- Benefits of credential maintenance
- Credential maintenance requirements
- Professional Editorial Standards
- Professional development points
- Administration fee
- Credential maintenance reporting form
- Sample credential maintenance reporting form
- Sample credential maintenance schedule
- Credential suspension
- Credential maintenance FAQ
Benefits of credential maintenance
Credential maintenance adds value to your credentials and to Editors Canada’s professional certification program.
The credential maintenance program:
- Assures employers and clients that Editors Canada-certified editors are keeping their skills and knowledge up to date
- Builds your skills and knowledge through professional development activities
- Encourages certified editors to contribute to the editing community by sharing their high-level knowledge and skills
Credential maintenance requirements
To maintain your Editors Canada professional certification credential(s), you are required to:
- Uphold and apply the standards in Editors Canada’s Professional Editorial Standards (2016)
- Earn 100 professional development points during each five-year period, in at least three of the following categories:
- Receiving education and training
- Delivering education and training
- Volunteering for Editors Canada (members only)
- Working
- Other
- Pay a modest annual fee to cover credential maintenance administration costs
Professional Editorial Standards
As an Editors Canada certification credential holder, you are responsible for knowing the standards in Professional Editorial Standards (2016), upholding these standards in your work and keeping up to date with the standards as they evolve.
Professional development points
To qualify for credential maintenance points, professional development activities must be related to editing and proofreading.
Many of the activities you already engage in will qualify—taking courses, volunteering for Editors Canada, giving presentations, reading and writing books and blogs about editing, and so on.
Professional development activities can be applied to any certification credential, not just the credential(s) you hold. If you’re a certified proofreader, for instance, you can earn points for activities that involve stylistic editing.
Qualifying activities are assigned points that are weighted by time and effort, usually based on the number of hours you spend on them. For example:
- Taking a 12-hour substantive editing course would earn 36 points (3 points per hour)
- Spending 5 hours listening to podcasts of Editors Canada branch presentations about editing children’s books and production editing would earn 10 points (2 points per hour)
- Doing 20 hours of copy editing would earn 20 points (1 point per hour)
Points for writing about editing are based on the length of the published piece. For instance:
- Writing a 400-word blog about different punctuation systems in the English-speaking world would earn 2 points (1 point for every 200 words)
- Writing a 1,200-word article about self-publishing would earn 6 points (1 point for every 200 words)
To maintain your credential(s)—no matter how many credentials you hold—you must collect 100 points within the 5-year period following your first certification.
If you earned a credential in 2011 or earlier (i.e., under the old system) and then another in 2012 or later (i.e., under the new system), however, your five-year credential maintenance period begins when you earn your first credential under the new system.
The 100 points must be allocated over at least three of the five professional development categories. There’s a maximum number of points allowed for each category.
The following table outlines the types of activities that can earn points and the number of points you can accumulate in each category.
Activity Type | Supporting Documents (Upon Request) |
---|---|
Category 1—Delivering Education and Training (maximum of 45 points per reporting period) | |
Developing or delivering editing-related courses, workshops or presentations (3 points per hour) | Course description that lists you as instructor, leader or mentor |
Leading editorial study groups; training or mentoring other editors (2 points per hour) | Letter signed by study group members or by editor(s) you’ve mentored |
Developing material related to editing (1 point per 200 words) | Published material that lists you as contributor |
Category 2—Receiving Education and Training (maximum of 45 points per reporting period) | |
Taking editing-related courses or workshops, in person or online; completing editing-related exercises, online or in hard copy (3 points per hour) | Course description and receipt |
Attending editing-related presentations or webinars (2 points per hour) | Web page describing podcast |
Reading about language, grammar, style and other topics related to editing (1 point per hour to a maximum of 5 points) | Name of publication |
Participating in editorial study groups; being mentored or trained by other editors (2 points per hour) | Letter signed by study group members or mentor(s) |
Category 3—Volunteering (for Editors Canada members only) (maximum of 20 points per reporting period) | |
Serving on Editors Canada committees or volunteering for Editors Canada activities related to the development of editing skills and knowledge (1 point per hour) | Document listing committee members (e.g., Editors Canada annual report) Letter from project chair |
Category 4—Working (maximum of 40 points per reporting period) | |
Working in an editorial capacity, as defined by PES (2016) (1 point per hour) | Work sample Memo about project Email from client Published work that lists you as editor |
Category 5—Other (maximum of 30 points per reporting period) | |
Professional development activities not listed above | Documentation to be submitted to Credential Maintenance Subcommittee at least 6 months before end of reporting period, for consideration and point allocation |
Must earn a grand total of 100 points per 5-year reporting period |
Administration fee
The annual credential maintenance administration fee is:
- $25 for Editors Canada members
- $100 for non-members
The fee covers the costs of tracking, auditing and notifying certified editors about credential maintenance requirements.
The fee remains the same no matter how many of Editors Canada’s professional certifications you hold.
Credential maintenance reporting form
Keep track of the time you spend on activities that contribute to your professional development.
As you complete each activity, use Editors Canada’s credential maintenance reporting form to:
- Briefly describe the activity
- List documents confirming that you have completed the activity
- Indicate when you completed the activity
- Record the number of hours allocated and the number of points you have earned
You must submit a completed form every five years.
Random periodic checks may require that you provide proof of your professional development activities. You must therefore save documents and receipts that confirm your activities.
Some activities may qualify for more than one category. You can receive credit for any activity just once, however, so decide which category best suits your purpose.
If you’re unsure which category an activity falls into, or if you want to report an activity in the “Other” category, please contact the certification steering committee.
Sample credential maintenance reporting form
The following table shows how a fictitious certified editor might fill out part of the form.
Activity Type | Brief Description | Supporting Documents | Year | Hours or Words | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Category 1—Delivering Education and Training (maximum of 45 points per reporting period) | |||||
Developing or delivering editing-related courses, workshops or presentations (3 points per hour) | Central College 3-hour workshop: Beyond the Serial Comma (instructor) | College catalogue, invoice | 2011 | 3 | 9 |
Elm Tree High journalism class: What Editors Do (speaker) | Thank-you letter from teacher | 2013 | 1 | 3 | |
Editors Canada conference 1-hour session: Editing Textbooks | Conference program | 2014 | 1 | 3 | |
Leading editorial study groups (2 points per hour) | Simcoe Twig Proofreading Study Group; 5 study groups held | Letter signed by study group members | 2012 | 5 | 10 |
Training and mentoring other editors (2 points per hour) | Mentor for Toronto Branch Mentor Program; 5 hours | Letter from mentored person | 2015 | 5 | 10 |
Publishing material related to editing (1 point per 200 words) | Article (600 words) on copy editing for Ryerson University publishing program newsletter | Copy of newsletter | 2015 | 600 | 3 |
Category 1 Subtotal | 38 |
Sample credential maintenance schedule
The table below is a sample schedule for how credential maintenance is implemented over a five-year period.
Your credential year is the one after the administration of your successful exam. If you successfully wrote an exam in 2017, for example, you were awarded the credential in 2018.
The five-year credential maintenance period begins in January of your credential year for your first certification.
If you were awarded a credential in 2018 or earlier and another in 2019 or later, your five-year reporting period begins in January of your first post-2018 credential year.
November 2017 | Write stylistic editing and copy editing exams |
January 2018 | Begin tracking professional development activities in anticipation of receiving credentials in March |
March 2018 | Receive notice of having passed one or both exams The credentialing year is 2018 |
January 2019 | Pay annual maintenance fee for 2018 (due January 31, 2019) Receive reminder to undertake and record professional development activities for period of January 2018 to December 2023 |
January 2020 | Pay annual maintenance fee for 2019 (due January 31, 2020) Receive reminder to undertake and record professional development activities |
January 2021 | Pay annual maintenance fee for 2020 (due January 31, 2021) Receive reminder to undertake and record professional development activities |
January 2022 | Pay annual maintenance fee for 2021 (due January 31, 2022) Receive reminder to undertake and record professional development activities, and that one year remains in reporting period that began in January 2018 |
January 2023 | Pay annual maintenance fee for 2022 (due January 31, 2023) Receive notice that completed credential maintenance reporting form for period of January 2018 to December 2023 is due on March 1, 2023 Submit credential maintenance reporting form for review Receive reminder to undertake and record professional development activities for period of January 2024 to December 2029 |
January 2024 | Pay annual maintenance fee for 2023 (due January 31, 2024) Receive reminder to undertake and record professional development activities |
Credential suspension
Your Editors Canada certification credential(s) remain(s) in good standing as long as you comply with the credential maintenance requirements.
If special circumstances prevent you from earning 100 points during your five-year reporting period, please contact the certification steering committee.
If you fall behind in your credential maintenance obligations, we’ll contact you and offer you the opportunity to comply before we take any action to suspend your credential(s).
If you don’t pay your annual fee, your name will be removed from the online roster of Editors Canada-certified editors. If you haven’t paid all of the annual fees by the end of your five-year reporting period, you’ll lose your credential(s) altogether. The only way to get a credential back is to pass the exam again. If you’ve been removed from the roster and you pay all of your annual fees within your five-year reporting period, we’ll reinstate your name on the roster and you’ll retain your credential(s).
If you choose to opt out of the credential maintenance program (e.g., because you’re retiring or leaving the industry), please notify Editors Canada’s certification steering committee.
Certification quick links
- Order the Test Preparation Guide
- Order Meeting Professional Editorial Standards
- Editors Canada Professional Certification home page
- Registration
- The exams
- Qualifying for the exams
- Preparing for Editors Canada Professional Certification
- Frequently asked questions
- Credential maintenance
- Roster of certified editors
- Download our policy on certification