CPA Canada accused of sending inaccurate member fee information to Ontario accountants

TORONTO, July 9, 2025 – CPA Ontario denies claims made by CPA Canada in a communications outreach to Ontario chartered professional accountants that their annual membership dues rose despite being promised a significant cost reduction following provincial severance from the national body in December 2024.

Copy of LinkedIn message posted to Reddit earlier this year.

“Assertions made in the CPA Canada LinkedIn message are entirely false,” says Kathryn Hanley, vice-president of communications at Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario. CPA Ontario is “disappointed that, in an apparent effort to sell optional subscriptions, CPA Canada used inaccurate information in its communications to Ontario CPAs,” she adds.

CPA Canada’s communication, sent at the end of May 2025 just prior to the 2025-26 fee deadline, was signed by Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada President and Chief Executive Officer Pamela Steer, FCPA, FCA.

Entitled “Ontario CPAs: Are You Getting What You Paid More For?” it noted that, in 2025, CPA Ontario members are paying $820 entirely to CPA Ontario, compared to 2023, when members paid $980 to both CPA Ontario and CPA Canada, of which $580 were provincial fees, and that the increase from $580 to $820 constitutes a 41 per cent rise.

“CPAs understand numbers — and something doesn’t add up. What are you really getting for that extra $240?” Steer asked Ontario CPAs. Rather than the promised reduction in provincial fees, “your costs are rising — and your access to national programs, thought leadership, and the international CPA community has been disrupted,” the message added.

Steer also warned Ontario CPAs that they depended on more than just provincial regulation for success, and that access to essential national leadership, global recognition and cutting-edge professional resources had been cut off when “CPA Ontario chose to walk away from CPA Canada — without consulting you.

“Now you’re paying more and getting less,” Steer charged.

Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and l'Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec, the provincial accounting bodies regulating chartered professional accountants in Ontario and Quebec respectively, announced their split with CPA Canada two years ago, in June 2023. (iStock.)

Hanley says the total annual due CPA Ontario members pay actually decreased from $980 in 2023 to $820 in 2025, and explains that “the lower 2025 fee includes costs that were previously collected as part of the CPA Canada due to support standard setting and to provide access to the Handbook and Board Guidance.”

These extra amounts are now included as part of the CPA Ontario due, and “CPA Canada is aware of this,” adds Hanley.

“Given the decision by the regulator in Ontario to withdraw from the national CPA body, we felt it was important for CPAs in Ontario to understand that access to CPA Canada and the services we provide to the profession are no longer included in their provincial dues,” says Patrick Jordan, CPA Canada’s Toronto-based vice-president of communications and public affairs.

The setting of those dues, and the services provided by the regulator in exchange for those funds, are determined solely by the provincial regulator, he adds.

“As the national body, CPA Canada remains focused on delivering high-quality continuing professional development, education, and thought leadership that reflect the evolving needs of the profession in the public interest. Most importantly, we are here to help CPAs succeed — both in Canada and on the global stage," Jordan adds.

CPA Ontario provides everything a CPA needs to practise in Ontario, with provincial members no longer required to pay a CPA Canada due, says Hanley. “Any subscriptions, services or products sold by CPA Canada are optional and are not required to practice as a CPA in Ontario,” she adds.