FAQs

“Career Development Professionals help individuals navigate learning and employment transitions across the lifespan.

Career Development Professionals help individuals to manage learning and employment, acquire and enhance skills, seek and create employment, and access community services that support personal and professional growth in an increasingly complex, interdependent and changing world.

Career Development Professionals collaborate with employers, education and training providers, community-based services, and other private and public institutions to promote positive health, social and economic outcomes of individuals, institutions and communities.” 
~ CCDF

The terms are used interchangeably; at this time in Ontario certification is titled Certified Career Development Practitioner (CCDP).  All Practitioners will be recognized as Professionals.

All five certifying Provinces agree until National Certification is established the Standards and Guidelines are to be referenced in your application. When National Certification is launched the New Competency Model will be the standard for applications.

All Ontario CCDPs in good standing at the time of National Certification will apply to be legacied. There will be no need to recertify for the national recognition.

Currently much of the work is completed including development of the exam and the interview assessment.  Presently the work on developing Policies and Procedures as well as establishing the official certifying body is being done.  We anticipate this work may take another 2 to 3 years.

As in Alberta and British Columbia, Ontario’s credential’s title will be “Certified Career Development Practitioner” and holders of the credential will be entitled to add the credential letters CCDP to their names (e.g., Christine Smith, CCDP).

Voluntary, as is the case in all other provinces except for Quebec.

No. A certificate / diploma from a specific school or training institution indicates the successful completion of that particular post-secondary program alone. CCDP (Certified Career Development Practitioner) is the credential granted if your application is approved by the certification assessment committee.

No. See above (#7)

To read more about what’s happening in other provinces, see the following links:

BC: https://www.bccda.org/

NS: https://nscda.ca/

AB: https://www.careerdevelopment.ab.ca/

QC: https://www.orientation.qc.ca/

NB: https://nbcdag-gadcnben.weebly.com/

PEI: https://www.cdapei.ca

Review the certification requirements across the country.

The Canadian Council for Career Development (3CD) Certification Working Group of which CDPCBO is an active member, worked to establish reciprocity between the certifying provinces. There is now harmonization of certification meaning that all provinces use the same or very similar criteria for certification. This mean that the Ontario CCDP certification is accepted in other provinces with professional Career Development Practitioner certification further contributing to increased professional cohesion and CDP mobility nationally.

All applicants must belong to the CDPCBO and maintain their yearly membership in order to maintain their certification. Holding a membership in the CDPCBO will allow us to better track and manage the association membership condition of certification and ensure that CCDPs have access to and are up to date on information and training related specifically to career development and employment issues. This is the practice and policy for certifying bodies across most sectors in Canada and part of our bylaws as a not-for-profit organization. Membership also provides access to CDPCBO Annual General Meetings and voting privileges.

Future benefits of membership is CDPCBO will include being in the two directories of certified CDPs, opportunities for professional development, newsletters, etc.

The following are examples of information that you can submit with your application: client caseload; business registry number; relevant research and publications; networking events; assessment administration and interpretation, client testimonials; references; and so on. In addition, the references may include peer references from colleagues in the field. Contact our Registrar for other questions about self-employment applications.

Yes. As your experience is in the area of delivery of indirect client service, you can follow the experience requirements as detailed on the Certification Criteria Document, Condition 1, Requirement Explanations, 1(b).

Include the name, address, telephone or organization; supervisor name and title; organization’s mission, vision and mandate; detailed description of your role(s) and responsibilities. As with all CCDP applicants, you must be currently employed in Ontario.

Yes. The Employment pathway is for those working in the field who may not have related educational backgrounds. View the Certification Criteria Document – Condition 1; Category E.

The model for certification was developed after much consultation in Ontario and with other provinces. To ensure quality standards are consistent, all CDPs must meet the criteria about Ethical Decision Making and be able to apply theoretical frameworks to client services. This is a requirement in all other certification provinces.

Yes, PLAR can be used to demonstrate knowledge and competency of the material from the two mandatory courses. You can apply to the approved educational/training institutions for PLAR requirements.

Please see the answer to #17.

In addition to your hours doing direct client service delivery, you can count all the hours you spend on prep work, research, etc. that support your ability to deliver your services.

For the time being the model will be used as it ensures that we have harmonization with the other provinces and allows for reciprocity of certification. The model also ensures that we uphold the standards and guidelines as a level of quality assurance for the field. However, as we are in the early stages of certification, please bring to our attention where you have an anomaly and we can try to advise you on how best to proceed. The certification process is intended to include not exclude practitioners across the field so don’t let anomalies stand in your way of further inquiry.

No matter the length of time since you graduated, your degree/diploma/certificate can still be used for the qualifying categories. If you cannot get the exact course outline or syllabus for the courses you are submitting for certification, try to find similar courses offered at your previous educational institution. If that is not possible, please contact us at [email protected] to discuss your options.

The referee can comment on what he/she has observed, what your position entails, feedback received from your clients, ways in which you discuss/present cases at case conferences/staff meetings, etc. He/she may want to meet with you and have you to tell them the ways in which you demonstrate the competencies, etc.

Your supervisor/manager does not have to be the referee who completes the more detailed reference form. That can be from one of your other referees who may have more direct knowledge of both your work and your knowledge. An example might be one of your colleagues with whom you work very closely.