Skip To Main Content
Close-up of a young man’s hand shaking an older man’s hand, above which they are each holding one end of a rolled up certificate or diploma.

CPA Canada’s accreditation and recognition standards for post-secondary institutions

Learn about the standards that Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) has developed for post-secondary institutions (PSIs) to educate future CPAs.

PSIs are important partners who provide education to future CPAs. CPA Canada has developed a set of national standards to help these PSIs develop and deliver appropriate training.

National standards

CPA National Recognition and Accreditation Standards for Post-Secondary Institutions (updated January 1, 2020) features the following types of national standards:

  • Recognition standards: These are used to review, assess and approve prerequisite learning for admission to the CPA Professional Education Program (CPA PEP) through a baccalaureate degree program or more advanced program at an academic institution.
  • Accreditation standards: These are used to review, assess and approve graduate programs that deliver some or all of the CPA PEP through programs equivalent to the CPA profession’s programs.

Provincial and regional education bodies will use these standards to assess courses and programs of post-secondary institutions. In partnership with the CPA profession, PSIs work to deliver CPA education in two ways:

  • prerequisite courses that meet the knowledge requirements for admission to the CPA PEP
  • partial or full CPA PEP through graduate programs equivalent to the profession’s programs that meet the profession’s competency requirements