• Claims must be related to your continuing clinical medical education.
• Generally, the CME Rebate Fund is available to rebate CME activities you paid for between January 1 — December 31 of the previous year (see point 5 under Compensation Criteria).
• You must enclose proof of event registration with your claim. Retain all other receipts in the case of audit.
• Clear photocopies of receipts are acceptable. The deadline for receipt of claims by Doctors Manitoba is no later than December 31 the following year.
• CME expenses in a foreign currency are to be claimed at the rate of exchange at the time of purchase (or claimed as specified on the currency conversion on your credit card bill).

• Internet Service Provider and/​or computer hardware expenses (including repairs and upgrades) are no longer included in the program, as of 2019.
• Physicians will only be required to send in all receipts if selected as one of the physicians to be audited.
• Physicians do not need to send in a copy of their CMA membership receipt, even if audited.
• We will consider expenses that were deemed ineligible in past years under a trial that began in 2022.
  

These are the expenses eligible for claims under the CME Rebate Program.

CME Registration Fees

• CME events must be accredited programs, sponsored or co-sponsored by a recognized medical educational body (i.e. university, hospital, provincial/​state/​local medical society or association). Non-accredited events will not be eligible for reimbursement.
• You can claim a rebate of your personal costs of registration for a CME activity (or costs paid by your partnership, private clinic, or University Department, as long as the source of that payment was a pool funded from the earnings of the physicians in that department, group, partnership etc.).
• There is no maximum to the amount that can be rebated for registration fees.
• Registration fees that have been or will be paid by a third party (such as a pharmaceutical company) cannot be claimed.
• Expenses for preparing for sitting the Royal College or CCFP exams (including courses and reading materials) are eligible for rebate. However, the specific costs for the exams will not be eligible for rebate.

To make a claim you must submit proof of payment of your registration costs for the CME activity, plus an outline of the event that identifies the course name, date, location, sponsors and accreditation information. You do not need to provide a detailed agenda if the registration outline or CME certificate provides information on the date, location and hours of the conference.

To claim office overhead expenses, a physician must attest to the fact that expenses were incurred while the physician was attending the CME event. They may be claimed by self-employed physicians per regular working day away from practice (receipts are not required).

• Expenses are claimed at a rate of $200 per day or $100 per half day.
• The office overhead expense can only be claimed for the days of the CME event, not for travel days.

To claim accommodation and meal expenses:

• You must submit proof of payment of registration in the CME event. If there was no registration fee, you must submit a copy of the CME program agenda/​schedule, or credit certificate, or other suitable evidence of your attendance at a CME event during your stay at the hotel.
• You must have a copy of your actual hotel receipt or bill that shows a hotel stay coinciding with the dates of the event you attended.
• Claim a flat daily rate for accommodation and costs of meals for each day of CME instruction. One travel day can also be claimed.
• For each day you receive instruction, you can claim:
  • If a hotel stay is required:
    • $300 per day for both accommodation and meals, for conferences outside Manitoba
    • $200 per day for both accommodation and meals, for conferences inside Manitoba
  • If a hotel stay is not required or you do not submit a copy of hotel bill (receipts are not required for meals):
    • $70 per full day of instruction, for meals
    • $35 per half day of instruction, for meals
• Cruise ships: Physicians taking a CME course held on a sea cruise must claim the accommodation and meals using the following format:
  
  • To calculate the maximum number of days of accommodation that will be paid, take the total number of days of the CME cruise, subtract 2 days (representing the first and last day of the cruise) and divide by two. For example, the maximum number of days of accommodation for a 14-day CME cruise will be 14−2÷2=6 days.
• University of Manitoba Annual Series: If you are claiming accommodations, meals or office overhead for the U of M Annual Series (or other annual CME events), you must submit all CME certificates as proof of claim.

You can claim up to $1,000 per event for travel costs (both inside and outside of Manitoba). This $1,000 maximum may include:

• Airfare, with a receipt showing the cost, destination and dates of travel, as well as proof of attendance at the CME event, and/​or
• Mileage if you traveled by car, at 50 cents per kilometre.
  • You must provide proof of attendance at the CME event and the place where it was held, as mileage will be calculated using Google Maps.
    
  • You may only claim mileage for meetings in Manitoba that are held outside of your own practice community (for example, you cannot claim for travel to a CME activity within Winnipeg if you practice in Winnipeg).
  • You may not claim mileage fees for travel while you are at an event.

Educational materials that can be rebated under this category include books, journals, tapes, CDs and DVDs. 

Expenses that are claimable:

• Subscriptions to medical journals, with appropriate receipts (actual receipt for payment for the journal, not just subscription order/​renewal invoices).
• Subscriptions to clinical decision support tools such as UptoDate. If you purchase a multi-year subscription, the total fee should be claimed in the year the expense was paid.
• Journals that are ​“included” with membership in organizations. You may claim 25% of the organization’s membership fee. For example, the CMAJ is included with membership free of charge, therefore CMA members can claim 25% of their CMA dues ($195.00 x 25% = $48.75.)
  • Physicians who are Non-member MainPro Participants (NMMP) of the College of Family Physicians should not make a claim related to their NMMP fee, as the membership is for credit tracking of professional development activities and does not include the benefit of receiving the College journal.
  • Physicians cannot claim for registration with the College of Physicians and Surgeons or the CMPA.
  • Medical audiotapes (such as American Seminar Institute), videotapes and texts, and CME-related software.
  • Books or journals. Receipts from regular bookstores or websites (such as Ama​zon​.ca) should have the titles of the books on the receipt, as proof of the book’s subject matter

• Membership fees to medical organizations
• Software such as operating systems, word processing, database, spreadsheet and financial applications, since they do not contribute specifically to your clinical medical education.
• Travel, accommodation and/​or meals costs for American Seminar Institute programs, as it is not necessary to travel to access this CME.

To support your claim, you must have a legible copy of a cash register receipt containing the product code. If you paid by cheque or credit card (and no cash register receipt exists), you must have a legible photocopy of the cancelled cheque or dated credit card statement and evidence that allows Doctors Manitoba to determine exactly what was purchased (ideally, the invoice for the purchased item).

Complete the claim form and return it to Doctors Manitoba no later than December 31.