Practical Work Experience

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 assurance services, including 625 hours in auditing.

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 you don't have 30 months of experience in public accounting, or if the Institute decides that your work experience does not cover the required areas, you will be required to work in a public accounting office in Ontario for an amount of time specified by the Institute. The office must be approved for training CA students.

For a list of firms in Ontario approved for training CA students, click here.

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

Exemption

You can ask the Institute to evaluate your work experience to determine if you are eligible for any exemption from the practical experience requirement. See the section Evaluation of Qualifications.