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Thanks to Carl Queton for taking the time to answer our questions!

What makes the CA designation different?
The CA designation provides a variety of unique benefits. As a CA, you obtain a graduate-level education with on-the-job experience, a combination that makes you very attractive to employers. The CA gives the opportunity to pick and choose where you want to take your career, whether it is in industry, public practice, government, the not-for-profit sector, or education. Your acumen in the audit field gives you access to different companies and industries, and helps you tackle the variety of new challenges and issues your clients face. Another unique aspect of the CA designation—especially the Canadian one—is that it is highly portable, giving you the chance to work across North America and internationally.

What opportunities will a CA give you?
The CA designation opens up countless doors in the world of business. CAs are known for their unique combination of financial expertise, business insight, strategic-thinking skills, and leadership abilities. In fact, CAs are proven business leaders—take, for example, the 2005 edition of the Globe & Mail's Report on Business Top 1,000, which states that 61% of the top 1,000 Canadian companies have at least one CA on their executive team, and that 58% of all the CFO positions in Canada's top 1,000 organizations are held by CAs.

When it comes to international opportunities, only the Canadian CA designation has reciprocity with the majority of Canada’s trading partners; for example, aside from American Certified Public Accountants, only Canadian CAs are allowed to sign financial statements for companies traded in US capital markets. This portability gives Canadian CAs the opportunity to work and travel almost anywhere in the world—from North America to the UK, Australia, Asia, and Africa.

What can you do as a CA (i.e. what industries, what companies, what jobs)?
Approximately 70% of CAs in Canada currently work in industry. This means that although CAs in Canada train at public practice firms, a large number of them eventually move into industry to try different areas of business. Traditionally, you’ll find CAs in controllership roles as they enter a given industry; increasingly, however, CAs are working in management and directorship roles, or as entrepreneurs.

CAs are successful outside the field of corporate industry as well—whether as leaders in public practice, government, the not-for-profit sector, or education.

How many CAs are there in BC and in Canada?
There are currently over 9,200 CAs in BC and 71,000 CAs in Canada.

Who are some prominent CAs?
There are many prominent CAs working in a variety of sectors across Canada and around the world. Here are a few examples:
Ian Clarke, CA – CFO and Executive Vice-President of Business Development, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd
Barbara Stymiest, FCA – COO of RBC Financial Group
James Balsillie, CA – Chairman and Co-CEO of Research in Motion Ltd, creators of the BlackBerry.
Dennis Kavelman, CA – CFO of Research in Motion Ltd.
Phil King, CA – President of The Sports Network (TSN).
Norm Francis, FCA – Co-Founder of Basic Software Group (creator of ACCPAC) and Pivotal Corporation, and Co-Founder of BC Technology Social Venture Partners.
George Melville, FCA - Chairman and owner of Boston Pizza International
Arthur Reitmayer, FCA - President and CEO of Channel M Broadcasting
Dave Cobb, CA - Executive VP of Revenue, Marketing and Communications, Vancouver Olympic Committee (formerly COO of the Vancouver Canucks and Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment)
Dr. Brandt Louie, FCA - President and CEO of H.Y. Louie Co. Limited (subsidiary companies include London Drugs and the Marketplace IGA stores in BC)
Jerry van Someren, CA – VP of Business Operations for Red Deer Rebels Hockey Club
Bill Robinson, CA – Owner of Yuk Yuk's Comedy Clubs
Ali Pirbhai, CA, CPA (Illinois) – Partner with Karyon Group and Co-Founder of Child Aid International.
Larry Jenkinson, CA – Executive Vice-President of Henry Singer Fashion Group

What are CASB and MPAcc?
CASB is the CA School of Business.
With its six modules, the CASB program replaces boring lessons and coursework with relevant challenges that involve each student assuming an online identity and working for a variety of fictional companies. Even though this work is "virtual," the skills students learn during the first five modules will be tested and used in practical applications in the last two modules of CASB, and on the job at their training firms.

Each module in the CASB program builds on the skills students have gained from the one before it, allowing students to expand their knowledge organically. In addition to preparing students for the national uniform evaluation (UFE), the material covered in these modules often coincides with the increasing responsibilities students are acquiring during their practical experience requirement.

In Module 1, each student adopts a virtual identity as a new CA student with “Parkhurst and Loewen (P&L) Chartered Accountants,” where they’re introduced to new clients whom they will advise on accounting, information technology (IT), personal financial planning, and taxation matters as the clients build their businesses.

By the time students move into Module 2, they’ve developed at least one business plan and are in a good position to advise their client’s expansion to a new retail location (students’ skills in taxation and knowledge of the legal implications of incorporating a business are valuable here). Simultaneously, each student starts an audit for another client who is looking to purchase a business.

In Module 3, students finalize their audits, and then complete a business valuation so that their clients can finance an acquisition. Students also take on new clients and learn to balance their workloads.

By the time students get to Module 4, they are working “in-house” with one of their clients and running many of the client’s financial activities. Module 4 also gives them the chance to work outside of P&L, giving them a chance to learn about the intricacies of the not-for-profit sector and serving on a board of directors—an experience that prepares them for Module 5.

In Module 5, students help a small international company they’ve previously worked with go public. They are asked a lot of tough questions and have to back up their recommendations with research, analysis, and good reporting.

Once students have completed the modules, they have to write the UFE, which will assess the skills they’ve acquired to date.

The CASB program, in conjunction with students’ practical experience requirement, sets them up for a rewarding career in business with a well-recognized group of skills.

MPAcc is the Master of Professional Accounting program at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Commerce

For two consecutive summers, MPAcc students relocate to scenic Saskatoon for an intense 11-course line-up that parallels the training provided by the modules in the CASB program. During this time, students attend lectures, seminars, and workshops led by some of the best teachers and most established professionals in the region, giving them a unique opportunity to apply multi-disciplinary knowledge to a range of problems.

Coursework in the MPAcc program focuses heavily on understanding a business’s operating environment and learning how to manage these external influences. Other core areas are more technical, focusing on taxation, financial reporting, and assurance.

In the MPAcc program, students learn valuable interpersonal skills while interacting with other candidates. They’re able to concentrate full-time on their courses while at school, and return to work with a firm during the period between the two summers.

In case the program is sounding a little too good to be true, you should be warned you that the MPAcc program isn't a summer camp. The first challenge is getting into the program, as a select few of new students are admitted each year. The next challenge for BC candidates is that they have to relocate to Saskatchewan for four months each summer, shelling out extra money for tuition in the process.

Finally, as with all graduate degrees, students must complete a research component—adding more tools to their already significant skill-set.

The MPAcc program is for candidates who are serious about obtaining their CA designations, who are interested in research and life-long learning, and who want to add a graduate degree to the CA that will follow their names.

Who can we contact?
For more information on becoming a CA in BC, please contact Carl Queton at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 604-488-2631 (direct)/1-800-663-2677 (toll free in BC).