration of 27 months.
Normally, reference periods last two years. They begin on April 1 in an even-numbered year and end on March 31, 24 months later.
See the “End of period and unfulfilled obligations” section to find out what happens when professional development obligations are not met by the end of a reference period.
Compulsory Course Worth 2 PDUs
Since 2016 and continuing thereafter for each reference period, representatives will be obliged to take a compulsory course developed by the ChAD worth 2 PDUs. The general objective of this compulsory course is to address ethical shortcomings. The PDUs earned by taking this course will count towards the 20 compulsory PDUs representatives must earn during each compliance period. They will also count towards the minimum of 3 compulsory PDUs in Compliance.
The 2022-2023 compliance period compulsory course is entitled You Be the Investigator! and will be offered online at the ChAD’s training site, ÉduChAD. The course targets the top reason for complaints over the past four years: failure to properly inform, explain and advise.
To find out more about this compulsory course, please click on its page here.
Other topics related to professional development obligations
New members’ exemption from earning PDUs
As a new member of the ChAD, you are exempted from having to earn PDUs for a period of 12 months after having successfully completed the Autorité des marchés financiers exams and received your certificate.
Certified professionals outside Quebec
A person who holds a certificate in damage insurance or claims adjustment in more than one province must comply with the professional development obligations of their province of residence, if such obligations exist, or comply with Quebec professional development obligations. If this person lives outside Quebec, they must also send proof each year that their obligations have been fulfilled so that the ChAD can log the PDUs in their file.
Limit on the number of PDUs earned after re-taking the same training
Members may earn PDUs for taking the same training a maximum of two times, as long as the training is taken during two different reference periods. A member who has already earned PDUs twice for the same training will not earn any further PDUs if he or she takes this training once again.
Carry-over of five PDUs
Members who have earned extra PDUs are permitted to transfer up to five PDUs to the following compliance period.
Exemption from professional development
Representatives are responsible for notifying the ChAD of any absence from work of more than four consecutive weeks for reasons of “force majeure” (sick leave, parental leave, etc.) if they wish to be exempted from their compulsory professional development obligations during their leave of absence from the profession. Each month you are absent by reason of force majeure means you will have fewer PDUs to earn for the reference period.
To obtain this exemption, you must:
- Fill out the Request for Exemption, PDUs form and provide evidence of your leave from work due to illness.
- For parental leave, send the leave and return dates to formation@chad.qc.ca.
- After analyzing your application (maximum turnaround: 30 days), the ChAD will send you an email indicating the number of PDUs that will be subtracted from the current reference period. This information will also be available in your ÉduChAD file. You will see the reason for the adjustment and subtracted number of PDUs, if any. This exemption will not release you entirely from your professional development obligations.
Example: You still have 15 PDUs to complete before the end of the current reference period. When you notify us of your sick leave or parental leave, the ChAD will confirm with you by mail that 2 PDUs will be subtracted from the total. You will still have to earn 13 PDUs by the end of the current period.
End of period and unfulfilled obligations
The ChAD will send a list of certified professionals who have not fulfilled their obligations by the end of the reference period to the Autorité des marchés financiers (the AMF) in April.
Please note: In April, after the end of the reference period, the ChAD sends the AMF a list of certified professionals who have not fulfilled all their professional development obligations. The AMF then issues a notice of suspension, giving the certified professional time to fix any errors in their professional development file. In the absence of information allowing the ChAD to correct the file, the AMF proceeds with the official suspension. The certified professional can ask the training provider to quickly add their attendance in ÉduChAD to speed up the process of reinstating their certification. Once the certified professional’s file shows they have complied for the period in default, the ChAD notifies the AMF on the next business day.
Categories and Subjects
The 20 PDUs that you are required to earn must come from the following five categories: Compliance, Administration, Insurance techniques, Law, and Professional development.
Compliance
This category includes ethics and professional practice in damage insurance; legislation and regulations governing the distribution of financial products and services; as well as the protection of personal information.
A minimum of three (3) PDUs must be completed during each compliance period.
The 2 PDUs earned by taking the compulsory course, You Be the Investigator!, count towards the minimum of 3 PDUs that must be earned in the Compliance category.
Administration
These training activities must enable a member to become more knowledgeable and develop his/her expertise in the management and administration of a damage insurance firm. This includes courses on the following subjects: economics, accounting and finance, human resources management, marketing, information systems management, management and business strategies.
Insurance Techniques
These training activities must enable a member to become more knowledgeable and develop his/her expertise in the field of damage insurance. This includes courses dealing with: personal lines insurance, commercial lines insurance, risk management, claims adjustment, building services, investigation and loss-prevention techniques.
Law
These training activities must enable a member to become more knowledgeable and develop his/her expertise with respect to the relevant legislation and regulations. This includes courses dealing with: damage insurance, civil law and commercial law.
Professional Development
These training activities must enable a member to become more knowledgeable and develop his/her expertise in the field of damage insurance. This includes courses dealing with: customer service, sales techniques and knowledge transmission methods. A maximum of five (5) PDUs can be completed during each compliance period.
If you have any further questions regarding the breakdown of PDUs to be earned, please go to the Questions – Réponses [Question – Answer] page (in French only).
For further details, consult the
Training Activities Offered by the ChAD
Whether you are a damage insurance broker or agent, office manager or claims adjuster, the ChAD developed training sessions based on your practice.
How to Obtain PDUs
The ChAD grants PDUs for training activities that are of educational value.
Questions – Réponses
Trouvez toutes les réponses à vos questions sur la formation continue obligatoire et les formations en ligne ÉduChAD.