Planners as Lifelong Learners: Ten Years On

Introduction
2024 year marks the tenth anniversary of OPPI’s Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) Program. It was initially created to respond to the profession’s commitment to maintaining competency on a continuous basis, as well as the public’s growing need for assurance that professionals, such as planners, remain current with contemporary theory, methods and practice within their profession.

In the decade since CPL became a mandatory component of Candidate and Full (RPP) membership in OPPI, members have demonstrated their commitment to the public interest by completing their annual requirement. Year over year, the compliance rate with the CPL requirement is consistently in the mid-to-high 90% range; including the height of the Pandemic, in 2020 and 2021. Each and every OPPI member who recognized the value of the CPL program and made the commitment to becoming a lifelong learner (if they weren’t one already!) ought to be commended for their recognition of the importance of CPL; for their growth, their careers, and most importantly, for the public interest.

For a decade, members have consulted the CPL Program Guide to better understand how the program works, and what they can claim as part of their commitment. Over time, the Guide received a small handful of amendments, but the Guide remained largely the same. 

Last year, OPPI’s Professional Standards & Registration Committee (PS&RC) worked hard to conduct a fulsome review of the entire Guide—the first time the Guide has been fully reviewed since publication a decade ago—to ensure that it is still relevant and useful to OPPI members as they strive to achieve their annual commitments. We are happy to share that the new  CPL Program Guide is now available.

Why the new version?
While smaller, piecemeal amendments have been made to the Guide since 2014, the review of the Guide undertaken in 2023 represents the first time since CPL was rolled out that the Program Guide was reviewed in its entirety.

As the profession of planning continues to change in response to the world around us, and the very nature of how Members “do” planning has changed so much in the past number of years, it was important to the PS&RC to ensure that the CPL Program is considerate and reflective of the changes to the profession in the last decade.

What has changed?
Several, smaller-scale changes have been made to the guide. These changes do not fundamentally alter the manner in which the CPL Program operates, but instead provide greater clarity on items that may have previously been confusing. Some of the more significant
changes include:

• Increased list of suggested topic areas. The scope of planning has changed and increased in the last decade. This list of suggested topic areas, while not exhaustive, expands what Members may perceive as “valid” topic areas. Members are advised, however, to exercise professional judgment in determining whether participation in a certain activity should be claimed as credit under the CPL process.
• Provision for some automatic LUs being applied. With OPPI’s new database now fully operational, there are certain instances where members’ CPL may be automatically applied to their member profiles. It remains the responsibility of the Member to ensure that that activity was logged.
• Greater clarity on who is entitled to exemptions and the duration. The circumstances dictating when an accommodated CPL requirement or an exemption may be granted are included. Additionally, the new Guide now clearly articulates that Non-Practicing members are entitled to exemption from the CPL Program for up to five years. 
• Commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Indigenous cultures, history, worldviews, and Aboriginal rights. Responding to both the OPPI Strategic Plan 2020 and the Anti-Black Racism in Planning and Indigenous Perspectives in Planning Task Forces, member education remains a critical component to advancing the recommendations and in serving the public interest to the best of our collective ability.

What hasn’t changed?
The fundamental CPL program has not changed. Candidate and Full Members are still required to claim 18 Learning Units (LUs) per year, of which a minimum of 9 must be Organized and Structured, and a maximum of 9 may be Independent & Self-Directed. Members are still entitled to carry over a maximum of 9 Organized & Structured LU’s to the following CPL year, providing they have met the requirement of 18 LUs.

Members are still ineligible to claim work-related responsibilities from their professional practice as LUs. In other words, a Member cannot attend a public meeting for a project they’re involved in (even after core business hours) and claim that as LUs. They can, however, claim workplace activities such as special workshops, guest speakers, or courses delivered in the workplace and provided by their employer.

What comes next?
These changes should be understood as the CPL program evolving alongside the planning profession, and the Guide itself should be seen as a “living document,” meaning future changes will occur over time, and the PS&RC does not believe their work on the Guide is done. As time moves forward and the profession continues to change, you can expect the CPL program to keep pace with these changes.
If you have any suggestions on potential future changes to the Guide, please do not hesitate to get in touch to share your thoughts. OPPI’s Registrar is happy to speak to you about CPL and how we can make it even better for members and more responsive to serving the public interest.