Maintaining Your CITP Designation

Certification is valid for a three-year period from the date of certification indicated on your certificate; your current three-year cycle dates can also be viewed in your online account. CITPs must maintain the designation by meeting the following requirements:

• Continual Learning: Completing thirty (30) Professional Development Units (PDUs) over each three-year certification period
• Ethics: Annual agreement to abide by the CITP Standards of Ethical Conduct
• Fees: Payment of all annual CITP dues during the recertification period

These requirements are summarized below and are detailed in the CITP Candidate Handbook. Maintenance requirements are strictly enforced, and it is your responsibility to comply with all policies and procedures. Failure to meet these requirements will result in loss of certification (see the Failure to Recertify and the Reinstatement sections below).

Recertification Requirements Rationale

Periodic recertification is required to promote professional development and continued learning to ensure that individuals who hold the credential maintain an ongoing commitment to learning in their area(s) of practice to strengthen their knowledge and skills.

Recertification also provides encouragement to, and acknowledgement for, participation in ongoing professional development activities. To support this purpose, the recertification requirements require continuing education and professional development activities that enhance ongoing professional development, encourage opportunities for new learning, and provide a process for both planning and recording professional development achievements. The rationale for each requirement adopted by the Certification Council can be reviewed within the CITP Candidate Handbook.

Variants of the CITP

The certification scheme includes the following variants of the CITP:

• Retired CITP:
  
  • Individuals that have previously qualified for the CITP who cease professional activity by way of retirement are able to use a retired designation status.
  • Retired CITP status requests must be approved by FITT. Please contact certification@fitt.ca to obtain access to the Declaration of Retirement form.
  • Recipients cannot continue use of the retired status if they resume international trade professional activity.
  • Retired CITPs are exempt from continual learning requirements only.
• Honourary CITP:
  
  • The Certification Council awards the Honourary CITP to senior experienced international trade practitioners who are recognized leaders and outstanding practitioners within their professional community.
  • FITT Board or Certification Council recommends Honourary candidate for Certification Council’s consideration. Candidates’ entry route is by the invitation of the FITT Certification Council.
  • Honouary CITPs are exempt from recertification requirements.

Ethics and Fees

CITPs are required to complete the Annual CITP Dues and Ethics Attestation Form available via their online account by the annual deadline; your annual deadline can be viewed in your online account. Failure to complete the annual requirements by the annual renewal date will result in your certification being listed as inactive. If your certification is inactive you may not represent yourself as certified and may not use the credential until you receive official notice that the annual requirements have been satisfied. You are required to complete the annual requirements to maintain certified status during the three-year certification period.

For a complete list of certification fees, refer to the CITP Certification Fee Schedule.

Continual Learning

You can begin earning PDUs as soon as you are CITP certified. Thirty (30) PDUs must be completed during each three-year certification renewal cycle. You cannot carry over PDUs from previous cycles.

CITP certificants are responsible for keeping track of their professional development activities to ensure they are meeting PDU requirements. At the end of each three-year certification cycle, CITPs will self-certify that they have completed the necessary PDUs. The self-certification is done through the Recertification Application by simply checking a box to confirm that the PDU requirements have been met. No evidence of completion is required. Our honour-based system reinforces our trust in the professionalism and dedication of CITPs to their ongoing growth and excellence in the field.

PDUs must be:

• Directly related to the CITP competencies
• Earned through a variety of activities including workshops, conferences, conventions, seminars, college/university courses, webinars, presentations and authorship, and in-service training events

Time spent at networking or social functions or for breaks are not considered as PDU activities.

Please refer to the following table for a list of eligible PDU activities and the corresponding number of PDUs assigned to each one.

Applying for Recertification

Certification is valid for a three-year period from the date of certification indicated on your certificate; your current three-year cycle dates can also be viewed in your online account. Submit the CITP Recertification Application form via your online account at least sixty days before your three-year certification period expires. As part of the recertification process, you will need to confirm that you have completed thirty (30) PDUs during the three-year certification cycle. Additionally, you will need to confirm that your annual CITP dues have been paid and that your certification remains valid and in good standing. Outstanding annual CITP dues will need to be paid in advance of submitting the online recertification form. 

Incomplete Applications
Recertification applications are considered incomplete if any of the required information is missing and/or illegible, or if all CITP annual dues have not been paid. Recertification applications must be complete before they are processed and approved.

Recertification Acceptance
A recertification notice is issued once all renewal requirements have been met and CITP dues have been paid. Recertification applications are not accepted if certification is in a state of suspension or has been revoked.

Failure to Recertify

Recertification is mandatory for all certificants. If you do not successfully recertify by your expiration date you are no longer certified. If certification is not renewed it will expire on the last day of the month three years after the certification was last earned. Once your certification has expired or been suspended or revoked you may not represent yourself as certified and may not use the credential until you receive official notice that the recertification requirements have been satisfied or that certification status has been reinstated. 

Reinstatement

If certification has been expired for 365 days or less, you may reinstate by meeting all of the recertification requirements, submitting a complete recertification application, and paying all outstanding CITP required annual dues. If the application is approved, your expiration date for the reinstated credential will be the same as if the certification had been renewed on time.

If certification has been expired for more than 365 days, you must reapply for certification and meet all eligibility and maintenance requirements in effect at the time of re-application. 
 

Questions?

Carefully review the detailed information contained in the CITP Candidate Handbook for complete details regarding the CITP designation. Contact certification@fitt.ca with any questions.

* Certified International Trade Professional (CITP) is trademarked for use within Canada. FITT International Business Professional (FIBP) is trademarked for use internationally. Both reflect the same FITT certified designation.