Traditional Route

1. Start with a Degree

The first step to becoming a Chartered Accountant is completing a baccalaureate degree in any discipline, along with a number of prerequisite business and accounting courses. Earning a Business, Management, or Commerce degree with an accounting major is your fastest route to becoming a CA, as this enables you to complete the degree requirement and prerequisite courses at the same time. However, many CAs have degrees in other disciplines, including Arts and Science.

Your degree must be a four-year, 120-credit-hour baccalaureate degree from a Canadian university, or a degree from a non-Canadian university or other post-secondary institution in Canada that is deemed to be substantially equivalent.

2. Get the Prerequisites

In addition to your bachelor's degree (or equivalent), you'll need an overall 65% or higher average in the following prerequisite courses: 
        • General Business 
                o Three courses required 
        • Assurance 
                o One introductory course required 
        • Finance 
                o One introductory course required 
                o One intermediate course required 
        • Information Systems and Technology 
                o One introductory course required 
                o An intermediate or advanced MIS course is highly recommended 
        • Performance Measurement 
                o Two intermediate financial accounting courses required 
                o One intermediate managerial/cost accounting course required 
                o One course required in your choice of accounting theory, advanced financial accounting,  advanced financial statement analysis, advanced managerial/cost accounting, or international accounting. 
        • Taxation 
                o One introductory course covering both personal and corporate tax required

For a list of the required course names and numbers, go to www.become.ca.

3. Find a Training Office

One of the requirements for getting a CA designation is getting a CA articling position in an authorized training office. Students typically go through recruitment for CA articling positions in the fall of their last year of study. Recruitment takes place on-campus through the career centres. Only authorized CA Training Offices have the ability to train CA students. A full list of approved CA Training Offices can be found at www.becomea.ca.

4. Learn through CASB

In Western Canada, you earn your CA through the CA School of Business (CASB). You’ll find that it offers a whole new learning experience, completely different from your undergraduate program. When you enrol in CASB, you’re signing on to build professional skills that will kick-start your career.

CASB’s online modules will take you through the business life cycle, from start-up to IPO. You’ll learn how to build excellence in corporate governance, strategy and risk management, performance measurement and reporting, management decision-making, assurance, finance, and taxation. These modules are complemented by face-to-face learning sessions with facilitators and other students. As you progress through the CASB modules, your virtual clients will rely on you to research, analyse, problem-solve, interpret, forecast, lead, and innovate. By meeting their virtual needs, you will be developing real-world knowledge and skills that will put you on the fast track to career success.
Three years of hard work and graduate-level education—ask any CA, and they’ll tell you it’s a gruelling, challenging, and all-consuming process. They’ll also tell you that the knowledge, experience, and network of peers you’ll acquire during this process are invaluable.

What’s more, CASB offers you the flexibility to schedule your learning modules to fit your work and personal schedule. And, CASB accepts graduates of both the Master of Professional Accounting (MPAcc) program through the University of Saskatchewan and the Masters in Accounting (MAcc) program through the University of Waterloo. You then enter CASB for Module 6, the UFE prep course.

The CASB program will take you out of the classroom and into the professional world. When you graduate, you’ll be a business-ready CA, prepared to apply your practical skills to an ever-evolving business environment.

www.casb.com