Institute-approved vs Institute-accredited - What's the difference?
The course has not been officially accredited by the The Institute, so it won’t have an accreditation number. However, we believe this Course would qualify as “Institute-approved CE” (as opposed to “Institute-accredited CE”), according to the following statement from the Institute’s Guidelines, which says that they accept “All courses, presentations and seminars offered by third‐party providers that align with The Institute’s standards as published in the Practice Guidelines for Financial Advisors and Planners, but have not been submitted to The Institute and evaluated against its Practice Guidelines. Attendees may be required to demonstrate that CE claimed as ‘Institute‐ approved’ meets The Institute’s standard and should therefore retain copies of the course description and record of completion in the event of an audit.”
All of our courses have been accredited by FP Canada for CFP and QAFP certificants. Because the CFP curriculum is closely aligned with the CLU curriculum, our courses will likely qualify as Institute-approved.
CE Requirement for the CLU designation
A minimum of 30 continuing education (CE) credits each calendar year, one credit of which must be from a recognized Ethics program. A minimum of 15 CE credits must be accredited by The Institute; a maximum of 15 CE credits can be professional development. General Professional Development CE credits must be industry-related (courses, seminars, etc.), and may be subject to The Institute’s review.