January 4, 2013…We are pleased to announce that Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) has been established under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, effective January 1, 2013. As Canada’s newest national accounting body, CPA Canada will support provincial accounting bodies that have unified, and all those that will unify, under the banner of Chartered Professional Accountant.
The 16-member Board of Directors for the new organization has been established under co-chairs Shelley Brown, FCA and Cassandra Dorrington, FCMA. The membership of the board reflects a cross section of perspectives based on regional representation, representation of the legacy designations participating in unification and public input. The Board of Directors will hold its first meeting on January 15, 2013.
One of the first priorities for CPA Canada is the development of the new CPA certification program that will be in place for delivery in parts of Canada by fall 2013, with the first CPA exams offered in the fall of 2015. Another top priority is the integration of CICA and CMA Canada’s operations and employees into CPA Canada.
While CICA and CMA Canada are the two initial members of CPA Canada, they will be joined by provincial bodies (and their members) as they complete their process to become a CPA body and submit applications to join CPA Canada.
Currently, accounting bodies representing over 80% of Canada’s professional accountants are committed to unification of the profession or have already merged under the CPA. Unification has been complete in Quebec for some time and in November 2012, all CAs in Ontario were also issued the CPA designation. As a result, an estimated two of every five professional accountants in Canada are now CPAs.
CPA Canada will work to serve its members by establishing the CPA designation as the pre-eminent, internationally recognized Canadian accounting designation and business credential that best protects and serves the public interest.
The Society of Management Accountants of Canada
