RPP Certification

Advance your career and the profession. Become an Registered Professional Planner (RPP).

The Alberta Professional Planners Institute (APPI) is a professional regulated organization under the provisions of the Professional and Occupational Associations Registration Act of Alberta, responsible for certifying members to achieve "Right to Title" and thereby are legally entitled to use the Registered Professional Planner – RPP designation. A RPP is a planner who has the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to understand complex social, legal, and economic issues. The designation is highly regarded by government, private industry, public and non-profit agencies, and academic institutions. The RPP credential is an assurance of quality for employers who want to attract the most professional, skilled and competent planners.  RPP’s bring added value to their employers and their communities.

Why become a Registered Professional Planner?

  • You receive a trusted, expert, professional designation and protected title.   
  • You earn a competitive edge for prospective clients and employers who want to attract the most professional, skilled and competent candidates. 
  • You bring added value to potential employers and their communities. 
  • You serve the public interest by upholding relevant standards for ethical and professional competency.

Know that you want to pursue becoming an RPP? Here is the Road to RPP. 

How to use the RPP Designation 

APPI encourages all RPP certified members to proudly use the RPP professional designation alongside their names in :

  • business signatures on business cards
  • email signatures
  • professional social media sites such as LinkedIn.  

We have committed to encouraging RPP members to adopt the practice of listing the ‘RPP” designation immediately following their name, followed by ‘MCIP’ (where applicable) and when denoting the national affiliation with CIP. 

This further promotes the planning profession and raises the credibility and profile of Registered Professional Planners (RPP’s) . Our aim is for a consistent approach across Canada and the various Provincial, Territorial Institutes and Associations (PTIA’s), including APPI. 

Professional Portability - Working Across Provincial and Territorial Jurisdictions

Planners are required to register in a province or territory where they are living and/or working (i.e. if a person is registered in Ontario as an RPP, they can’t take a contract to work in Alberta and refer to themselves as an RPP, unless they are also registered with the Alberta Professional Planning Institute). There are penalties for using professional planning credentials in a jurisdiction that an individual is not registered in. 
Secondary memberships are available across the PTIAs for those who work in more than one jurisdiction.

Through the on-going commitment and work of CIP, the PTIAs, the Standards Committee, and the Professional Standards Board, the implementation of these rights continues to be clarified and codified. As a result, members across Canada are free to transfer their memberships easily, and to move and work in other provinces or territories, and to have their RPP (and equivalent) designations respected and celebrated! Click here for more information.

Only Regulated Members can be an RPP. 

APPI Regulated members include RPP and Candidate members, of the Institute who must meet requirements for professional competence via education and experience. Regulated members must also comply with APPI’s Professional Code of Practice and Continuous Professional Learning Program, which demonstrates to the public and the Government of Alberta that the Institute is taking steps to ensure planning professional planners are committed to ongoing professional learning and to maintaining the highest standards of skills, knowledge, and professionalism.

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