The MFDA and CSF Sign an Agreement on Professional Development

 The MFDA, which will be launching its new CPD system on December 1, 2021, received approval from the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) for its regulations covering the implementation and monitoring of professional development requirements for financial advisors. 

Under the new system, advisors will have to accumulate a certain number of CPD units in every two-year cycle (beginning on December 1). And the MFDA will implement a compliance declaration and monitoring system for CPD requirements, to be known as CERTS.
 
Through CERTS, those in charge of compliance for MFDA member brokers will be advised of how many CPD units their representatives have. Brokerage firms can get their internal CPD activities certified or allow their representatives to attend accredited activities offered by third parties. To date, the only third parties entitled to grant accreditation to training programs are the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the CSF. 
 
Thanks to the agreement between the MFDA and the CSF, broker representatives from Quebec who have activities outside the province will now be able to receive training in their province of residence and have it also accredited by the CSF for their certificate in Quebec. This will avoid them having to duplicate training for each of their certificates. However, this agreement is only valid for broker representatives who are holders of certificates from outside Quebec and who are MFDA members. CSF members must continue to receive accredited training directly from the CSF.