Chartered Professional Accountant

Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) (French: comptable professionnel agréé) is the professional designation established to unite three Canadian accounting designations under the CPA banner:

• Chartered Accountant (CA),
• Certified General Accountant (CGA)
• Certified Management Accountant (CMA).

The CPA designation has been in use by members of all legislated provincial and territorial accounting bodies since 2014. As of May 2017, CPA legislation was in place in all provinces, Yukon and Bermuda, replacing legislation previously in effect for the CA, CGA and CMA designations.

Background

Origin of name

"Chartered Professional Accountant" is borrowed from a similar but aborted Australian merger attempt in 1998. It has been registered as an EU Community trademark by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. However, applications to register "CPA" as such were either withdrawn or refused.

History

For more than 100 years, Canada has seen several accounting designations, which eventually coalesced around the titles of "chartered accountant", "certified management accountant" and "certified general accountant". In time, it became increasingly harder to distinguish between them, as candidates in all bodies had to essentially meet the same requirements for entry. The Quebec government undertook a review which resulted in the goal of a merger under common regulations.

Registration as a Canadian trademark was originally sought by the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec in September 2010, but the application lapsed. It was subsequently secured by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario in August 2011.

In January 2012, A Framework for Uniting the Canadian Accounting Profession was issued by the following three organizations: the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA), the Society of Management Accountants of Canada (CMA Canada) and Certified General Accountants of Canada (CGA-Canada).  This framework set out a proposal to unite members of the existing designations and their 40 national and provincial accounting bodies into the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada), employing a common CPA designation.

On October 1, 2014, the union of Canada’s accounting profession became complete with the integration of the CGA-Canada and CPA Canada, placing all of Canada’s recognized national accounting bodies under the singular CPA banner. The Canadian CPA designation has since grown to more than 210,000 members in Canada and around the world.

Reason for Canadian adoption

The move to adopt the CPA designation was the latest of a series of consolidating moves that has affected the Canadian accounting profession between 1880 and 2010, of which the last significant merger occurred between Canadian chartered accountants and certified public accountants in the 1960s. Several attempts were made to merge the CGAs and CMAs during the 1960s, as well as of all three bodies during the 1970s. A subsequent merger attempt between chartered accountants and certified management accountants occurred in 2004, being promoted by their leaders but failing to secure adequate membership support.

In 2011, all three main bodies agreed to work towards a merger that would see a new organization with 180,000 professional members and 10,000 candidates and registered students. This new accounting body would be one of the largest in the world. Proponents of the 2012 proposal to unite the profession under the CPA argued that it would strengthen the influence, relevance and contribution of the Canadian accounting profession with domestic and international stakeholders and serve the public interest through common codes of conduct, disciplinary systems and licensing regimes.

The guiding principles for the unification were expressed to be:

• Evolution to a single designation over a 10-year transition period
• Continued use of existing designations (used in combination with the CPA, e.g.:CPA, CGA)
• Retention but no expansion of rights (ie, current mutual recognition agreements would be confined to legacy members concerned)
• A uniform certification process for new members
• Introduction of post-certification specialty programmes
• Branding the CPA designation, with de-emphasis of legacy designations
• Common code of conduct, regulations and the practice of public accountancy
• Merged operations and governance

While the merger proposal was framed in a national context, approval had to be undertaken on a province-by-province basis, as recognition of professional status has been accepted as a matter of provincial jurisdiction since 1911. The concept of unification received significant support from business stakeholders and accounting academics.

Merger process by province and territory

The merger process of Canada’s three national accounting bodies, CICA, CGA-Canada and CMA Canada began in 2011.

Roll out of implementation

All provincial and territorial accounting bodies have agreed to implement the new designation. The implementation was greeted with little controversy, with implementing bills generally receiving quick passage. 

  = bill under consideration

  = passage of bill

CPA implementation by jurisdiction

Jurisdiction	Enabling legislation	Royal assent	In force	Designation in effect
British Columbia	Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2014, S.B.C. 2014, c. 14	May 29, 2014	May 29, 2014	September 18, 2013 (CA) September 20, 2013 (CGA) November 9, 2013 (CMA)
	Chartered Professional Accountants Act, S.B.C. 2015, c. 1	March 25, 2015	June 24, 2015
Yukon	Chartered Professional Accountants Act, S.Y. 2016, c. 8	May 19, 2016	Interim board appointed June 17, 2016 Act in force July 18, 2016	July 18, 2016
Alberta	Chartered Professional Accountants Act, S.A. 2014, c. C-10.2	December 17, 2014	July 1, 2015	July 1, 2015
Northwest Territories
Nunavut
Saskatchewan	The Accounting Profession Act, S.S. 2014, c. A-3.1	May 14, 2014	November 10, 2014	November 10, 2014
Manitoba	The Chartered Professional Accountants Act, S.M. 2015, c. 5 (C.C.S.M., c. C71)	June 30, 2015	ss. 99-100, 109-110 on June 30, 2015 s. 38(2)-(4) on September 1, 2016 remainder of Act on September 1, 2015	July 15, 2015
Ontario	Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario Act, 2017, S.O. 2017, c. 8, Sch. 3	May 17, 2017	May 17, 2017	November 1, 2012 (CA) April 1, 2014 (CMA) July 2, 2014 (CGA)
Quebec	Chartered Professional Accountants Act, S.Q. 2012, c. 11	May 16, 2012	May 16, 2012	May 16, 2012
New Brunswick	Chartered Professional Accountants Act, S.N.B. 2014, c. 28	May 21, 2014	September 1, 2014	September 1, 2014
Nova Scotia	Chartered Professional Accountants Act, S.N.S. 2015, c. 5	May 11, 2015	ss. 13, 14(2)-(5) and 15 on July 1, 2015 remainder of Act on May 11, 2015	July 1, 2015
	Chartered Professional Accountants Act, S.N.S. 2015, c. 30	December 18, 2015	August 2, 2016
Prince Edward Island	Chartered Professional Accountants and Public Accounting Act, S.P.E.I. 2014, c. 2	November 27, 2014	April 1, 2015	May 1, 2014
Newfoundland and Labrador	Chartered Professional Accountants and Public Accountants Act, S.N.L. 2014, c. C-10.1	December 16, 2014	January 9, 2015	January 9, 2015
Bermuda	Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bermuda Amendment Act 2014 (PDF) (8). 2014.	March 26, 2014	April 11, 2014	April 11, 2014

In Manitoba, passage was delayed for several months because of political controversy in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba relating to Premier Greg Selinger, culminating in the 2015 NDP leadership election.

Variations in implementation

Because of local variations in the development of the accounting profession in each jurisdiction, there are differences in the various Acts that have been adopted with respect to such matters as the identification of public accountants, protection for those members who possessed predecessor designations that were subsumed by the current CA, CGA and CMA designations, and certain phrases that are reserved to holders of the new designation:

CPA implementation: Protected phrases and designations by jurisdiction

Jurisdiction	Identification as public accountant	Protected heritage designations						Protected descriptions
		AAPA	ACA	APA	CPA*	GA	RIA	professional accountant	public accountant	auditor	qualified auditor	accountant	certified accountant	recognized accountant
British Columbia					Y			Y
Yukon					Y			Y
Alberta			Y	Y	Y		Y	Y
Northwest Territories			Y
Nunavut			Y
Saskatchewan		Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y
Manitoba				Y	Y		Y	Y	Y
Ontario	LPA		Y				Y		Y			Y
Quebec	Auditor							Y	Y
New Brunswick			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Nova Scotia	Public Accountant				Y				Y
Prince Edward Island									Y
Newfoundland and Labrador	LPA		Y		Y		Y		Y
Bermuda			Y		Y			Y

In addition, Yukon and British Columbia have several other protected designations in use:

• AAT ("Associate Accounting Technologist")
• ACPA ("Associate of the Chartered Professional Accountants")

Yukon also grants an honorary designation known as "CPA (Hon)".

Alberta has opted to allow all those with legacy designations to use them in conjunction with "CPA" during the first 10 years from July 1, 2015, or to use "CPA" on its own immediately.

Implementation in Quebec

The unification initiative was the fifth such move since 1973, in which Quebec's accounting bodies sought to merge.

On March 28, 2012, a bill was tabled in the National Assembly of Quebec to create the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec. It subsequently received Royal Assent on May 16, 2012, and went into force on the same date. Among the more notable provisions of the Act:

• Section 4 reserves the practice of public accountancy to CPAs that hold public accountancy permits issued by the Ordre. In this respect, "public accountancy" is defined as the performance of audit engagements, review engagements, compilation engagements or the issuing of any certification, declaration or opinion on financial statements (that are not strictly intended for internal management purposes).
• Section 7 provides that CPAs that hold public accountancy permits must use the term "Auditor" immediately after the designation of "Chartered Professional Accountant" or its initials, as in "CPA Auditor".
• Section 13 prohibits the use of the phrases "expert-comptable", "professional accountant" and "public accountant" by anyone in the province who is not a member of the new Ordre. "Chartered Professional Accountant", Auditor, Chartered Accountant, Certified General Accountant, and Certified Management Accountant, together with their related initials, are also protected designations under the Act.
• Section 62 provides that existing Quebec CAs, CGAs and CMAs as at the date the Act came into force, for a period of 10 years, must add their legacy designation immediately after that of CPA, as in "CPA, CA", "CPA, CGA" or "CPA, CMA". For those who hold public accountancy permits, Section 63 provides that the corresponding combination will be "CPA Auditor, CA", "CPA Auditor, CGA" or "CPA Auditor, CMA".

Implementation in Ontario

The implementation of the designation in Ontario has followed a complex route:

• On May 15, 2012, CGAs and CMAs in Ontario announced that they were withdrawing from merger discussions in that province.
• On October 25, 2012, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario announced the adoption of bylaw and regulation amendments to provide for the implementation of the CPA designation with respect to its members effective November 1, 2012, with mandatory usage from July 1, 2013. This was said to be possible as "CPA" became a protected designation within the control of the Institute following the 1960s merger with the province's certified public accountants., but is currently based upon trademark registration.
• On November 16, 2012, CMA Ontario announced that it intended to reenter discussions, but only after ICAO had undertaken the creation of CPA Ontario.
• On November 27, 2012, CGA Ontario announced that it still favoured integration, but only "under the right circumstances".
• On May 1, 2013, both the ICAO and CMA Ontario released statements to their members notifying them that their organizations have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signalling the commencement of formal unification negotiations, following the official merger of the national CA and CMA organizations. A proposal was introduced to the members in May, with subsequent approval by members from both organizations in June 2013.
• In June 2013, the ICAO adopted the business name of "Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario" ("CPA Ontario").
• On October 24, 2013, CGA Ontario returned to unification discussions and announced that they had also signed the MOU as of February 3, 2014.
• Effective April 1, 2014, CMA Ontario members officially became associate members of CPA Ontario, thus entitled to use the CPA designation.
• On May 1, 2014, a unification agreement was announced between CPA Ontario and CGA Ontario, subject to ratification by the latter's members. Contingent on such ratification, CGA Ontario members are scheduled to become associate members of CPA Ontario on July 2, 2014, and operational transitions will be complete by March 2015. Provision is made for proportionate representation from the legacy accounting bodies over a three-year period and retention of legacy designations until November 2022. Licensing of public accountants will continue to be administered by the Public Accountants Council for the Province of Ontario.
• On June 18, 2014, it was announced that the unification agreement had been approved by both sides, with effect from July 2014.
• On April 27, 2017, as part of the 2017 Ontario budget, Finance Minister Charles Sousa announced that the merger would be going ahead, and implementing legislation was introduced that day as part of the budget implementation bill. The bill received Royal Assent and came into force on May 17, 2017, with no amendments relating to the CPA amalgamation. Prior to third reading, hearings were held for one day by the Legislature's Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, at which the Institute of Management Accountants, the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants appeared to protest restrictions that effectively bar their members from identifying themselves by their professional designations in many circumstances, and one witness declared that "the suppression of international credentials is an exercise in overkill." No amendments were brought forth for discussion before the committee reported back.

Because of Ontario's separate licensing régime for public accountants, those holding licenses from the PACPO must identify themselves as "Licensed Public Accountants" or post the initials "LPA" immediately after their professional designation, such as "CPA, LPA", "CPA, CA, LPA", "CPA, CGA, LPA" or "CPA, CMA, LPA".

The Ontario Act has several unique features:

• While it does not "affect or interfere with the right of any individual who is not a member of CPA Ontario to practise as an accountant," no individual other than a member of CPA Ontario may take or use a protected designation or related initials "whether alone or combined or intermixed in any manner with any other words or abbreviations," except under very restricted conditions. This prohibition extends to CPAs from other provinces and territories.
• Unlike most other provinces, "Certified Public Accountant" is not itself regarded as a protected designation.
• The 2007 repeal of the previous CPA Act is only mentioned in a provision declaring that any assets or liabilities of the previous Certified Public Accountants Association of Ontario are vested in the new CPA Ontario body.

Implementation in British Columbia

In May 2013, a merger agreement was announced with respect to all three accounting bodies in the province. Pending the necessary legislative measures to create an amalgamated body, the designation was introduced in BC after the passage of by-laws by all organizations, as ratified in the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2014 by the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The actual implementing legislation for amalgamating the three bodies received Royal Assent in March 2015, and came into force in June 2015.

Implementation in Nova Scotia

Unlike other jurisdictions, Nova Scotia decided not to amalgamate its legacy accounting bodies into the new CPA provincial body. It has instead declared that members of the legacy bodies must pair their legacy designation with the new CPA designation. In a news release (subsequently affirmed during debate on the bill's second reading), the Province noted that this was the first of two steps in the process, with merger of the three accounting bodies and updating the regulatory framework taking place at a later date. A subsequent Act was passed in December 2015 to effect the amalgamation, which came into force on August 2, 2016. A companion Act was passed at the same time to expand the role of the Public Accountants Board of Nova Scotia, so that it can issue separate licenses for performing auditing and non-auditing functions. That Act substantially came into force on the same date, with the exception of certain provisions allowing the licensing of public accountants from outside the Province.

The initial Chartered Professional Accountants Act received Royal Assent on May 11, 2015, while the relevant provisions relating to the use of the new designation came into force on July 1, 2015. For the next 10 years, previously designated professional accountants in Nova Scotia are required to use both the CPA designation and their legacy designation (CA, CGA, or CMA) in the following format:

First Name and Last Name, CPA, CA

First Name and Last Name, CPA, CGA

First Name and Last Name, CPA, CMA

Establishing a new national body

In July 2012, the CICA and CMA Canada boards approved the commencing of work to establish CPA Canada as the national body for the unified profession.

As of January 1, 2013, Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) was formed under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act.

As of October 9, 2013, CGA-Canada entered into an Integration Agreement with CPA Canada. Integration of CGA Canada into CPA Canada was completed on October 1, 2014.

Impact

Questions still remain as to the impact of the CPA designation, particularly in terms of public perception of the new designation, the single point of entry into the profession, and the impact on employers. There is also debate as to what effect competition from foreign bodies such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants may have on the Canadian scene.

Further reading

• Richardson, Alan J. (1993). "Who Audits? The Emergence of Hegemony in the Ontario Accounting Profession". In Murphy, George J. (ed.). A History of Canadian Accounting Thought and Practice. New York: Garland. pp. 209–250. ISBN 0-8153-1248-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Richardson, Alan J. (1996). "Canada". In Chatfield, Michael; Vangermeersch, Richard (eds.). History of Accounting: An International Encyclopedia. Routledge. ISBN 0-8153-0809-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Alan J. Richardson (2000). "Building the Canadian Chartered Accountancy Profession: A Biography of George Edwards, FCA, CBE, LLD, 1861-1947". Accounting Historians Journal. 27 (2). Academy of Accounting Historians: 87–116.
• Parker, Robert H. (2005). "Naming and branding: accountants and accountancy bodies in the British Empire and Commonwealth, 1853–2003". Accounting History. 10 (1): 7–46. doi:10.1177/103237320501000102. ISSN 1032-3732. Retrieved May 14, 2014.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Richardson, Alan J.; Jones, D.G. Brian (2007). "Professional "brand", personal identity and resistance to change in the Canadian accounting profession: a comparative history of two accounting association merger negotiations". Accounting History. 12 (2): 135–164. doi:10.1177/1032373207076035. ISSN 1032-3732. Retrieved May 16, 2014.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Richardson, Alan J.; Kilfoyle, Eksa (2012). "Merging the Profession: A Historical Perspective on Accounting Association Mergers in Canada" (PDF). Accounting Perspectives. 11 (2). Canadian Academic Accounting Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-22. Retrieved 1 May 2012. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• List, Cary (2012). "The Case for Unifying a Profession" (PDF). Accounting Perspectives. 11 (2). Canadian Academic Accounting Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-22. Retrieved 14 February 2014. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Ryan, Jo-Anne; Lento, Camillo; Sayed, Naqi (2012). "Some Unresolved Issues about the Proposed CPA Certification Program" (PDF). Accounting Perspectives. 11 (2). Canadian Academic Accounting Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-22. Retrieved 26 May 2014. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

External links

• Official website
• Vision CGA: Unification Information at the Wayback Machine (archived 15 June 2013)