Experience a Compehensive Academic Component

Highly relevant, rigorous courses
The CGA program is composed of 19 course and examination requirements see the Path to Becoming a Certified General Accountant. Course materials and examinations are developed by CGA Canada, with the support of more than 100 leading academics and professionals. The CGA program’s rigorous development process provides students with the most up-to-date, relevant, and functional learning resources. The program course requirements may be satisfied by CGA examination or by transfer credit. However, regardless of one’s academic standing, a minimum of four professional applications and competency evaluation (PACE level) courses—as explained below—must be completed directly through the CGA program.

Professional certification (PACE) geared to your goals
The PACE level includes the professional courses and certification examinations that represent the final phase of academic preparation prior to certification as a CGA. At this level, students have the opportunity to focus professional preparation in an area that supports individual career goals and interests. You may choose one of four different financial management career options. The certification level of the CGA program consists of two career option courses and accompanying four-hour examinations, as well as two professional applications courses and accompanying four-hour capstone examinations.

Professional Applications 1 requirement—Issues in Professional Practice—focuses on the perspective of an external accountant providing auditing, taxation and business advisory services to clients. Professional Applications 2 requirement—Strategic Financial Management—focuses on the internal accountant or financial manager, and provides an in-depth study of strategic financial management concepts.

The professional applications examinations are competency-based assessments. In addition to specific technical competencies, candidates are required to demonstrate core competencies in ethics, technology, business strategy and change management, using real-world business simulations.

Expect To Specialize In Your Preferred Area

• Corporate and small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
  For students interested in managing the resources of corporate entities, emphasis is placed on capital and investment decisions, long-term planning, and competitive analysis.
• Information technology management
  For students pursuing careers related to the analysis, design, and implementation of computer-based information systems from a financial management end-user perspective. Also, for those involved in management auditing including EDP auditing, and systems development activities. 
• Government and not-for-profit
  For students pursuing careers in the public sector, association management, charitable and not-for-profit organization management, health service organizations and education. This stream emphasizes public sector accounting, not-for-profit reporting issues, expenditure controls and strategic planning. 
• Public practice
  Prepares students to succeed in a public practice career, providing accounting, auditing, tax planning and business consulting services to corporate and small- to medium-sized enterprise clients.

Prepare To Meet The Degree Requirement

All students in the CGA program are required to obtain a bachelor’s degree prior to receiving certification as a CGA. The degree may be from any approved post-secondary degree-granting institution and may be obtained in any field. Non-Canadian degrees must be deemed equivalent to a Canadian degree to be acceptable. The CGA degree requirement is an exit, not an entrance, requirement.

Integrated degree opportunities
For students entering the CGA program without a bachelor’s degree, CGA Ontario offers a choice of integrated degree opportunities. Our exclusive post-secondary partnerships provide students in the CGA program with an innovative means to complete a degree concurrent with their CGA program of professional studies.

For example, students in the CGA program can opt to complete an honours bachelor of commerce degree through Laurentian University (LU) or alternatively, a bachelor of applied business administration in accounting and information technology degree through Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). Both the LU and SAIT degree opportunities have been designed as part-time, distance-learning, while providing students requiring a degree with efficient options to meeting the CGA program’s degree standard. CGA Ontario administers the admission and course delivery processes for degree opportunities.

The LU honours bachelor of commerce degree combines versatile management education and core business skills, which complement the CGA program of professional studies by providing LU students with a solid professional business education. For more details on the LU degree opportunity please visit http://cga.laurentian.ca.

The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology’s (SAIT) bachelor of applied business administration in accounting and information technology program allows students in the CGA program to combine their professional accounting studies with the technology skills and training that are in high demand. For more details on the SAIT degree opportunity please visit www.cga-saitdegree.ca.

If you would like additional information on these integrated degree opportunities, please contact CGA Ontario’s office or send an e-mail message to adm@cga-ontario.org.

Put Your Experience To Work For Maximum Benefit

Relevant employment experience
The application of practical experience, concurrent with the study of conceptual knowledge, is an integral component of developing a well-rounded professional. The freedom to obtain experience in a variety of accounting and financial management positions is one of the major advantages of CGA Ontario’s certification process.

Before qualifying for certification as a CGA, candidates must demonstrate that accumulated work experience has progressed to positions requiring a high degree of knowledge and responsibility. The candidate’s employment experience must be in an accounting- or financial management-related position. In order to meet the employment experience requirement, we recommend that when you begin the academic program you are already a full-time employee in a position that will allow you to progress towards acquiring sufficient experience in the accounting and financial arenas.

To fully meet the experience requirements, candidates are expected to be employed in a position that requires the application of knowledge and independent thinking in an accounting, auditing or financial management function. Employment experience is assessed on the basis of demonstrated competencies.

Questions on employment experience are answered in CGA Ontario’s Employment Portfolio Assessment System (EPAS) frequently asked questions brochure. Access the brochure on our website at www.cga-ontario.org. If you have a question that isn’t answered in the brochure, you may send it by e-mail to: stservices@cga-ontario.org.

Obtain Your CGA Designation and Your MBA Concurrently

Senior-level students in the CGA program of professional studies may be eligible to enrol in Laurentian University’s online Master of Business Administration (MBA) program, which was developed in conjunction with CGA Canada. Take advantage of the overlap between CGA Ontario’s courses and the Laurentian MBA courses: with applicable exemptions, you could earn your MBA from Laurentian’s online MBA program in as few as 15 months. For additional information, please visit  http://cga.laurentian.ca.

Streamline learning with course transfer credits

Courses completed by a student at a university, college or professional association, whose content and standards are deemed equivalent by CGA Ontario to courses in the CGA program, may be eligible for transfer credits. Refer to Ontario post-secondary College or University transfer credit policies.

Individuals requesting transfer credits must complete and forward the following items to CGA Ontario’s office:

• an application for transfer credits
• official transcripts of marks
• a résumé

All official transcripts and letters of good standing must come directly from the post-secondary institution to the CGA Ontario office. This policy is in effect for both Canadian and International documents.

If transcripts are not in English, an official notarized translation in English is required. The official non-translated transcript must be sent directly to CGA Ontario. All official documents received are the property of CGA Ontario and are not released to third parties.

Additionally, potential students who have completed courses at education institutions and professional associations based outside of Canada may be requested to provide a course syllabus.

CGA Ontario may deny transfer credits for courses that are deemed to be outdated in regards to knowledge. In addition, the Association reserves the right to prescribe a special program of studies for students who have been granted transfer credits.

Note: Enrolling in a course for which you have received a transfer credit voids that transfer credit.

Transfer credit evaluation reports are retained on file for two years from the initial evaluation date. If enrolment is postponed beyond the two-year period, your transfer credits must be re-evaluated.

For more information on course transfer credits see the application for transfer credits.

Prove course mastery through challenge exams
A once-only challenge exam may be permitted at the discretion of the Manager of Admissions and Registration for advanced level equivalent courses or if there is any doubt as to whether or not a transfer credit is justified. Challenge exams are written within one year of enrolment in the program. A student who is unsuccessful in a challenge exam must then enrol in the same CGA course that was challenged. The fee for a challenge exam includes the lesson notes for the course.

If further resources are desired, we recommend that students purchase other applicable course material from CGA Ontario. Note that enrolling in a course for which you previously received the challenge exam privilege voids that challenge exam privilege.

Length of time in the program
The number of academic years allowed in the program will be determined during the first academic year you enrolled. The time limit is based on the number of transfer credits.

# of transfer credits granted upon initital enrolment
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
10	10	9	9	8	8	7	7	6	6	5	5	4	3
Maximum # of years allowed to complete CGA program.

An additional two years is allowed for students completing one of the integrated degrees.

Regardless of the initial session registered in, this will count as an entire academic year for time limit purposes.