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Mandate and History

Mandate and History

Learn more about CPA Ontario's past, present and future

Mandate and History

CPA Ontario protects the public interest by ensuring its members, students, applicants and firms meet the highest standards of integrity and expertise.

Mandate

Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA Ontario) is the qualifying and regulatory body of Ontario’s Chartered Professional Accountants, students in the CPA program, applicants and firms. CPA Ontario protects the public interest through the promotion of the CPA profession’s high standards of qualification and the enforcement of its code of professional conduct. CPA Ontario works in partnership with the other provincial CPA bodies and CPA Canada to develop national standards and programs that are used as examples around the world.

Throughout their professional careers, Ontario CPAs are subject to ongoing regulation and oversight to protect the public interest, such as:

  1. Complying with the CPA Code of Professional Conduct.
  2. Meeting mandatory, annual continuing professional development requirements.
  3. Being subject to public oversight and discipline mechanisms.

CPAs providing accounting services to the public, or public accounting services, must do so through registered firms that are subject to practice inspections and ongoing professional liability insurance requirements.

To support its oversight activities, CPA Ontario has a comprehensive complaints investigation and discipline process. Complaints and other matters concerning the professional conduct of members, students, applicants and firms are dealt with on a timely basis.

History

Ontario’s accounting profession has a long and proud history dating back to 1879. From the province’s origins as an agricultural society to its emergence as an economic powerhouse, designated accountants have played a key role in shaping Ontario’s progress. The profession's history bridges all of this province’s major milestones.

Ontario accountants have a proven track record of innovation and reform but one thing has remained constant throughout: a commitment to ethics and integrity, internationally recognized high standards and protection of the public interest.

In 2014, Ontario's Certified General Accountants (CGAs), Certified Management Accountants (CMAs), and Chartered Accountants (CAs) took a major step forward by uniting together as Chartered Professional Accountants (CPAs) and CPA Ontario, advancing their commitment to the public and the profession.