No, effective January 1, 2024, the accreditation requirement for CPD activities has been discontinued. CPD Providers are no longer required to submit CPD activities for approval by the Law Society. The criteria for activities to qualify for CPD hours remains unchanged (refer to the CPD Policy).

Additional information regarding this change and its underlying philosophy can be found here.

We suggest the following language: “This program qualifies for XX CPD hours under the Law Society of Saskatchewan Continuing Professional Development Policy”. If the program also qualifies for ethics hours, we suggest, “This program qualifies for XX CPD hours (XX of which qualify as ethics hours) under the Law Society of Saskatchewan Continuing Professional Development Policy”.  

Alternatively, CPD providers may use the following language: “This program may be eligible for XX hours of continuing professional development (XX of which may qualify as ethics hours) under the Law Society of Saskatchewan Continuing Professional Development Policy. In accordance with such Policy, lawyers are ultimately responsible for reporting their CPD activities, ensuring that those CPD activities satisfy overall subject matter requirements and/or ethics criteria, and retaining records of those CPD activities.

To qualify for CPD hours the subject matter of a CPD Activity must satisfy the following criteria:

• The content must have significant intellectual or practical content with the primary objective of increasing lawyers’ professional competence.
• The content should deal with all or any of the following:
  • substantive legal issues;
  • procedural issues;
  • professional ethics/responsibility;
  • practice management (including client care and relations);
  • lawyering skills;
  • professional wellness
• The content should be designed primarily for lawyers and not for other professions.
• The content should be designed and presented primarily by members of the legal profession.
• The Law Society recognizes and encourages the diversity of legal practice. CPD hours will be available for content which does not strictly comply with the above criteria if the lawyer can demonstrate that it is directly related to improving professional competence in the lawyer’s practice.

To qualify for ethics hours, the subject matter of a CPD activity must pertain primarily to any one or any combination of the following topics (“ethics hours”): professional responsibility; ethics; practice standards; The Code of Professional Conduct; conflict of interest; Rules of the Law Society; client care and relations; and practice management.

Refer to Schedule B in the CPD Policy for detailed “ethics hours” criteria.

CPD activities are not limited to subject matter dealing primarily with the practice of Saskatchewan or Canadian law. Subject matter relating to the law of other Canadian jurisdictions and countries, if related to the conduct of the lawyer’s practice, qualifies for CPD hours.

• Activities designed for or targeted at clients.
• Activities relating primarily to law firm marketing or maximizing profit.
• Activities prepared and delivered in the ordinary and usual course of practice.

No. It is the responsibility of Law Society members to retain records of the CPD activities they attend. See CPD Policy, section 15.