CPA Canada signs RMA with ICAEW

TORONTO, November 16, 2018 – The national body for Canadian accounting professionals, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada), has signed its first Reciprocal Membership Agreement (RMA) with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). The RMA Came into effect November 1, 2018.

The RMA specifies the criteria by which members of one body are eligible for membership in the other. It was signed by CPA Canada on behalf of the CPA provincial and territorial bodies and the Chartered Professional Accountants of Bermuda, which has a long affiliation with the Canadian CPA profession. 

“Canadian CPAs are committed to increasing international labour mobility through comprehensive international credential recognition agreements,” says Joy Thomas, president and CEO, CPA Canada. 

“These agreements serve the public interest by providing a pathway for our members to take advantage of career opportunities abroad and by helping top finance and accounting talent to become Canadian Chartered Professional Accountants. It’s a win for Canada, England and Wales, and the global economy.” 

The ICAEW is one of the oldest accountancy bodies in the world, established by royal charter in 1880. (The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, established in 1854, is the oldest.) It has over 150,000 members, roughly 15 per cent of whom live and work outside the U.K. 

According to its website: 

The ICAEW has reciprocal arrangements with the Chartered Professional Accountants Canada (CPA Canada) for its members who joined through the full education and training route for CPA Canada and for those who joined after following the full education and training route of one of the legacy bodies: the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA), the Certified General Accountants of Canada (CGA Canada) and the Society of Management Accountants of Canada (CMA Canada) . If you have obtained membership of the CPA Canada through one of these routes you can apply to become an ICAEW member.

According to its website, Canadian CPAs do not have to be resident in the UK to take up this offer of ICAEW membership, and will not be required to sit an aptitude test unless also applying for audit rights.

Download the ICAEW application for membership here. 

By Canadian Accountant staff.