The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales CPA CA

Member of a Reciprocal Membership Body

If you are a member in good standing of a Reciprocal Membership Body, you may qualify for registration as an applicant under the Reciprocal Membership Body pathway. The requirements to register as an applicant and to qualify for admission to membership are set out in Regulation 6-2: Applicant Registration.

Registration Eligibility

In order to qualify for registration as an applicant you must:

  • Be a member in good standing with an accounting body specified in Schedule B of Regulation 6-2, Applicant Registration (please see page 10 for the list of Reciprocal Membership Bodies); and
  • Not have been registered with CPA Ontario or another provincial body as a student in the five (5) years prior to, or at the time of, writing any part of the normal qualifying examinations.

If you wrote one or more parts of the normal qualifying examinations of the Reciprocal Membership Body while:

  • You were a resident of Canada; or
  • After you became a resident of Canada; or
  • After you returned as a resident to Canada,

Then you must have obtained either:

  • A university degree from a degree-granting institution of higher education outside Canada as a result of having attended the institution in person for classroom instruction on a full-time basis; or
  • At least one year of full-time practical experience in accounting in the country of the Reciprocal Membership Body.

Please note that "becoming a resident of Canada" refers to the date of landing in Canada, excluding any period of time of temporary residency in Canada under a temporary visa or student visa following the expiry of which residency in Canada ceased or ceased for a continuous period of at least one year prior to returning to Canada.

How to Register

To register with CPA Ontario as an applicant under the Reciprocal Membership Body pathway, please submit the following:

  • An International Candidate Application Form;
  • A Certification of Membership Form (Appendix I of the International Candidate Application Form contains this form). All applicants are required to provide confirmation that their membership in a Reciprocal Membership Body is in good standing. Such confirmation must be provided by the Reciprocal Membership Body in prescribed form and should be sent directly to CPA Ontario by mail or email from the accounting body. If the applicant is submitting the letter with their application, the original is required. Applicants are solely responsible for contacting their accounting body and requesting such confirmation. CPA Ontario reserves the right to contact the Reciprocal Membership Body specified above or any other professional or regulatory body and to make inquiries and/or obtain information in relation to this application;
  • An International Candidate – Application for Registration form;
  • Fee Remittance - see details below;
  • Sign and date CPA Ontario's Academic Code of Conduct and abide by it;
  • Proof of legal name; satisfactory evidence of legal name includes a copy of any one of the following: birth certificate or equivalent government-issued documentation, passport, both sides of a Canadian citizenship certificate card, both sides of a Permanent Resident card, or landed immigrant papers. If the name under which you are applying to register is different from that which appears on the document submitted as proof of legal name, a copy of the document supporting the change of legal name, endorsed with "this is a certified true copy" signed and dated, is required;
  • A chronological résumé listing all work experience;
  • Letter(s) of good standing from all other professional accounting bodies in which you hold membership (originals must be submitted with your application or they can be sent directly to CPA Ontario by mail or email by your accounting body); and
  • Residency Documents: Documentation showing the date you first landed in Canada, Documentation showing the year you first filed a Canadian Income Tax Return, Copy of Canadian Customs and Immigration Landing Documents (if applicable), Copy of Canadian visas held (if applicable), Copy of passport page(s) containing immigration stamp(s) to support Canadian entry/exit dates and/or residency pattern at the time of writing the normal qualifying examination(s). Memorandum prepared on a supplementary sheet outlining, in sufficient detail, your residency pattern at the time of writing the uniform CPA examination or the normal qualifying examination(s). The memorandum must also provide clarification as to whether you maintained a home or mailing address in Canada at the time of writing the uniform CPA examination or normal qualifying examination(s).

Submission Instructions

All documentation must be provided in English. You are responsible to have documents officially translated if necessary. Your application will not be considered complete until all information and documentation has been received. It is your responsibility to ensure the application is complete and accurate and is received by the Registrar.

Submit your application via email or regular mail. Information completed via affidavit and containing a notary or commissioner stamp or seal must be submitted in original form by regular mail.

Email: support@prepformula.com

Admission to Membership

Once you have been approved for registration as an applicant, you will be eligible to apply for membership as a member in CPA Ontario. Members are awarded the Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Accountant designations and are therefore entitled to use the initials CPA, CA in Ontario.

In order to maintain your membership with CPA Ontario, you will be required to successfully complete the CPA, CA Reciprocity Professional Development Course (CARPD) by the second anniversary of the date of admission to membership. This course consists of approximately 20 hours of online study in Canadian tax, law and ethics in a modular form. More information can be found at CPA, CA Reciprocity Professional Development Course (CARPD).

Timeline

On average, it takes approximately five months, from the time a complete application is received by CPA Ontario, for an Applicant from a Reciprocal Membership Body to complete the process leading to admission to membership.

Fees

If you are applying for registration as an applicant, you are required to pay the fees indicated below. The fee includes HST and can be paid by credit card or by cheque made payable to Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario.

The total fee consists of the following:

$100.00 Applicant Initial Administration Fee*
$150.00 Annual Applicant Fee**
$250.00 Total Registration Fee (before taxes)
$13.00 Taxes on Applicant Initial Administration Fee (HST#10750 8525)*
$19.50 Taxes on Annual Applicant Fee (HST#10750 8525)
$282.50 Total Registration Fee due

*If your registration application is deemed incomplete and returned by CPA Ontario, the Applicant Initial Administration Fee plus applicable taxes will be considered forfeit (non-refundable). All other fees that have been paid plus applicable taxes will be refunded with the incomplete application.

**This fee covers the period July 1 to June 30.

Please refer to Regulation 4-2, Dues for a complete listing of dues and fees, including the costs of the CARE exam, the CARPD course and admission to membership fees.

Public Accounting Licensing Eligibility

Admission to membership in CPA Ontario and the granting of the right to use the designations Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Accountant and the initials, CPA, CA, in Ontario does not automatically qualify a member to be licensed as a public accountant. Members of CPA Ontario who seek to be licensed as public accountants in Ontario must fulfill the specific requirements prescribed by the Public Accountants Council pursuant to the Public Accounting Act, 2004 and by the Bylaws and Regulations. One of these requirements is the successful completion of Parts I and II of the CPA CA Reciprocity Examination (CARE).

Please refer to the Public Accounting Licensing section of CPA Ontario's website for more detailed information on obtaining a public accounting licence in the province of Ontario.

CPA Ontario's Academic Code of Conduct

You will be required to file a declaration of acknowledgement of, and agreement to abide by, CPA Ontario's Academic Code of Conduct.

Appeal Rights

A decision of the Registrar not to register or reregister an individual as an applicant or to deregister an applicant may be appealed by the individual or applicant to the Membership Committee. The parties to an appeal are the individual appealing and the Registrar. The appeal shall be conducted in accordance with the Rules of Practice and Procedure. The decision of the Membership Committee is final.

For more information please contact support@prepformula.com