As the employee benefits industry evolves, the Certified Employee Benefit Specialist® (CEBS®) designation’s curriculum is updated to reflect this reality. The Canadian GBA/RPA 3 course has been fully revised to meet the changing group benefit and retirement plans landscape. This new CEBS course will help you gain valuable skills that you can put into practice on the job today as well as provide the emergent, cutting-edge knowledge that will prepare you for future roles.
Sponsors do not make decisions about their benefit and retirement plans in a vacuum. They are influenced by their context—the various factors, conditions and circumstances in their environment. This course looks at two factors in the plan environment that impact most plan sponsors—the compensation system and the social insurance system. Benefit plans, regardless of type, are typically developed within the constraints and opportunities inherent in the sponsor’s chosen compensation strategy and in the constraints and opportunities inherent in government-sponsored benefit programs provided through Canada’s social insurance system.
GBA/RPA 3 also introduces tools for building contextual knowledge. Risk management and decision-making models and processes explore how contextual thinking—understanding issues in the context in which they arise and the circumstances surrounding the issues—can improve professional effectiveness in a range of plan contexts and benefits roles. Theory-based readings are supported with industry-developed models and guidelines.
Study Materials for GBA/RPA 3, including a new Study Guide, are available for purchase. You’ll be able to take exams for the new course beginning in the second Testing Window of 2025. Online Study Groups With Instructor Support for the new courses will be offered for the first time during the summer 2025 session.
Below is an outline of the new Canadian course:
GBA/RPA 3—Navigating the Plan Environment
Module 1: Optimizing Social Programs in Planning for Retirement and Health Security
Benefits in Action #1: Why should our employees care about government-sponsored benefits?
Module 2: Optimizing the Canada Pension Plan/Québec Pension Plan (CPP/QPP) for Income Security
Benefits in Action #2: How can learning about the CPP drive better financial decisions today?
Module 3: Optimizing Canada’s Social Security System—Employment Insurance and Workers’ Compensation
Module 4: Optimizing Canada’s Social Security System—Health Care
Module 5: Driving Plan Sponsor Strategy With Reward and Compensation Systems
Benefits in Action #3: Our business goals are changing. Are our reward and compensation systems still aligned?
Module 6: Driving Behaviour With Reward and Compensation Systems
Benefits in Action #4: Could an improved total rewards statement be an effective tool for aligning employee behaviour with emerging business goals?
Module 7: Thinking Through a Risk Management Lens
Benefits in Action #5: What does enterprise risk management mean for the Pension and Benefits Committee?
Module 8: Establishing Risk Governance and Culture
Benefits in Action #6: How do we integrate risk management thinking into the decision-making processes of the Pension and Benefits Committee?
Module 9: Integrating Risk Management Into Strategy Setting and Execution
Benefits in Action #7: What basic enterprise risk management tools can the Pension and Benefits Committee use in plan decision making?
Module 10: Optimizing Risk Communication, Reporting and Monitoring to Improve Decision Making
Questions?
If you have any questions about Study Materials or the new Canadian GBA/RPA 3 course, please reach out to our CEBS Customer Service team at [email protected].
