Don Cyr, Dean of the Godman School of Business at Brock University
Don Cyr, Dean of the Goodman School of Business at Brock University
Brock University’s Goodman School of Business has become the first business school in Ontario to be accredited at the Master’s level by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA Ontario) under the new National CPA Accreditation Program.
The achievement means graduates of Goodman’s CPA-accredited program get direct access to the CPA Common Final Evaluation (CFE) FE, which is the national qualifying evaluation for CPA designation.
The accreditation was given for Goodman’s proposed CPA pathways, delivered through a combination of the Bachelor of Accounting (BAcc) and Master of Accountancy (MAcc) degree programs, based on its substantial equivalence to the new CPA Professional Education Program (CPA PEP). Students enrolled in the accredited CPA Pathway will also be able to complete paid co-op work terms with public accounting firms, government agencies and public and private sector companies while completing the BAcc component.
The CPA accreditation builds on Goodman’s longstanding relationship and the BAcc’s legacy accreditation with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (CA designation) and the Society of Management Accountants of Ontario (CMA designation). Goodman’s success with both these legacy bodies, and its reputation as a leader in accounting education, makes Brock uniquely poised to ensure success for students seeking the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation.
“This accreditation speaks to the quality of our accounting programs and our national reputation for accounting excellence,” says Don Cyr, Dean, Goodman School of Business. “The CPA will produce Canada’s top professional accountants, and we’re proud that future Goodman graduates will join our successful alumni already working in the field.”
The new CPA designation will unify the Canadian accounting profession and create a globally recognized professional accounting designation with a single set of high ethical and practice standards. The proposed national certification program requires a rigorous professional education experience for all future CPAs. The Goodman School of Business worked closely with CPA Ontario to adapt its existing BAcc and MAcc to the new CPA requirements.
“CPA Ontario is proud of its longstanding partnership with the Goodman School of Business and CPA Accreditation ensures that its graduates will continue to be in high demand”, said Brian Leader, FCPA, FCA, CPA Ontario’s Vice President of Learning. “CPA Accreditation includes rigorous standards that were in many cases exceeded. Dean Cyr and the entire faculty, as well as current and prospective students should be extremely proud of that.”
UW’s MAcc program already had this for CA for the past few years and will have this for the CPA. I think the author needs to check to verify some facts….
Waterloo already does this. So Brock is second.
Hi there
The Goodman School of Business is accredited by CPA Ontario under the new National CPA Accreditation Program. It is the first school to have met all the criteria to the Masters level, including offering all four electives available under the new program. This is confirmed by the CPA itself. Existing CA legacy programs will have to apply for, and meet, the standards of the new CPA accreditation program when their grandfathering expires.
Tiffany Mayer
Editor
Where is your source from CPA Ontario/Canada to support the claims made by this article? I do not see anything on the official CPA Ontario/Canada websites, nor does the quote from Mr. Leader support many of these claims.
Hey
I think the facts of this article should be checked as I am certain that CPA accreditation was given to University of Waterloo students last year since they been specially accredited by ICAO for years in regards to the CA.
As an alum, I am glad that Brock has joined though!
Congrats!
According to: http://afm.uwaterloo.ca/AFMPgmChanges_2014.html
Under: “Is the AFM program professionally accredited for the new CPA designation?”
CPA Ontario is allowing direct access to the CFE after completing the MAcc program only during the 5 year transitional period at which time they will need to consider a bridging program that will be incorporated into the final term of the MAcc.
Based on the wording this seems like only a temporary thing and not a true accreditation at this point.
Matt,
The University of Waterloo received professional accreditation for its MAcc program many years ago by ICAO (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario), and were the only school in Ontario to receive this level of accreditation that allowed graduates to proceed directly to the UFE exam. With the transition to the new CPA designation, the ICAO’s previous accreditations were no longer valid. Immediately upon transitioning, CPA Ontario granted the University of Waterloo’s MAcc program accreditation running until 2019, making it the first school to receive full accreditation (allowing graduates to proceed directly to the CFE). If a bridging program is deemed necessary, changes will be made to the MAcc program prior to 2019 to allow Waterloo to extend its accreditation. CPA Ontario and the University of Waterloo are currently working through this transition. Make no mistake, the University of Waterloo is currently professionally accredited and all indications are that it will continue its longstanding accreditation with ICAO/CPAO.
The only claim Brock can make is that it is the first university to receive accreditation past 2019 (if that is in fact the case). It is not the first university to be accredited; instead, it joins Waterloo in the group of accredited schools.
I congratulate Brock on this achievement.
My congratulations to the faculty and staff at Brock’s Goodman School of Business on being the first in Ontario to get CPA Accreditation at the Master’s level. With the new CPA Accreditation standards being released on October 13, 2013, the urgency with which your team responded to the new accreditation standards is quite extraordinary. It is great to see that Brock MAcc graduates will proceed directly to the CFE.
Previous posts are accurate in suggesting that graduates of Waterloo’s MAcc gained direct access to the UFE, also true that CPA Ontario granted Waterloo MAcc graduates direct access to the CFE under a grand fathered CA Accreditation standard until 2019. The CA Accreditation standards under which Waterloo has been grand fathered are not the same as the new CPA Accreditation standards. In order to be CPA Accredited, institutions must submit a request to CPA Ontario to have their programs examined for congruence with the new CPA Accreditation standards. The first institution to have been approved at the Master’s level for having met and/or exceeded CPA Accreditation standards is Brock.
I found the following link on the CPA Ontario website confirming that the Goodman School of Business at Brock University is categorically the first business school in Ontario to be accredited at the Master’s level by CPA Ontario under the new CPA Accreditation Program.
http://www.cpaontario.ca/MediaRoom/MediaReleases/2013mReleases/1009page17500.aspx
A great achievement!!!
For the record, Waterloo SUCKS! ICAO blah blah blah??? Seriously… thats from horse and carriage time when women weren’t allowed to vote. Times have changed Warriors.. It’s Badger time now. CPA is were’s its at. Have fun being second best UW #goodmanschool
Tinkerbell,
Your source is a media release that sources this exact article. That doesn’t confirm anything.