Meet Your Canadian CEBS Instructor: Jeff Billard, CEBS

A summer getaway gives you insights. Stepping away from your daily routine refreshes you and provides a new perspective on your daily life. The same can be said for learning—It’s an opportunity to expand your horizon by developing new knowledge and skills and to see your work from a strategic vantage point. Consider enrolling in a CEBS Online Study Group With Instructor Support as you embark on your epic learning journey. A weekly schedule sets the pace, so your intention becomes action. Study tools created by your instructor help you explore new information as you prepare to take your CEBS exam. Your CEBS designation will put you on the map as an expert in your field, empowering you to reach new heights in your career!

CEBS​​ Online Study Groups are an optional educational resource designed to enhance the self-study approach. Offered over a 12-week session, Online Study Groups set a timeline for completing a CEBS course and are facilitated by established and experienced CEBS professionals. The Canadian fall session runs August 21-November 10, 2023.

What does an online instructor do?

Your online instructor has many roles, including:

• Designing all content and activities in your Online Study Group to help you retain knowledge and study for your CEBS exam
• Facilitating live review sessions
• Monitoring the discussion forum to provide clarification and guidance to learners
• Creating discussion questions for each module and Benefits in Action Mini Case to stimulate engagement and enhance learning about employee benefits
• Sharing their real-world experience about being a benefits professional
• Answering questions that students submit via the discussion forum, email and private message.

A Chat With Jeff Billard, CEBS

How has earning the CEBS designation enhanced your career?

Earning the CEBS designation has helped my career in several ways. It’s provided me with a wide range of understanding of the employee benefits field, covering various topics such as retirement plans, benefits in general and compensation. This broad knowledge base not only helped me in my previous role as a pension policy advisor, but it has also given me credibility and recognition among industry peers and HR professionals in my current career path of advocating for defined benefit pension plans, demonstrating my commitment to both professional development and expertise in the field.

What will benefits professionals learn from taking RPA 1?

Benefits professionals gain a solid foundation in retirement plan concepts and regulations from RPA 1. The course covers key topics such as plan types, plan design considerations, fiduciary responsibilities, compliance and communication strategies. Participants will learn about the various retirement plans available—such as defined benefit and defined contribution plans—and understand how to evaluate plan design options based on organizational goals and employee demographics. They’ll also acquire knowledge about compliance requirements and reporting obligations. In short, even if someone is a benefits professional, RPA 1 provides a very comprehensive view of the complexities of retirement plans that professionals may not regularly work with or be familiar with.

Are there any interesting current events or regulatory updates related to concepts the RPA 1 course explores?

One of the interesting evolving elements in the retirement plan landscape in both Canada and the U.S. is the resurgence of the viability of defined benefit pension plans after over 30 years of DB plans disappearing. Alaska replaced its public sector DB plan with a DC plan in 2014, causing a devastating effect on the retention and attraction of public sector employees and teachers. There is currently a bipartisan effort to move back to a DB structure. In Canada, both CAAT Pension Plan and OPTrust Select have supported regulatory changes allowing them to open their jointly sponsored DB plans to new participating employers over the past few years, with better dollar-for-dollar retirement outcomes than DC plans or group RRSP contributions, but at fixed contribution rates and no balance sheet risk for employers.

What are your best study tips for CEBS students?

Here are a few pointers:

• Establish a study schedule. The CEBS course has a large amount of information to process and digest, so allocating specific time slots for studying each week is very helpful. Consistency is key!

• Take notes and summarize the information you’re reading. Summarizing the main points in your own words helps reinforce the information and aids in retention.

• Utilize the various study materials you have access to. Use the Study Guide, textbook, any professional enrichment resources and the 100-question practice exam. If you’ve enrolled in a CEBS Online Study Group With Instructor Support, be sure to access the interactive games and quizzes, flashcards and additional study tools you have access to.

• Seek clarification in your Online Study Group. I’m an online instructor for a reason: to help students better understand the complexities of RPA 1 and explain concepts in many ways. If you encounter challenging concepts or have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. I enjoy answering questions, and as instructors are human, too, getting a question where I must dig deeper to really understand and explain it to you clearly helps me learn even more about employee benefits as well.

Why would you encourage benefits professionals to earn their CEBS designation?

I’ve had a few students reach out to let me know the designation has helped them with career advancement, which is great to hear. Aside from that, the CEBS designation is internationally recognized and provides a quick check on someone’s knowledge level of employee benefits, and it signals that someone has committed time and energy to understand the world of employee benefits.

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The 12-week, fall session of the Canadian Online Study Groups With Instructor Support are August 21-November 10, 2023. Jump in anytime and get access to materials from previous weeks.

Do you need additional guidance on your CEBS journey? Whether you’re about to take your first step or getting close to reaching your designation, we’re here to help! Give us a call at (833)886-3749 or email cancebs@ifebp.org.