CCDP Criteria - Guideline

Certified Career Development Practitioner Criteria - Guideline 

The Certified Career Development Practitioner (CCDP) designation is a WARRANT OF COMPETENCE or WARRANT OF EXPERTISE.  

Successful completion of BCCDA’s certification process confers the right to use the title Certified Career Development Professional and the right to use the initials CCDP after one’s name.  Please review the information about the upcoming national certification before applying. 

 Those who do not meet the work experience criteria required for Certification may also apply and will be given the provisional status of CCDP Candidate. If you need more than one year of work experience in your eligible category, it is best to wait for the launch of the National Certification to apply.  

Application for the CCDP designation is voluntary. Applicants must fulfill all criteria for certification through a combination of education, work experience, and evidence of competency. 

Applications are received and reviewed on an ongoing basis. 

CCDP & CCDP CANDIDACY CRITERIA

Applicants must satisfy the following requirements before submitting their CCDP application: 

Upon submitting the application, applicants must provide the following information:

Once the application is processed and the applicant satisfy the certification (or candidacy) criteria, they must become an active  professional member of BCCDA in order to be eligible to activate their designation.

MANDATORY COURSES - ETHICS & THEORIES

All applicants are required to attach proof of completion for 2 courses: (1) Ethics and Professional Conduct and (2) Career Development Theories. 

You must complete both courses before applying for the CCDP designation. These courses may have been part of the education program, or taken separately.

 Course Requirements for Ethics and Professional Conduct 

Course Requirements for Career Development Theories 

Note: 

BCCDA offers regular Ethics and Theories courses for groups and individual students. SIGN UP FOR THE COURSES

List of other BCCDA approved course providers: 

ETHICS

THEORIES

NOTE: For Ethics and Career Development Theories Courses that are not on the pre-approved list, the applicant will need to provide a course outline or description and official transcripts as evidence that the course meets the criteria as described above.

 The Ethics component may be from the counseling or education fields. When this is the case, the applicant must provide evidence of that the course covered topics relevant and applicable to Career and Employment services. 

Code of Ethics for Career Development Professionals (CDPs) -CDPs are engaged in a wide spectrum of activities in many fields. This Code of Ethics is intended as a platform for the Canadian Competencies for Career Development Professionals. It is designed to reflect the breadth and depth of the field as an essential component of the national core competencies (2021). Download the COE here. 

EDUCATION AND WORK EXPERIENCE

Applicants must choose one or more of the following pathways towards certification that they estimates best fits their particular combinations of education and work experience: 

CERTIFICATION PATHWAYS:

 Qualifying Work Experience- Experience in providing Career and employment services

 Category 1. Related Master's degree in Career/Employment Development and at least 1 year full-time or an equivalent amount of part-time related paid qualifying work experience in the past 2 years.

Category 2. Related Bachelors Degree in Career/Employment Development and at least 2 years full-time or an equivalent amount of part-time related paid qualifying work experience in the past 4 years.

Category 3. Related Diploma/Associate Degree (min. 400 hours) in Career/Employment Development and at least 3 years full-time or an equivalent amount of part-time related paid qualifying work experience in the past 6 years.

Category 4. Related Certificate (min. 200 hours) in Career/Employment Development and at least 4 years full-time or an equivalent amount of part-time related paid qualifying work experience in the past 8 years.

Category 5. Unrelated degree and at least 5 years full-time or an equivalent amount of part-time related paid qualifying work experience in the past 9 years.

Category 6. Employment Pathway: Minimum of 8000 hours of paid qualifying work experience in the past 10 years. 4000 hours must be in the last 5 years.

If you need more than one year of work experience in your eligible category, it is best to wait for the launch of the National Certification to apply. For example, if you are eligible to apply under Category 3 but only have one year of work experience, it is advisable to wait. However, if you only need one more year of experience, you can apply now and transition to national certification later. 

NOTES: 

CAREER PRACTITIONER COMPETENCIES AND AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION 

Applicants must provide evidence for how he or she has demonstrated all 4 of the core competencies and 3 of the 6 areas of specialization outlined in the Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Practitioners through experience or training. 

Evidence should document/describe how the applicant has addressed these competencies through past work experience or training/workshops/education. 

For competencies obtained through training, the relevant documentation must be submitted.

NOTE: 

PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES

The applicant must submit TWO professional references in support of their application. 

At least one reference must be from a supervisor or employer. 

The second may be from a supervisor, employer or colleague who have knowledge of the Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Practitioners and can speak to and verify your capacity in the career development field. 

If self-employed, colleagues or client references may be acceptable. Please use the official CCDP Reference Form. You can download this form through BCCDA website.

Criteria for Acceptance as a Professional Reference: 

NOTE:

Reference Forms are now  within our new application system.  

Ensure that your reference knows which 3 areas of specialization you are claiming so that their comments match your application

BCCDA PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Successful applicants must apply and maintain professional membership with BCCDA to be eligible to use their CCDP or CCDP Candidate designation officially.

Membership is required for the Association to have continued jurisdiction over the member. 

BECOME A MEMBER

CCDP and CCDP CANDIDACY MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS

The CCDP designation is a mark of professional excellence. It symbolizes the practitioner's commitment to ongoing professional development and the continuous advancement of the career development field.

To maintain their designation and title, both CCDP and CCDP Candidates must:

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES;

Sign up to your Membership Portal, click on professional activities section from your menu, either choose the activity from the existing list, or submit a new activity. For each activity, indicate at least one core competency and one area of specialization that it addresses. 

OR 

Submit them via the maintenance application form.  

CORE COMPETENCIES

C1 - Professional Behavior

C2 - Interpersonal Competence

C3 - Career Development Knowledge

C4 - Needs Assessment and Referral 

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION 

S1 - Assessment

S2 - Facilitated/Individual Group Learning

S3 - Career Counselling (counselling understood as advising, not clinical counselling)  

S4 - Information/Resource Management

S5 - Work Development

S6 - Community Capacity Building

How to transfer CCDP Candidate status to full CCDP 

Those who do not meet all the criteria required for Certification will be given the provisional status of CCDP Candidate. They will receive a statement report listing the criteria they need to fulfill to qualify for the full certification. 

Once CCDP Candidate submits missing certification requirements, the candidate’s file will be updated and transferred to the Reviewer for the final decision. If the candidate satisfies all the criteria, they will receive their CCDP Certification at no extra fees.

CCDP candidates will have five years to submit the missing criteria, with a possibility of extension in special cases. 

The CCDP Candidacy Program is designed to establish communication, assistance, and continuity between CCDP Certification and applicants in the career development field who are seeking CCDP accreditation. “Candidate” status indicates that a CCDP candidate has voluntarily committed to ongoing professional development and continuous advancement in the career development field to achieve CCDP, the proof of professional excellence.

 The Candidate applicants will benefit from: