The IQPF is responsible for the training and
education of financial planners in Quebec.
All financial planners must accumulate 40
professional development units (PDUs) over a period of two
years. This two-year period starts December 1st of
every odd year. Therefore, cycle 012 is from December 1, 2021 to
November 30, 2023 while cycle 013 will start December 1,
2023 and end November 30, 2025.
Professional Development Requirements
The following table indicates how many PDUs
are needed in each category per two-year cycle:
| Professional development category |
Number of PDUs per cycle |
|
Integrated personal financial planning
(IPFP)
|
15 PDUs
|
|
Training activities in one or more of the
financial planning areas (SFPA)
|
15 PDUs
|
|
Training activities in subjects pertaining to
compliance with standards, ethics and business conduct (SC), and
training activities in subjects pertaining to compliance with
standards, ethics and business conduct related directly to
financial planning (SC-FP)
|
10 PDUs, 5 of which must be in SC-FP*
|
|
Total
|
40 PDUs
|
*Compulsory course for all financial planners
Every two cycle (so every four years) all F.Pl. must take a specific 5 SC-FP PDUs course developed by the IQPF. For cycles 011 and 012 (from December 1, 2019 to November 30, 2023), the course NPPF12A The Practice in the Age of New Technology (or NPPF12, in French) is therefore mandatory for all F.Pl.
Extra PDUs
Extra PDUs are managed as follows:
- Excess PDUs in the IPFP category will be transferred to
the SFPA category
- Excess PDUs in the SC-FP category will be transferred to the SC
category
Extra PDUs are not transferable to the next professional
development cycle.
PDUs Pro Rata
Financial planners who have received or will receive their
certificate from the Authorité des marchés
financiers within the current professional development
cycle and who would like to know how many PDUs they will need
at the end of the cycle can contact Safya Tibeche at 514-767-4040 or 1-800-640-4050, extension
239.
Exemption from professional development obligations
Financial planners who are absent or on leave for at least 4 consecutive weeks due to illness or accident or family or parental reasons may be exempted from professional development obligations. They must fill out the Application for exemption from professional development obligations form and send it to formationcontinue@iqpf.org with "Application for exemption" as the email's subject. A progressive return does not qualify for exemption.
To find out how many PDUs you must complete according to the number of months you were active in a given cycle, consult
the
PDU Dispensation Table for all 24-Month Reference Periods.
Extensions for Completing Required Training for Dispensation Requests over Two Reference Periodss
To meet professional development requirements, financial planners whose dispensation requests extend to a prior reference period can complete their PDUs once they return to work. A period of gradual return is not eligible for dispensation and must be included in the extension granted to complete the training.
The extensions are shown in the chart based on the number of PDUs subject to the dispensation request.
Number of PDUs subject to dispensation request
|
Extension after return to work |
| 1-20 PDUs |
30 days |
| 21-30 PDUs |
60 days |
| 31-40 PDUs |
90 days |