Your Path to Becoming a CA: Member or past member of a designated accounting body (including designated U.S. Boards of Accountancy)

You are a member or past member of a designated accounting body. You have at least 24 months of work experience in public or other accounting recognized for credit by my accounting body.

If this describes you, you can register with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (ICAO) as a membership candidate. You do not need to be a resident of Ontario when you register.

A membership candidate is someone whose accounting body has a reciprocal agreement with the Institute to recognize the qualifications of each other's members. As a membership candidate, you are exempt from the Professional Program requirement and the Uniform Evaluation Examination (UFE). In addition, you may be exempted from some or all of the work experience requirement.

Overview

If you decide that you are interested in getting the CA designation, you need to register with the Institute. Along with your registration form, you need to provide the Institute with documents relating to your qualifications. If your documents are not in English, you must send original documents along with notarized translations.

When you register with the Institute, your work experience will be evaluated. The Institute will let you know if your work experience satisfies the practical work experience requirement. You may be required to work for a specified amount of time in a public accounting office in Ontario.

Step 1) Registration as a Membership Candidate

To register as a membership candidate, you do not need to be a resident of Ontario. However, you must:

• be a current or past member of a designated accounting body outside Canada
• have passed the final qualifying examination for membership in your accounting body
• have at least 24 months of work experience that is recognized for credit by your accounting body

If you are a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant who left Canada to complete an accounting qualification program outside of Canada, you also need to meet a residency requirement. This means:

• you must have lived in a country other than Canada for a period of at least three years, and
• you must have lived in the country where your professional accounting body is located for a period of at least three years, and
• you must have written the final qualifying exam for membership in the accounting body during this three-year period

Registration Process

Send a completed membership candidate registration form to the Institute.

Proof of Identity

• Include with your registration form a copy of your birth certificate, along with a copy of your passport, proof of Canadian citizenship, Permanent Resident Card, or Record of Landing in Canada

and

• If you have changed your name, a copy of your marriage certificate or other legal document relating to your name change.

Membership in Designated Accounting Body Outside Canada

• Your accounting body must complete and send directly to the Institute a Confirmation from Designated Accounting Body form.

Work Experience

• An Experience Certification Report must be completed by each of your past employers and submitted directly to the ICAO.

Residency Requirement

To show proof of residency, you may be required to submit:

• a copy of your Record of Landing in Canada or Permanent Resident Card,
• a copy of your birth certificate, and
• a transcript of your final qualifying exam with your professional accounting body.

Step 2) CA Reciprocity Examination (CARE)

The CA Reciprocity Examination tests your knowledge of Canadian accounting and auditing standards, rules of professional conduct, Canadian federal taxation rules, and Canadian business law. The examination is held once a year, in October, at several locations across Canada.

To prepare for the CA Reciprocity Examination, you can take the one-week CARE Preparation Course offered through the Institute in September each year.

Click here for more information about the CA Reciprocity Examination and the CARE Preparation Course.

Step 3) Practical Work Experience Requirement

To qualify as a CA in Ontario, you must complete 30 months of work experience in public accounting. Your work experience must include 2,500 chargeable hours. Half of these hours must involve audits.

The Institute will evaluate your international experience to assess whether it is equivalent to experience normally acquired in public accounting offices in Ontario. On the basis of this evaluation, you may be eligible for exemption from some or all of the practical work experience requirement.

If the Institute determines that your work experience is equivalent to the work experience of a CA student in a public accounting office in Ontario, you will be exempted from the practical work experience requirement. You will then be able to apply for membership in the Institute.

However, the Institute may determine that you lack experience in certain areas: for example, in tax. In this case, you will be required to work for a specified amount of time and/or a specified number of chargeable hours in an approved Ontario public accounting office to meet the practical work experience requirement. The office must be approved for training CA students.

For more information about the practical work experience requirement, see the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants publication CA Practical Experience Requirements.

Step 4) Apply for Membership in the Institute

When you have completed all the requirements, you will be eligible to apply for membership in the Institute. This membership allows you to use the CA designation or the title Chartered Accountant. Also, you will be qualified to get a licence as a public accountant from the Public Accountants Council of Ontario, and from the Institute directly once the Public Accounting Act, 2004, has been proclaimed in force.

Application and Membership Fees for this Path

Note: Prices do not include GST.

	Jan. 1 - June 30	July 1 - Dec. 31
Membership candidate registration	100.00	100.00
Annual maintenance of membership candidate registration	250.00	125.00
	350.00	225.00

 

CA Reciprocity Examination (CARE)	800.00
CA Reciprocity Examination Preparation Course	900.00
	1,700.00

 

Membership candidate admission (after passing the CARE)

1,000.00

 

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (ICAO) annual membership

455.00

 

Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) annual membership

425.00