January 1, 2018 marked the adoption of the National Standard for Support of Accredited CPD Activities. The intent of the Standard is to safeguard the integrity of accredited CPD activities from the influence of sponsoring organizations that could lead to bias and has been approved by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (Royal College), College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), and Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ). The implementation of the Standard is equally applied to all CPD Provider Organizations in Canada and, as such, the CFPC guidelines and policies for certified events have undergone changes.
As part of its Mainpro+® certification process, the CFPC requires all presenters and members of Planning Committees to complete the CFPC Mainpro+ Declaration of Conflict of Interest form which now includes all financial or in-kind relationships with for- and not-for-profit organizations.
A conflict of interest might be present in situations where the personal and professional interests of individuals have actual, potential, or apparent influence over their judgment and actions. For more information, visit the CFPC website.