The certificates you choose will depend on the areas in which you wish to build expertise or to review and update skills and knowledge. You may wish to:
- Pair CRTWCR with CSWRTW to build foundational RTW skills with strong communication abilities.
- Pair CDMPAE with CDMLPE to blend program administration with legal/policy expertise.
- Combine CRTWCR with CSWRTW with CMLPE for a strong foundation in RTW and awareness of the legislative and regulatory challenges that can arise in RTW planning and implementation.
- Combine CRTWCR → CSWRTW → CDMPAE to obtain a well-rounded body of skills and knowledge moving from frontline skills to people management and then to program leadership.
Further suggestions for sequence:
- Students should start with CRTWCR for a strong practical RTW foundation, pairing it with CSWRTW to build stakeholder and communication skills, or with CDMLPE if legal and compliance knowledge is a priority. For those aiming at leadership, the strongest combination is CDMPAE + CDMLPE, blending program administration with legal/policy expertise.
- A well-rounded 3-certificate sequence is CRTWCR → CSWRTW → CDMPAE, moving from frontline skills to people management and then to program leadership. Managers who need to step into oversight roles quickly might prefer CRTWCR → CDMPAE → CDMLPE.
- If your goal is to complete all four, the most logical progression is CRTWCR → CSWRTW → CDMLPE → CDMPAE, ensuring you build practical, interpersonal, legal, and strategic capabilities in a natural order that maximizes both job readiness and career advancement.
Our suggestion is if you’re new to disability management / return-to-work and want the most broadly useful, practical start — begin with Certificate in Return-to-Work Coordination and Rehabilitation (CRTWCR). It gives core, hands-on skills you’ll use immediately and helps you decide which specialization to take next. You can use the following questions to help you consider where to start:
- Do I need hands-on RTW skills to do my job? → Yes: CRTWCR.
- Is my role about bringing people together, identifying needs and negotiating return plans? → Yes: CSWRTW.
- Do I advise on policy, or handle claims, or need to reduce legal risk? → Yes: CDMLPE.
- Do I need to be aware of legislation and regulation in carrying out disability management or return to work responsibilities or am I involved in writing policies that might have a foundation in legislation and regulation? → Yes: CDMLPE.
- Am I (or will I be) responsible for designing, improving, measuring, or reporting on a DM program? → Yes: CDMPAE.
Evaluation of those will still be done at the module level, and the limit on exemptions/PLAR credit accepted will be two modules per certificate. (The PLAR/exemption limit for the 25-module program was six modules).
As part of ongoing attention to our offerings, wherever we see a grouping of courses that provide a valuable and coherent learning experience to support a professional in their development, those courses may be candidates for consideration as a unique credential.
It’s not expected in the near term, but we’re always reviewing our curriculum for relevance and effectiveness, and what will support students best. You can expect ongoing improvement and innovation in our programming.
Anyone who registered for their first modules on or before August 31, 2025, has the following options:
- Continue towards the existing 25-module DMP certificate if they intend to complete the modules by June 30, 2026.
- Switch to seek progress towards the new certificates. If a change in registration to different module(s) is desired to facilitate completion of one or more of the new certificates, they will be able to transfer to other module(s) of the same cost.
- Withdraw from the program and request a refund for any registrations for upcoming modules.
Anyone who registers in their first modules after September 1, 2025, will only be eligible for the new certificates.
We will support the transfer to a different module.
Though it won’t be a stand-alone program, we will recognize the completion of all four certificates and we’re still working on what that will look like.
We don’t expect any of the supporting processes to change. The current approach allows you to access and pay fees for any course that is offered (although a few have the prerequisites) and to opt for a certificate upon completion if the requisite modules.
No. If you have completed the Disability Management Practitioner Certificate modules before August 31, 2025, you have or will shortly receive that certificate. You will have covered the same topics, skills and knowledge provided through the four new certificates, so students who have already completed the 25-module program cannot transition to the new certificates.
We will give ongoing students the option to choose whether (a) they wish to receive the new certificates [including certificates that consist of modules they have already completed] or (b) they wish to obtain one certificate for the current disability management program if they are able to complete the 25 modules within a specified period (see below).
Students will be given until September 30th to make the choice of whether they wish to work towards any of the four new certificates or continue on with the existing DMPC certificate. Students must choose one of these two pathways.
Students who choose (b), seeking to obtain the current DMPC for completion of the 25-modules, will have until June 30, 2026, to complete all 25 modules in order to receive a Certificate of Completion in Disability Management Practitioner Certificate Program, provided that the student was enrolled into one or more of the 25 modules on or before August 31, 2025. Students who wish to receive the DMP certificate but are unable to complete all 25 modules by the deadline due to unforeseen circumstances must contact Continuing Education Department. Decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis.
We’ll continue to support this. We’re working with the Academic programs to confirm how the new certificates will map to BDM specific courses; it will be similar to the current approach, but students will likely be able to identify transfer credits earlier, since the certificates are shorter.
