Expanded Experience Opportunities for CA students
Frequently Asked Questions

1. How is CA qualification changing?
The CA profession is expanding both what it recognizes as qualifying experience, and the kinds of organizations which can be recognized as CA Training Offices:
· CA firms will be able to seek approval to create training positions in taxation, business advisory services, and other areas in addition to CA positions in audit and assurance.
· Approved corporations and government departments will be recognized as CA Training Offices under strict criteria.

2. What is not changing?
The changes apply only to the experience criteria for CA qualification; all other qualification standards and criteria remain unchanged.
· There is no change to the high academic standards students must achieve to be considered for entry into the CA training program.
· All CA students will continue to write the UFE.
· The audit, assurance and tax experience requirements, including the chargeable hour requirements, for CA students pursuing public accounting are also unchanged; only CA firms and offices of the federal and provincial auditors general can be approved to offer CA training positions for public accounting.
· The standards and requirements for recognition as a CA Training Office, which will expand to admit corporate and public sector employers, will be equally rigorous, with the same standards of ethics, work quality, and progressive experience.

3. Why is the profession making these changes?
The CA profession currently offers the best training in public practice; expanded experience opportunities will offer the best training in the corporate and public sectors. Canadian universities in most parts of the country produce more qualified students than CA firms can produce training positions for under the current experience criteria. As a result, we are losing good students who want to be CAs. These changes will:
• Make it possible for CA firms and select corporate and public sector organizations to create more entry-level positions for CA students; and

• Create more opportunities for qualified university graduates to become CAs, an important step in our strategic initiatives to secure the future supply of CAs.

4. When do the changes take effect?
The Councils of all provincial institutes of Chartered Accountants and the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec have approved the changes. In Newfoundland, the changes will be effective for students recruited after September 1, 2007 into the expanded training opportunities commencing employment in 2008. We expect them to be implemented across Canada by the fall of 2008.

CA firms recognized as Approved Training Offices at September 1, 2007 become CA Training Offices approved to provide audit, assurance and taxation hours, as defined under current standards and regulations. They must meet the additional requirements set out in Practical Experience Requirements 2007 (PER 2007) for hires into audit and assurance whose employment commences after August 31, 2008. If they are interested in creating positions for CA students in other areas, they must apply for approval from the Institute. Contact the Institute for further information on the application process.

CA students registered before August 31, 2008 in traditional audit and assurance paths may choose, with the support of their employer, under which rules they wish their qualifying experience assessed.

5. Will CA students need audit and assurance experience to become Chartered Accountants?
No. Under the new criteria, CA students are required to obtain depth in one of the two core competency areas of assurance or performance measurement. Therefore, a student could qualify by achieving depth in performance measurement. Students are also required to obtain breadth in any two of the remaining five competency areas (i.e. the areas other than the core area in which depth was achieved). However, audit, assurance and tax experience will continue to be mandatory as prescribed by the current hour requirements, if the student wants to become eligible to obtain a licence to practise public accounting.

6. Can CA students obtain the experience necessary to obtain a licence to practise public accounting in corporations?
No. Only CA Training Offices providing audit, assurance and taxation hours-- as defined under current standards and regulations -- will be able to offer the qualifying experience necessary to obtain a licence to practise public accounting (i.e. CA firms and the Offices of the Auditor General of Canada and Provincial Auditors General). CA students who qualify without having acquired all of the experience necessary to obtain a licence to practise public accounting can achieve the required experience in audit, assurance and taxation post-qualification. However, it should also be recognized that while students could gain assurance experience in corporate and government department CA Training Offices as either a depth or a breadth area toward certification as a CA, this experience would not qualify as public accounting experience.

7. Will the experience that co-op students have already acquired still count?
Yes. All experience acquired before September 1, 2007 that met the requirements of the former criteria will count under the new criteria.

8. How will these changes affect co-op students, summer interns and other CA students who acquired some experience before September 1, 2007?
Rules for the transition period are as follows:
• CA students registering with their provincial institute/Ordre before August 31, 2008 and qualifying with the necessary audit, assurance and tax hours as defined under current standards and regulations with an approved CA firm may choose, with the support of their employer, under which rules they wish their qualifying experience assessed.
• All CA students registering after August 31, 2008 and qualifying in traditional paths that provide the opportunity to obtain a licence to practise public accounting with approved CA firms must register under the new rules.
• All CA students registering after September 1, 2007 in career paths other than the traditional paths that provide students with the opportunity to obtain a licence to practise public accounting must register under the new rules.

9. Will all CA students write the UFE?
Yes. All CA students must write the UFE. This ensures reciprocity both nationally and internationally. The new rules will not affect the date at which the students write the UFE; that date will continue to be determined by their performance in the professional education programs.

10. Will CA students with no audit and assurance experience be adequately prepared for the UFE?
Yes. The concurrent professional education programs, which all students undertake during their period of experience, will ensure that they all have the required knowledge base in audit and assurance. CA students with no assurance experience will be required to gain extensive experience in performance measurement.

11. Will CAs qualifying in areas other than the traditional public accounting roles be able to obtain a licence to practise public accounting?
Yes. They can become eligible to obtain a licence if they subsequently acquire the necessary public accounting experience in a CA Training Office (i.e. CA Firm or the Offices of the Auditor General of Canada or the Auditor General of Province). They will not be required to rewrite the UFE.

To achieve the necessary public accounting experience, CAs who are non-licensable will be required to complete a minimum of 30 months of practical experience performing audits or reviews in a CA Training Office approved for that purpose. In addition, the following minimum number of chargeable hours must be obtained to be eligible to obtain a licence to practise public accounting.

Engagement Activity Prescribed Chargeable Hours: Minimum Number of CA-Supervised Chargeable Hours

Financial statement audit procedures in accordance with the CICA Handbook          625
Other assurance procedures                                                                                      625
Total Assurance Procedures                                                                                     1250
Taxation and tax service assignments                                                                       100
Total Prescribed Chargeable Hours                                                                          1350
Elective Chargeable hours                                                                                        1150
Total CA-supervised Chargeable Hours                                                                    2500

Note: Hours spent on taxation within an audit or a review engagement may be included as both a taxation and an audit or review engagement hour in the calculation of those specific hour requirements but such hours count only once in meeting the overall chargeable hour requirement.

12. What is the status of currently Approved Training Offices?
Effective September 1, 2007, all Approved Training Offices in jurisdictions where the changes are being implemented will continue to be recognized as CA Training Offices (CATO) for the purposes of training students in traditional audit and assurance roles that are required to obtain a licence to practise public accounting. However, currently Approved Training Offices will be required to have any new positions created outside of these traditional roles approved by the Institute. CATO status will then be subject to reassessment as part of our ongoing review process.
CATOs currently approved to provide audit, assurance and taxation hours, as defined under current standards and regulations, will have to meet the additional criteria set out in Practical Experience Requirements 2007 for audit and assurance hires whose employment commences after August 31, 2008.

13. Why is the CA profession allowing corporations to train CAs?
Overall across Canada, 70% of CAs work outside public practice; some of the organizations in which they work have both the capacity and the interest to train CAs in accordance with the profession’s rigorous standards. Many qualified students seeking CA careers cannot currently find training positions in CA firms. Other qualified students are interested in the CA designation but want to pursue corporate or government careers immediately on graduation. By accommodating these exceptional employers and qualified students, the CA profession will benefit from their talents and abilities.

In addition, these changes will position the profession favourably with our international counterparts, since Canada is joining other leading CA accounting bodies around the world in offering these expanded training opportunities.

14. How is training in corporations or government organizations different from obtaining the experience necessary to qualify as a CMA or CGA?
The CA is Canada’s leading finance and accounting designation, with the most rigorous academic, training and evaluation requirements. More than 70% of CAs work outside audit and assurance, in careers in industry and government. The goal in expanding CA experience requirements is to create new opportunities for high quality university graduates to become CAs.

15. Will CAs who qualify without the experience necessary to obtain their licence to practise public accounting be recognized across Canada? Around the world?
Yes. The new qualification process will ensure that the CA designation continues to be fully transportable across Canada and to meet the requirements of all of our international mutual recognition agreements.

16. How do I know if my employer is approved to train CA students?
A list of all CA Training Offices can be found on the Institute’s website at www.ican.nfld.net

17. My employer has just been approved to train CA students. How can I register as a CA student?
If you are interested in registering as a CA student and you meet the profession’s entrance requirements, talk to your employer about opportunities in approved positions. You must have a position within an approved career path at the newly approved CA Training Office in order to register with your provincial institute/Ordre. The Training Principal of the career path must sign and approve your registration form.

18. What is the Record of CA Qualifying Experience?
The Record is an electronic tool designed to help CA students quickly and easily record the specific assignments that contribute to the development of their CA competencies. CA students download the Record onto their computers; it’s available in both PC and Mac applications. It’s fast and easy to use for the CA students, and produces succinct reports for them to review with their Counselling Members.

19. Is use of the Record Mandatory?
Yes. Maintaining the Record of CA Qualifying Experience is mandatory for all CA students in the new practical experience streams, and for all CA students in audit and assurance registering with a provincial institute/ordre after August 31, 2008.

20. How can I get more information and/or keep current?
For more information, please visit the Institute website at www.ican.nfld.net on a regular basis.