You are a current member of ACCA, CPA Australia, CPA Ireland, or Order des Expert-Comptables (France).

If this describes you, CGA Canada has a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) with your accounting body to recognize the qualifications of each other's members. This means that you do not need to complete the CGA program of professional studies to qualify as a CGA. For specific details about CGA's recognition agreement with your accounting body, visit the CGA Canada website.

These are the steps you need to take to become a CGA:

Translations

If your documents are not in English or French, you must send original documents along with notarized translations. To find a certified translator in Ontario, contact the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO). Alternatively, you can use a certified translator in your country. CGA Ontario requires the original translations and proof of the translator's certification.

Step 1) Download and complete an Initial Application Form

Visit the CGA Canada website to learn the specific details of CGA Canada's mutual recognition agreement with your accounting body. Download and complete the Initial Application form for your accounting body.

ACCA and CGA Canada Mutual Recognition Agreement

CPA Australia and CGA Canada Mutual Recognition Agreement

CPA Ireland and CGA Canada Mutual Recognition Agreement

Ordre des Experts-Comptables de France and CGA Canada Mutual Recognition Agreement

Step 2) Request a confirmation letter from your accounting association

Contact your accounting association and ask them to send you a letter confirming your current membership status. This letter may be called a Letter of Good Standing or a Membership Status Letter. Attach the letter to your Initial Application form. If you are already living in Ontario, send your completed Initial Application form together with the confirmation letter from your accounting body to CGA Ontario. There is no fee for this application.

If you are not living in Ontario, read the mutual recognition agreement that applies to you on the CGA website to find out where to send your application.

Step 3) Submit your academic transcripts to CGA

Contact your university and ask them to send an official sealed transcript of your grades directly to the CGA Ontario office. If you completed post-secondary courses in accounting or business through your accounting association, you must also have this organization send an official sealed transcript of your grades directly to CGA Ontario.

If any of these documents are not in English or French, you also need to provide CGA Ontario with notarized translations. To find a certified translator in Ontario, contact the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO). Alternatively, you can use a certified translator in your country. CGA requires the original translations and proof of the translator's certification.

Step 4) Complete Canadian tax and law course

If you have not completed Canadian college or university courses in business law and taxation within the past five years, you can meet this requirement through one of the following:

• Complete CGA Canada's online course Overview of Canadian Income Taxation and Law and submit your certificate of completion
• Complete the equivalent courses through a Canadian college or university and submit an application to CGA Ontario for a transfer credit; provide official sealed transcripts from the post-secondary institution where you complete the courses

Step 5) Complete the Professional Applications Reciprocity Evaluation (PARE) (members of CPA Australia only)

Members of CPA Australia must complete CGA Canada's online course Professional Applications Reciprocity Evaluation (PARE). Members of other accounting bodies with mutual recognition agreements with CGA are not required to complete this course.

Step 6) Submit an Application for Membership to CGA Ontario

Once you have completed the required course in Canadian business taxation and law and the Professional Applications Reciprocity Evaluation (PARE) (members of CPA Australia only), CGA Ontario will invite you to complete and submit an application for membership. Your application must include payment of your annual dues and an initiation fee (pro-rated, depending on when during the year you apply.) When your application is approved, CGA will notify you of your admission to membership, and you will have the right to use the CGA designation.

Please note that you are not permitted to practice public accounting in Ontario until you are granted a special licence to do so by CGA Ontario or another Ontario accounting regulatory body.