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Continuing Professional Development

Avalanche Professionals, Practitioners, and Basic and Advanced Avalanche Educators must follow the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) guidelines. You don’t need to submit your CPD record regularly, but the Membership Committee audits a selection of members each year. If chosen, you must provide your CPD record for review.

The CAA’s CPD program is intended to encourage, support, and assist practicing members to continuously upgrade their knowledge, training, qualifications, and credentials so they maintain a high level of competence throughout their careers.

Avalanche Professionals

240 points over three years required
Recommended average: 80 points per year

Avalanche Practitioners

180 points over three years required
Recommended average: 60 points per year

Advanced Avalanche Educators

120 points over three years required
Recommended average: 40 points per year

Note: Advanced Avalanche Educators are required to have a minimum of eight points per season providing avalanche education (AST courses or equivalent) or 20 points in formal learning by supporting or teaching educational activities.

Basic Avalanche Educators

60 points over three years required
Recommended average: 20 points per year.

Note: Basic Avalanche Educators are required to have a minimum of four points per season providing avalanche education (AST courses or equivalent) or 20 points in formal learning by supporting or teaching educational activities.

Eligible CPD Activities and Points

There are seven categories for earning CPD points. The list and chart below show the annual maximum eligible points per category per year by membership type. Members must earn CPD points from at least four of the seven CPD categories during any three-year period.

	Avalanche Professional	Avalanche Practitioner	Advanced Avalanche Educator	Basic Avalanche Educator
Professional practice	60	45	35	18
Formal/certified learning activities	30	30	30	30
Formal/structured learning	30	25	20	10
Informal/self-directed learning	10	10	10	10
Participation and mentorship	30	15	15	10
Presentations	20	20	20	–
Contributions to knowledge	30	30	30	–
Total yearly CPD points*	80	60	40	20
Total three-year CPD points**	240	180	120	60

* Recommended

** Required

Members in the third or subsequent years of their CPD program must maintain a three-year rolling average of at least the minimum number of CPD points required for their type of membership.

CPD points earned above the annual maximum allowed in the following categories may be carried forward for a maximum of two years from the date the points were earned:

Formal/certified
Formal/structured learning
Contributions to knowledge

CPD points earned above the annual maximum allowed in the following categories may be carried forward to a maximum of one year from the date the points were earned, to a maximum amount of 50% of the points allowance:

Professional practice
Participation and mentorship

Several options are available for when you are unable to maintain CPD for a period of time. There are different policies based on the reason for leave.

For members nearing the end of their career and who have been a practicing member for over 15 years, there are two options:

Late-in-Career: Allows members to remain in their membership category with full scope but with lower CPD requirements for up to five years.
Retired: These members no longer work full time. They may conduct occasional work where the retired member does not lead a program or assume responsibilities more appropriate to a practicing member.

Record-keeping

All CAA members who are required to maintain CPD are expected to record their CPD points and gather supporting documents annually in a structured way in guidance with professional recordkeeping. The CAA requires using the Activity Recording Form for overall tracking. This aids in making sure the correct CPD points are gathered according to the CAA policies, and provides an overview where the member can self-audit and have insight into their CPD progression. It will also aid the member and the CAA if an audit process were to be conducted. Activity Recording Forms and supporting documentation are required if selected for a random audit.

Audits

Audits of members in each category are randomly selected on an annual basis. Members will be required to provide the three preceding calendar years of professional CPD activities to the Membership Committee for review.

Members deemed by the Membership Committee to comply with the terms and conditions of the CPD program will receive a letter from them confirming CPD compliance. 

Members deemed by the Membership Committee to be out of compliance with the terms and conditions of the CPD program will receive a letter from the Membership Committee Chair stating the reasons they are out of compliance. Members will then either need to follow the remediation policy or move to a membership category with lower or no CPD. The CAA aims to support members who have not been able to maintain their CPD to return to good-standing and will work with the member on the best option for them.

Definitions and examples of supporting documentation

Definition
One CPD point is earned for each day of professional practice, to a maximum number of points per year as outlined in the table above. Professional practice is defined as avalanche-related work activities, typically including:

field work, volunteering, or practicums under an Avalanche Safety Plan;
desk-based avalanche-related work such as research, remote forecasting, document creation, and program supervision, typically under and Avalanche Safety Plan; and
instructing recreational or professional-level avalanche courses including AST, ITP, CMBGA, ACMG, and CSGA courses.

If a member is claiming points under another category for a day of work (e.g. presentations or mentorship), they cannot claim that day as professional practice as well. Professional practice does not include pre-season staff training (this would be formal/structured learning).

Professional-level course instruction: One additional professional practice day is available to be claimed for each professional-level avalanche course instructed by a CAA member. This is in addition to any paid prep days. This includes CAA ITP, ACMG TAP, CSGA and CMBGA courses. AST 1 and AST 2 are not professional-level courses and as such are not included.

Professional practice workday guidance and combining partial days

A “workday” qualifying as professional practice should meet the following parameters:

Spending the majority (over 50%) of a workday (typically eight hours) performing avalanche-related tasks within one’s scope of practice. These include:

Develop, direct or participate in the assessment and/or communication of avalanche risk
Develop and/or deliver avalanche risk education programs
Design, operate and/or work within a program for managing avalanche risk

If less than the majority of the workday is spent performing these tasks, or if the workday is significantly shortened (e.g. less than half a day), only a partial professional practice workday should be counted and combined with other partial days to count as a single workday. For example; a ski patrol shift that only involves two hours of avalanche-related fieldwork in the morning before focusing on other tasks for the rest of the day, or a three-hour avalanche-related SAR call on a day off would both qualify as half-days and combine to make one professional practice day. Conversely, a 13-hour day of preparing for and guiding clients in avalanche terrain would qualify as 1.5 workdays.

Supporting documents

Letter from employer (use the CAA template for employer evidence)
Pay stub with job description
AST instructors are required to provide Avalanche Safety Plan and Emergency Response Plan
Other proof of avalanche-related work activities such as screenshots of forecasts or risk assessments

Definition
Certified learning activities are avalanche-related educational or training programs providing certificates, such as:

CAA ITP, CSGA, ACMG, CMBGA, IFMGA, or FQME courses;
Any avalanche-related course where an educational tax form was provided (T4A);
University, college, or technical institute course that involve avalanches, risk management, GIS, or alpine/mountain weather;
Industry-sponsored courses; and
First aid courses. Attendance is worth the following points:
- Refresher:
  - One-day: four points
  - Three-day: eight points
  - Five-day (40-hour): 12 points
- Four-day: 10 points
- Courses
  - Five-day (40-hour): 12 points
- 10+day (80+hour) course: 16 points
Four-day: 10 points
- Courses
  - Five-day (40-hour): 12 points
- 10+day (80+hour) course: 16 points
10+day (80+hour) course: 16 points

Formal learning points have been allocated to CAA and partner organization courses.

One CPD point is earned for every hour in attendance at the course or program. A maximum of 30 CPD points per year may be earned for formal/certified learning activities.

Supporting Documents

Certificate
Other form of proof of attendance and successful completion

Definition
These include attendance at organized, structured formal training events such as workplace training; avalanche-related conferences, seminars and workshops; and avalanche-related CPD sessions. One point is earned for every hour in attendance at the session, to the maximums outlined in the table above. A Workplace Training form [link to be attached once completed] is available to track structured learning activities provided at the workplace.

Examples include but are not limited to:

Organized workplace training sessions (e.g. preseason training)
Attendance at conferences, technical sessions, seminars, workshops, and industry trade shows;
Attendance at meetings of technical, professional, or managerial associations or societies relating to avalanche risk management;
CAA CPD sessions, including:
- Related avalanche organization or winter guiding association CPD sessions;
- CAA Spring Conference presentations.

Supporting Documents

Attendance records (use the CAA template for employer evidence)
Registration forms
Receipts

Definition
These are self-study learning activities that expand avalanche knowledge, skills, or judgment, but which are not offered as structured training programs or formal offerings. They include print and digital media and informal workplace training. Examples include:

informal workplace training sessions with colleagues; and
reading, watching, or listening to journals, papers, studies, documentaries, or podcasts that directly relate to avalanche safety.

One CPD point is earned for each hour of self-directed learning, to a maximum of 10 CPD points per year.

Supporting Documents

No evidence is required in this category beyond a brief description of the activity and its relevance to avalanche work.

Definition
These activities enhance professional development by promoting peer interaction, sharing insights and skills, and providing exposure to new ideas and technologies. Examples include:

receiving formalized mentorship to enhance one’s skillsets and understanding of avalanche safety;
aiding applicants in developing their applications for CAA membership or avalanche-related courses;
service on public bodies that draw on a member’s professional expertise (e.g. planning boards, review panels, investigative commissions, coroners’ inquiries);
service on committees or working groups of technical, professional, or managerial associations or societies related to avalanche safety; and
SAR, CISM, and other similar volunteer work not claimed as professional practice.

One CPD point is earned for each hour of participation and mentorship, to the maximums defined in the table above. These hours cannot be claimed in other categories (such as professional practice) concurrently.

Supporting Documents

A signed letter from the mentor and mentee
A signed letter from your employer with the mentorship details (use the CAA template for employer evidence)
Published list with members’ name on a board or committee
Letter from employer/volunteer coordinator (use CAA Template [link here])

Definition
Activities in this category include the development and delivery of original avalanche-related presentations that members undertake, outside of regular work duties. They may occur:

at a conference or meeting;
at a course, workshop, or seminar;
within an organization or company;
at an event sponsored by a technical or professional organization; and
at a public education session or workshop.

Presentations made when teaching AST, ITP, and similar courses fall under professional practice. Creation of original material outside of regular work duties qualifies for points in this category.

One CPD point is earned for each hour of preparation and delivery of presentations, to a maximum of 20 CPD points per year. Basic Avalanche Educators are not eligible to claim points in the presentations category.

Supporting Documents

Proof of the presentation or deliverable

Definition
Activities in this category include expanding the knowledge base of science, technical knowledge, and best practices relating to avalanche safety. Activities may include:

development of published codes and standards;
publication of papers in peer-reviewed scientific or technical journals;
publication of articles in a non-reviewed journal;
reviewing articles for publication; and
editing papers for publication.

A maximum of 30 CPD points per year may be claimed for contributions to knowledge. Basic Avalanche Educators are not eligible to claim points in this category.

Supporting Documents

Copy of the code or standard
Copy of the paper or article

Track by the calendar year, not the winter season.
If you are not clear which category an activity fits in, please contact Membership Services. They are here to help you.
You cannot “double-dip” on points. Each activity must be assigned to a category and only counted once. For example, if you worked for a day and provided mentorship, you must choose whether you claim it as a day of professional practice or hours of mentorship.
Be specific by providing details on what you are doing. If someone that doesn’t know you can’t read your sheet and understand what you have been doing, it is not detailed enough.
Stay up to date with tracking. It is much easier to track and find evidence at the time you complete the activity rather than waiting until you are audited and have to remember three years ago.
Use carry-forward points. This policy is there to support you in years where you may have less points.
Apply for leave in advance. If you ever have circumstances where you cannot maintain your CPD, use the leave options to support you through this time. If you are unsure if you qualify for a leave, contact Membership Services.

The limits are there to ensure members are getting points from different categories and maintaining currency from various sources. Over 3 years you should be obtaining points from at least 4 of the 7 different categories.

The points limits are not intended to be restrictive. The more you do, the better, but what you can claim each year is limited to just ensure your experience is well rounded.

No you do not. With the new form, either you can just copy the tabs from the old form and add them in. In this case though, the formulas won’t work for the carry-over and totals tracking, so you would need to do that manually. Alternatively, you can copy the information into tabs in the new sheet using ‘values only paste’ into the new sheets and it will calculate as demonstrated in the CPD webinar.

Yes! It is easier to gather evidence as you go. It will make an audit much smoother that way. Every time you do something, take a picture or screenshot and save your evidence in a folder so it is all in one central location. One of the larger reasons for CPD is to prove currency if an incident occurs and an investigation is launched. Therefore, keeping your evidence as you go along will support you in this case too and avoid additional unnecessary stress at a very challenging time.

If you are audited, you are only required to provide evidence for the minimum number of points you have to meet for your membership category over the 3 year period.

You can use the receipt from registration.

If the CAA has to confirm you are a member in good standing, evidence helps prove that you have been meeting your CPD to the required level. As the CAA moves towards self-regulation, accurate and detailed record keeping is vital.

If you are teaching a course this is professional practice.

If you are attending a course with formal curriculum from a recognized institution, this counts as formal/structured learning. You will need to provide the course certificate and or final evaluation as evidence.

If you are providing staff training, this is professional practice.

If you are attending organized staff training, this is Formal/Structured learning.

If you are attending webinars or any other training that is not part of a formal curriculum or certification, this would fall into informal/Self-Directed learning.

The CPD requirements for BAEs are relatively new – the Membership Committee tried to find a balance between maintaining currency and not being too restrictive. The point of CPD is to keep currency so BAEs can deliver high-quality training to the public. The CPD points are there to ensure that even if they aren’t teaching much, they are still up to date with the avalanche industry enough to teach courses.

The CAA has done extensive work with these organizations to standardize the points claimed from partner organizations’ courses. We continue to discuss how we can make CPD tracking across the different organizations easier for members.

The idea is to encourage members to have points from a variety of categories. In the past, people tried to claim multiple points for the same activity. As such, we have had to clearly assign an activity to a category. We appreciate that sometimes members are doing a presentation during their working day, or mentoring someone at work. Members must choose which points they are claiming for this and be clear that they are not “double dipping” on those points. Members can choose how they assign a day that they were doing their job and mentoring someone. This can help maximize the points you are claiming without double dipping. If you take someone out to mentor them for a day of work, and are looking to maximize your CPD points, we recommend you use this as Participation and Mentorship as you would get 1 point per hour that you are mentoring someone, whereas professional practice is 1 point per day.

In this case we would accept a letter from an Avalanche Professional that is familiar with your work. See the CAA template [link] that you can download and send to an Avalanche Professional to complete.

Mentorship should be in a professional setting, but it does not have to be a CAA member. So long as the mentee is working or volunteering in the avalanche industry and the mentorship is based on avalanche-related work (snow profiles, InfoEx submissions, terrain recognition and management, AvSAR, etc)

A list of accepted evidence is listed here [link]. If you are not able to provide the listed evidence, or are unsure about how you can prove your CPD activity, please reach out to membership@avalancheassociation.ca

If you are not able to maximize points in Professional Practice and Formal/Certified learning, you can make up for it in other categories:

Informal/Self-Directed learning has 10 points available in a variety of formats

Attending staff training can see you get up to 30 points in Formal/Structured

Providing mentorship to someone for 3-4 days or 30 hours over a season can gain up to 30 points

Presenting at a conference, or to the public at an avalanche-related event is a great way to share your knowledge and earn up to 20 points

Either you need to explore gaining points from other activity categories, or you can move to one of the Avalanche Educator categories. These categories are specifically designed for those only wanting to teach recreational avalanche courses such as AST and have lower CPD requirements.

Yes, in Formal/Certified Learning activities, the following list is provided:

1-day refresher: 4 points
2-day: 6 points
3-day: 8 points
4-day: 10 points
5-day (40-hour) course: 12 points
10+day (80+hour) course: 16 points

Resources

Policies

CPD Opportunities