ECO CANADA — EP and EPt Member Guide
MEMBER GUIDE
ENVIRONMENTAL PROFESSIONAL (EP)
ENVIRONMENTAL PROFESSIONAL IN-TRAINING (EPt)
ECO CANADA — EP and EPt Member Guide
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Welcome to the EP Community ........................................................................................................... 3
Annual Maintenance .............................................................................................................................. 3
Annual Requirements ............................................................................................................................ 3
Term Renewal ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Term Renewal Requirements ............................................................................................................... 4
Certification Maintenance Requirements ........................................................................................ 4
Profile and Contact Information.......................................................................................................... 4
Professional Development .................................................................................................................... 4
Fees........................................................................................................................................................... 5
Ongoing Competence Criteria .............................................................................................................. 5
Professional Development Activities .............................................................................................. 6
Employment Requirements .............................................................................................................. 8
Credit Verification ............................................................................................................................. 9
EPt Training Framework ....................................................................................................................... 9
EP Code of Ethics and Disciplinary Action ..................................................................................... 10
Alteration of a Designation ................................................................................................................ 10
Voluntary Suspension of a Designation ........................................................................................... 10
Change of Designation Status ............................................................................................................ 10
Adding Specializations ........................................................................................................................ 11
EP ........................................................................................................................................................ 11
EPt ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
Upgrading from EPt to EP ................................................................................................................... 11
How to Contact ECO Canada Staff .................................................................................................... 11
ECO CANADA — EP and EPt Member Guide
Welcome to the EP Community
To ensure your designation remains in good standing, members must meet the annual
requirements each year as well as complete the Term Renewal process every 5 years by their 5year anniversary. In this guide, membership requirements for two different titles will be
outlined:
•
•
Environmental Professional (EP)
Environmental Professional in-training (EPt)
Annual Maintenance
All EP designations have annual requirements which must be met each year leading up to the
April 1 annual member renewal date. Members will receive an email in February in advance of
the renewal date, at which time they should login to their account and complete the following
requirements.
Annual Requirements
Further details on each of these requirements can be found in the ‘Certification Maintenance
Requirements’ section of this guide, but briefly:
DESIGNATION
EP
EPt
INITIAL
MEMBERSHIP FEE
$230, prorated based
on April 1 schedule
$130, prorated based
on April 1 scheduled
ANNUAL
MEMBERSHIP FEE
$230
$230
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT CREDITS
(PDC)
15 PDC; minimum of 3
categories
20 PDC; minimum of 3
categories
EMPLOYMENT
CREDITS (EC)
6 EC
N/A
Term Renewal
Designations are granted for a 5-year term. At the end of that term, all EP members will
undergo a term renewal review to ensure ongoing conformance with the certification
maintenance program, and ongoing competence development. Note that EPt members are not
required to undergo term renewal but should upgrade from EPt to EP if they meet the
employment requirements.
In cases where activities/employment have not been submitted by the certification expiry date,
the member will be temporarily removed from the roster. Members may be reinstated and have
their term renewed if they submit the required maintenance details within 1 calendar year of
their designation’s expiry date. After such time, if members are still not compliant, and wish to
be reinstated, they may be required to apply again as a first-time applicant.
Please note that the term renewal credit requirements may be amended where a member has
spent time away from work due to maternity/paternity leave, unemployment, or disability. The
period of exclusion will be a maximum of one year. Members must have completed a ‘Request
ECO CANADA — EP and EPt Member Guide
for Suspension of Certification’ application to be considered for amendment of term renewal
requirements. To request a copy of this document, e-mail EP@eco.ca or download it directly
from the ‘EP Resources’ section of your member account.
Term Renewal Requirements
Further details on each of these requirements can be found on the ‘Certification Maintenance
Requirements’ section of this guide.
DESIGNATION
EP
EPt
ANNUAL
MEMBERSHIP FEE
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT CREDITS
(PDC)
$230
$230
75 PDC
100 PDC
EMPLOYMENT CREDITS
(EC)
30 EC
N/A
Certification Maintenance Requirements
Profile and Contact Information
Any changes in contact information should be entered in the Profile tab of the Member’s
account. All Members should confirm that all contact information is correct on an annual basis.
Members should consider using a personal e-mail address as their login for continuity in the
case of a leave of absence or a change in employment.
Professional Development
If a member does not submit the required Professional Development and Employment
requirements (where applicable) prior to March 31, they will not be eligible for annual renewal
on April 1.
If Professional Development and Employment requirements (where required) are
submitted in advance of April 1, they are eligible for annual renewal and can maintain their
designation.
Ongoing Competence is quantified and evaluated using a credit system. Credits are earned for
each Professional Development Activity and each month of environment-related employment.
Annual and Term Renewal Ongoing Competence Criteria are summarized in the following
table:
DESIGNATION
EP
EPt
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT CREDITS
(PDC)
15 PDC; minimum of 3
categories
20 PDC; minimum of 3
categories
EMPLOYMENT
CREDITS (EC)
6 EC
N/A
ECO CANADA — EP and EPt Member Guide
Certified members wishing to enter information for annual or term renewal requirements are
asked to enter the details of their activities using the relevant Professional Development
section of their account available on the ‘Background’ tab. Employment can be updated on the
‘Background’ tab as well.
Fees
Members are required to pay an annual membership fee in April, the first of which is due upon
initial certification and prorated to align with an April renewal schedule.
DESIGNATION
EP
EPt
ANNUAL
MEMBERSHIP
FEE –
PRACTICING
MEMBERS
$230
$130
ANNUAL MEMBER
FEE – NONPRACTICING &
EMERITUS MEMBERS
FEE TO UPGRADE FROM
EPt TO EP
$50
$50 (EPt members
can be NonPracticing, but not
Emeritus)
N/A
$150 + $50 Ethics
Examination Fee
ADDITION OF A
FIELD OF
SPECIALIZATION,
POSTCERTIFICATION
$100
$50*
* EPt members are able to change/update their area(s) of specialization free of charge once per calendar
year. For more information and to obtain the coupon code required to by-pass this fee, consult the
Member Discounts section of your ECO Canada account (from the ‘My Certification’ tab).
On April 1 all members are invoiced for the upcoming years renewal fees. If payment and is not
received within 30 days of its due date, a late penalty of $100.00 for EP members / $50.00 for
EPt members will apply and the member will be temporarily removed from the Roster until
payment is received. This status will be lifted, and the member’s name will be placed back on
the Roster once payment is received.
In certain circumstances, the Registrar may approve a request for a “membership dues
deferment”. If a member has been unable to make payments for such reasons as:
unemployment, health/disability issues or return to school, such a request must be received in
writing to EP@eco.ca. It should be noted that deferment of payment does not change an
individual’s required date of term renewal.
If it has been more than 90 days since ECO Canada has received any communication from a
member, and said member still has outstanding fees, their account will be permanently
removed, and they will have to re-apply as a new applicant.
To learn more about the Outstanding Fees and Professional Development Policy, visit our
website at https://www.eco.ca/certification/renewals/.
Ongoing Competence Criteria
Ongoing Competence is quantified and evaluated using a credit system. Credits are earned for
each Professional Development Activity and each month of environment-related employment.
ECO CANADA — EP and EPt Member Guide
Certified members wishing to enter information for annual or term renewal requirements are
asked to enter the details of their activities using the relevant Professional Development
section of the account available on ‘Background’ tab. Employment can be updated on the
‘Background’ tab as well.
All professional development and employment submissions are subject to review, acceptance,
approval and validation by the Registrar and where necessary, relevant Committees and the
Canadian Environmental Certification and Approvals Board (CECAB).
EPt members are held to greater Ongoing Competence Criteria in the area of Professional
Development because of the resources available to them via their EPt Training Framework,
which places great importance on ongoing learning and development. More information is
provided on page 9 of this guide.
Professional Development Activities
For each submitted Professional Development activity, members are required to submit the
following information:
PD Type: Indicates the primary activity type
PD Details Type: Provides additional detail on the activity for proper credit allotment
Start/End Date: The date(s) of the PD activity completed
Activity Name: The name of the activity/course/training completed
Activity Summary: A description of what the PD activity entailed
The following table summarizes each of the PD categories and indicates their credit value:
PD Type
Formal Education
(Course must be 35+
hours of instruction)
PD Details Type
35+ hours formal course
grad-level degree/diploma
Webinar
Informal Education
(All activities are 34
hours or less)
Professional Development
Plan (PDP) Submission
Short-Course
Seminar/Breakout Session
Workshop/Clinic
Guidance
PDC earned by completing a
college/ university / private
industry trainer course
PDC earned by the completion of
a post-secondary grad-level
degree (program completion, not
per course)
PDC earned by participating in an
online webinar
PDC earned by submitted a
completing copy of your ECO
Canada PDP
PDC earned through short
courses, seminars, breakout
sessions and workshops/clinics.
These courses can be on-line or
in-person and must not exceed 24
hours
PDC Value
8
10
3
3
4
ECO CANADA — EP and EPt Member Guide
Informal Education
(All activities are 34
hours or less)
Self-Directed Studies
Other Environmental
Education Programs
OTHER
Instructor
Event Speaker
Professional
Contribution
Presenter (in-person or
on-line)
Author
Curriculum Development
OTHER
Board/Executive Member
Committee Member
Taskforce Member
Volunteer/Professional
Activities
Professional Organization
Volunteer
Contribute to Standards
Development
Mentor
OTHER
PDC earned by reading peerreviewed publications, evidencebased research or academic
textbooks (separate from any
course counted under Formal or
Informal Education), or
building/submitting their PDP
PDC earned by completing other
environmental education
programs not listed above,
provided they meet the
requirements for the category
Other category-related activities
PDC earned by acting as an
instructor of an environmentallyrelevant course, seminar, etc.
PDC earned by speaking at an
industry-relevant event (i.e. EP
Networking Event / Keynote
address, etc.
PDC earned by presenting
technical information at an
environmentally-relevant
conference/event
PDC earned by acting as author of
environmentally-relevant
curriculum (i.e. published papers,
textbooks, or articles)
PDC earned by the development
of environmentally-relevant
curriculum (i.e. acting as subject
matter expert in ECO Training
development, or other)
Other category-related activities
PDC earned through voluntary
(unpaid) service on industryrelevant boards, committees, or
taskforces
PDC earned through individual
participation/service in industryrelevant organizations
PDC earned by contributing to
standards development and/or
maintenance (i.e. EP Body of
Knowledge or National
Occupational Standards)
PDC earned by acting as a mentor
to a junior professional (via the
EP Mentorship program, or other
formal or informal programs)
Other category-relevant activities
4
5
5
ECO CANADA — EP and EPt Member Guide
ECO Community
Engagement
Examination Proctor
Community and
Networking
Industry-relevant
community work
Industry-relevant
networking event
Award Recipient
Peer Reviewer
Other Designation
EP Member Survey
Participation
EP Advocacy Activity
OTHER
PDC earned through involvement
in ECO Canada community
activities (i.e. EP LinkedIn groups,
ECO Canada Research
Community, etc.)
PDC are earned by acting as an
examination proctor (i.e. ECO
Canada examinations, or other)
PDC earned by participating in
industry-relevant community
work (i.e. judging school science
fair)
PDC earned by attending
industry-relevant networking
events (i.e. ECO Canada
Networking events)
PDC earned when a member is
presented with an industry award
(i.e. ECO Impact Award recipient)
PDC earned by acting as a peer
reviewer (i.e. EP Peer Reviewer, or
other)
PDC earned by completing
requirements for another
industry-related
designation/certification
PDC earned by participating in
the annual EP Member Survey
PDC earned by participating in
activities that help to promote
and uphold the EP designation
and its reputation (i.e. referral,
representing on ECO's behalf at
events, etc.)
Other category-relevant activities
2
Activities that are not listed in the above table will be evaluated for relevance and potential credit value on a
case-by-case basis. Supporting documentation will be necessary to perform an evaluation.
Members can keep track of the progress towards their annual requirement via the Professional
Development table on the ‘Certification Maintenance’ tab of their member account. Credits are
added to the ‘Pending review’ column and will be calculated in the ‘Finalized’ column once
ECO staff have reviewed the eligibility of the activity/activities entered. If all annual
requirements have been met, a date will appear in the ‘Annual Review Status’ column.
Employment Requirements
EP members have an annual requirement of 6 Employment Credits (EC) per year with a total of
30 EC required every 5 years for Term Renewal. One month of relevant environmental
employment equals 1 EC.
ECO CANADA — EP and EPt Member Guide
Credit Verification
All members are subject to the surveillance program and could be selected randomly to have
their professional development activities and employment audited. Members are required to
retain documentation that would serve to verify their involvement in professional development
activities for at least 1 year after their 5-year certification term expiry. EPt members do not go
through the 5-year Term Renewal but should retain documentation for at least 3 months after
their annual renewal has been paid.
EPt Training Framework
All EPt members have access to the EPt Professional Development (PD) Framework (linked on
the ‘My Certification’ tab of their ECO Canada account. This framework is curated for EPt’s
based on their years of environmental work experience. Years 1-3 focus primarily on
employment/soft-skill related training, where years 4-5 begin to introduce the EP Guidelines
for Ethical Practice, EP Body of Knowledge content training, and help prepare the EPt for an
eventual upgrade to EP once they have 5 years of environment-related work experience.
The following is a summary of some of the resources available:
ECO CANADA — EP and EPt Member Guide
In each year of practice, activities are broken down by Required Training, Recommended
Training, and Optional Training. EPt’s are not required to receive all of their Professional
Development Credits (PDC’s) through ECO Canada, but the suite of resources will allow them
to, if they so choose.
EP Code of Ethics and Disciplinary Action
Designation maintenance also hingers on member’s continued adherence to the Environmental
Professional (EP) Code of Ethics. A designation may be revoked if a certified member breaches
the EP Code of Ethics.
Revocation proceedings could be initiated by a complaint, registered in writing, to the Registrar
by an employer, client, or member of the general public. In such proceedings, ECO Canada
ensures that all parties are treated fairly and equitably. The following actions are examples of
what could initiate a complaint and ultimately result in revocation of a certificate:
•
•
•
•
•
Falsification of credentials
Evidence of professional incompetence
Breach of the EP Code of Ethics
Knowingly falsifying environmental documentation
Professional misconduct
ECO Canada maintains a policy and procedure for complaints against certified members, as
well as withdrawal and cancelling of a designation. Please contact the Registrar at EP@eco.ca
for details, or visit our website at www.eco.ca/certification.
Alteration of a Designation
Voluntary Suspension of a Designation
Members that are away from work for up to one year may apply for voluntary suspension of
certification. Payment of annual membership fees is still required, but annual
maintenance/term renewal requirements are amended to reflect the time that the member was
not at work. This suspension is available to members on unemployment, maternal/parental and
disability leave. Members are asked to complete and submit to the Registrar (via fax or email)
the ‘Request for Suspension of Certification’ form. To receive a copy of this form, please
download it from the ‘EP Resources’ section of your member account or e-mail your request to
EP@eco.ca.
Change of Designation Status
Members that have stepped away from their environmental careers or retired from the field
may be eligible for a change in their designation status. In order to apply for either NonPracticing or Emeritus status, members are asked to complete and submit to the Registrar (via
fax or email) the ‘Request for Change of Certification Status’ form. To receive a copy of this
ECO CANADA — EP and EPt Member Guide
form, please download it from the ‘EP Resources’ section of your member account or e-mail
your request to EP@eco.ca.
Note: only EP-level members are eligible for the Emeritus status change.
Adding Specializations
EP
If a members’ area(s) of specialization has changed or expanded, and formal recognition of that
specialization is desired, members will be required to demonstrate competence as a first-time
applicant via the self-assessment and peer validation process. If successful, the new
specialization will be added to the members’ designation if ratified by the CECAB. Note that the
maximum of five (5) specializations in total still applies and applicants are not required to
complete the EP Ethics Examination a second time.
EPt
If a members’ area(s) of specialization has changed or expanded, and formal recognition of that
specialization is desired, members will be required to demonstrate competence as a first-time
applicant via the self-assessment process. If successful, the new area(s) of specialization will be
added to the members’ certification program. Note that the maximum of two (2) specializations
in total still applies and that EPt’s are awarded the opportunity to complete this process once
each year, if desired, free of charge. More details, included the discount code required, can be
found in the member account.
Upgrading from EPt to EP
If an EPt member has accrued the necessary Canadian work experience in order to upgrade
from EPt to EP, they are encouraged to do so. For a reduced rate ($200 plus GST/ HST, which
includes the examination fee), an EPt member can apply to upgrade to EP. The requirements
and process are the same as for a new applicant for the EP title, but an EPt member will already
have much of the needed information inputted into the system, making the process easier and
faster. For more information, review the Upgrade to EP Info Sheet, or contact staff at
EP@eco.ca.
How to Contact ECO Canada Staff
Should you require any assistance or have any questions, please feel free to contact the EP Certification
staff at any time:
Email: EP@eco.ca
Phone: 403-233-7484
www.eco.ca/certification