The Law Society has been working over the past two years on a new approach to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) that will provide more guidance on what the Law Society believes are important areas of focus for professional development.

As a reminder, the annual CPD filing requirement was suspended until 2023 and will resume on Sept. 30, 2023, so no formal plans are required to be submitted to the Law Society until that time. Past CPD plans remain available in the Lawyer Portal, but the CPD planning tool has been deactivated as it no longer aligns with the new CPD approach.

The Law Society will release new resources and tools that support the new approach to CPD as they are developed and finalized. The first resource being provided to lawyers is the new Professional Development Profile for Alberta Lawyers (the Profile). The Profile is an integral part of the new CPD approach and represents the first stage of our redeveloped CPD program.

While we are still over a year away from resuming the annual CPD filing requirement, we are sharing the Profile now so lawyers can familiarize themselves with the competencies and other key resources as we want lawyers to be ready to resume their annual CPD filing requirements in September 2023. In the meantime, we encourage Alberta lawyers to maintain their own competence and continue to self-assess areas for improvement.

In addition to the Profile, we are enhancing the elements of the current CPD approach that have traditionally worked well in Alberta. This includes focusing on self-reflection, self-assessment and learning outcomes. Please note, we will not be adding a minimum hours requirement as part of these changes.

A new CPD planning tool and CPD review process are also being developed and will be introduced in 2023. The new review process will provide follow up and support for lawyers when developing CPD plans.

The Law Society will monitor the effectiveness of the new CPD approach and welcomes feedback from lawyers along the way.