The Financial Planning Standards Council reported a 44.7% pass rate for the 1,272 individuals who wrote the FPSC’s Certified Financial Planner examination on Nov. 14, 2009.

Among those writing the examination for the first time, 50.3% passed, the FPSC said Thursday.

“FPSC congratulates all successful CFP Examination candidates who are one step closer to joining the ranks of more than 17,500 Canadian and 120,000 international CFP professionals,” stated John Wickett, senior vp, standards & certification, FPSC.

The examination is one component of the CFP certification program, which also includes pre-requisite education, relevant work experience, ongoing adherence to the CFP Code of Ethics and fulfillment of annual continuing education requirements.

“We continued to see increased enrollment for the CFP Examination. The November 2009 exam saw a 24% increase in candidates over the June 2009 exam. We also saw the highest pass rate in several years, up five percentage points from about 40% in recent administrations,” Wickett added.

The current six-hour CFP Examination is administered in both official languages twice a year. The November examination was held in 60 centres across Canada.

The next scheduled sitting of the CFP Examination is on June 12. This will be the last offering of the CFP Examination in its current format. Registration closes on May 12.

Changes to CFP Certification

Changes to the CFP certification program will take effect July 1. These changes will provide future candidates with a path to certification that allows them to demonstrate their competence in incremental steps.

In addition to other changes, a two-staged examination process (Financial Planning Examination 1 and 2 – FPE1 and FPE2) will replace the single six-hour CFP Examination as of July 1. The complete Certification Guidelines for the new certification program can be found on FPSC’s website.

IE