Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants

Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants

Abbreviation	CICA
Predecessor	Dominion Association of Chartered Accountants
Formation	15 May 1902 (1902-05-15)
Legal status	Incorporated by Private Act (SC 1902, c. 58)
Objective	Our mission is to foster public confidence in the CA profession by acting in the public interest and helping our members excel.
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Region served	Canada, Bermuda
Membership	78,000
Member's designations	CA, FCA
Official languages	English, French
Chair	Bill MacKinnon
Vice Chair	Shelley Brown
President and CEO	Kevin Dancey
Governing body	board of directors
IFAC member since	1977
Website	www.cica.ca

The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants was incorporated by an Act of the Parliament of Canada in 1902.^[1] This Act, now known as the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants Act, was last amended in 1990 to reflect the CICA's current mandate and powers.^[2]

Working in collaboration with its provincial member organizations, the CICA supports the setting of accounting, auditing and assurance standards for business, not-for-profit organizations and government, and develops and delivers education programs. It also provides a range of member services and professional literature; undertakes research and development of intellectual property; issues guidance on risk management and governance; and fosters relationships with key stakeholders nationally and internationally.

About the CICA

Chartered Accountants (CAs) constitute the oldest of Canada's three national accounting bodies, and the CICA represents Canada's CAs both nationally and internationally. The CICA is a founding member of the International Federation of Accountants and the Global Accounting Alliance.

History

• 1902 – The Dominion Association of Chartered Accountants (DACA) is incorporated by Private Act of the Parliament of Canada. (SC 1902, c. 58)
• 1934 – The Canada Companies Act is amended to provide for the involvement of the DACA in setting standards for accounting policies.
• 1938 – All provinces agree that membership should be determined by a Uniform Evaluation.^[3]
• 1951 – DACA changes its name to the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. (SC 1951, c. 89)
• 1954 – Students in all provinces in Canada are writing the same examination.
• 1968 – The CICA releases the CICA Handbook, which codifies Canadian GAAP.
• 1972 – The Canadian Securities Administrators rule that provincial securities commissions must consider the CICA Handbook as the basis for Canadian GAAP.^[4]
• 1975 – The CICA Handbook is incorporated by reference into the Canada Business Corporations Act for specifying the basis of Canadian GAAP.^[5]
• 1990 – Act of incorporation is updated to reflect the current mandate and powers. (SC 1990, c. 52)
• 2008 – The CICA announces that Canadian GAAP will converge with International Financial Reporting Standards for publicly accountable enterprises, effective with reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2011.^[6]

A merger was proposed between the CICA and CMA Canada in 2004, but it did not go beyond exploratory talks. Discussions began again in 2011, this time including CGA Canada,^[7] to create a new national accounting body which would issue the new professional designation of Chartered Professional Accountant.

Qualification as a member

CAs are admitted to the profession through their Provincial Institutes/Ordre. These bodies are responsible for establishing and administering the qualification process, admission criteria and performance standards within their jurisdictions.

Pre-qualification education is delivered regionally through one of four systems across Canada:

The CICA's role – in concert with all provinces, territories – is to develop and maintain consistent, uniform standards for the profession's qualification process. These standards ensure the portability of the CA designation across Canada and internationally through various mutual recognition agreements.

Admission to the CA profession requires:

• A university degree.
• Specified university courses or the equivalent.
• Completion of a professional pre-qualification program as noted above.
• Prescribed practical experience with approved training offices, which are set in place in accredited CA firms, offices of provincial or national Auditors General, and selected corporations and government organizations.^[8]
• A passing grade in the Uniform Evaluation.

Foreign trained accountants

The CICA itself does not admit members and students; its membership is derived from membership in one of the 10 provincial and two territorial institutes of chartered accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bermuda. The institutes are empowered by local laws to regulate and govern the chartered accountancy profession within their jurisdictions. Individuals holding foreign accountancy designations who want to become a Canadian Chartered Accountant must apply to the institute in the jurisdiction where they live or intend to live.

The CICA works in partnership with and on behalf of the institutes to:

• Assess the qualification processes of foreign accounting bodies to determine the extent to which they are equivalent to the Canadian process
• Negotiate Mutual Recognition Agreements with accounting bodies whose qualification processes are substantially equivalent;
• Determine the additional education, evaluation and experience requirements for members of reviewed accounting bodies not deemed substantially equivalent.

Credentials of foreign-trained accountants are assessed according to the following categories:^[9]

Assessments of foreign bodies, and negotiations of Mutual Recognition agreements are conducted by the profession's International Qualifications Appraisal Board (IQAB), the current status of which is as follows:

See also

• International Qualification Examination
• Uniform Evaluation
• Accounting Standards Board (Canada)

Member institutes

References