If you are an internationally educated accountant interested in becoming a CGA in Ontario, your first step is to have your post-secondary (college or university) transcripts and other accountant qualifications evaluated by CGA Ontario. The cost of this evaluation is $300. You can have your qualifications evaluated before or after you come to Canada. You will receive a response from CGA Ontario within three to four weeks.

Recognized Universities

CGA Ontario evaluates transcripts from recognized educational institutions only. These are institutions that CGA Ontario considers to be equivalent to Canadian colleges or universities. You can email CGA Ontario before you send your transcripts to find out if your university is recognized. In your email, provide the name of your educational institution, the name of your degree, and the date you graduated.

If CGA Ontario lets you know that your university is not recognized, you will be provided with the name of an international credential assessment service that can assess your transcripts.

Step One: Submit Official Transcript and Accounting Qualifications

If your university is recognized by CGA Ontario:

• Request your college or university to send an official sealed transcript of your grades directly to the CGA Ontario office. Alternatively, you can bring an official sealed transcript with you when you come to Ontario and drop it off or mail it to the CGA Ontario office.
• If you are a member of an accounting body or professional organization, you must also have this organization send a letter to CGA Ontario stating you are a member in good standing.
• If you completed post-secondary courses in accounting or business through your accounting body, you must also have this organization send an official sealed transcript of your grades directly to CGA Ontario.

If any of these documents are not in English or French, you also need to provide CGA Ontario with notarized translations. To find a certified translator in Ontario, contact the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO). Alternatively, you can use a certified translator in your country. CGA requires the original translations and proof of the translator's certification.

CGA Ontario may ask you to provide additional documentation, such as official course descriptions, your university syllabus, etc. If these documents are not in English, you will need to provide notarized translations.

Step Two: Submit Application for Transfer Credits

After you have arranged for your transcripts and accountant qualifications to be sent directly to CGA Ontario, you should print out and complete an Application for Transfer Credits. Mail your completed application to CGA Ontario together with your résumé.

Note:  Do not send letters from your employers with your Application for Transfer Credits. Your work experience in your home country will not be reviewed by CGA Ontario until you enroll as a CGA student.

Transfer Credit Evaluation Report

CGA Ontario will review your qualifications and send you a Transfer Credit Evaluation Report within three to four weeks. This report will advise you if you are eligible for any transfer credits. If you are granted transfer credits, you will be exempted from completing specific courses within the CGA Program of Professional Studies. You may be granted the option of writing a challenge examination.

CGA Ontario will also let you know if your university degree satisfies the degree requirement for accreditation as a CGA.

Time Limit

Once CGA has evaluated your qualifications and determined your eligibility for transfer credits, you have two years to enroll in the CGA Program of Professional Studies. If you delay your enrollment beyond this two-year period, your qualifications must be evaluated again for eligibility for transfer credits.

Appeals Process

You can appeal CGA Ontario’s decisions with regard to your eligibility for transfer credits. You need to send a word-processed, signed, and dated letter by fax or mail to the attention of the Registration Management Appeals Panel at CGA Ontario. This letter should:

• state which transfer credit(s) you are appealing
• provide all relevant detail
• be accompanied by supporting documents such as course descriptions, a syllabus, etc. If your transcripts are not in English or French, you need to have them translated by a translator who is certified in Ontario. To find a certified translator in Ontario, contact the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO)

Non-Recognized Universities

If your degree is not recognized by CGA Ontario, you will be provided with the name of an international credential assessment service that can evaluate your transcripts.

If the assessment service determines that your degree is equivalent to a degree program from a Canadian university, you can then send the original evaluation report together with your official sealed transcripts and translations to CGA Ontario. CGA Ontario will evaluate your university courses and provide you with a Transcript Evaluation Report.

If a credential assessment service determines that your university degree program is not equivalent to the degree program of a comparable Canadian university, you can still apply for transfer credits for individual courses you completed. However, you will have to satisfy the degree requirement by earning a university degree from a recognized university.

Review information about CGA’s partnerships with Canadian educational institutions.

Student in the CGA Program