Move to Canada as an Accountant to accelerate your career through a wide range of existing immigration programs. If you’re wondering about Canada’s career prospects for Accountants, you need not worry because this is an in-demand occupation. Moreover, qualified accountants can easily access a plethora of work opportunities in auditing, taxation, accounting, and financial management.
Move to Canada as an Accountant- Canada’s future prospects
Freshly graduated in accounts or practicing under a professional accountant body, there’s a lot for you to explore in Canada. This country truly values skilled and professional workers to the core. In fact, Canada comprises one of the most educated adult populations across the globe.
According to statistics, the population between the age group of 25 and 64 will account for 32 percent of bachelor’s degree holders. Approximately 62 percent of individuals also hold post-secondary degrees. Besides this, the Canadian workforce consists of a majority of people who will soon be reaching retirement. Therefore, Canada seeks to fill the vacant positions with a sufficient number of skilled people who are of prime working age.
Canadian immigration for Accountants- the primary reasons
Settling in Canada can be an amazing opportunity for internationally educated accountants. Explore the following reasons:
Accountants get a higher pay scale in Canada
Accountants in Canada generally receive a higher salary based on their seniority level and the province. However, accounting and auditing jobs in this country provide a higher salary range to individuals. Financial accountants in Canada, on average, get a salary of $35.75 per hour. On the other hand, professional Chartered Accountants get to earn around $60 per hour.
The Accounting profession in Canada is in-demand
Most Canadian provinces have a demand for Accountants, such as Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Quebec, and Nova Scotia.
The government’s job bank claims that Canadian accountants and financial auditors have significant chances of increased employment prospects in the country until 2028. This is also due to the overflowing demand for accountants and their lack of availability in Canada.
Moving to Canada as a qualified accountant through immigration pathways
Around 80 immigration programs exist for accountants seeking Canadian immigration. However, the most prominent among them include the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Provincial Nominee Programs, Quebec Regular Skilled Worker Program, and Atlantic Immigration Program.
Federal Skilled Worker Program
Accountants with international qualifications can move to Canada by acquiring permanent residency using the Express Entry program called the Federal Skilled Worker Program. In this program, applicants achieve a ranking and get selected through their profile’s score under the Comprehensive Ranking System and not based on their profession.
The CRS scores comprise various factors, including age, education, language abilities, and work experience. They receive additional points if they have an employment offer, Canadian work experience, provincial nomination, or educational credentials.
Provincial Nominee Programs
Candidates with the right skills, and experience can access the Provincial Nominee Programs as Canadian provinces and territories send a nomination to suitable PR applicants. Only candidates with appropriate skills, qualifications, and experience who can potentially address the labor shortage needs will receive this nomination. Essentially, almost all Canadian provinces and territories function through their own PNPs, excluding Nunavut and Quebec.
Moreover, the Express Entry PNP stream selects candidates based on their CRS scores. However, other PNP streams provide provinces the opportunity to nominate skilled workers in particular in-demand occupations or NOC codes. Additionally, provinces looking forward to welcoming qualified financial accountants, auditors, or bookkeepers might have significant chances of receiving a provincial nomination.
Quebec Regular Skilled Worker Program
Quebec welcomes individuals with the preferred skills, training, experience, and language proficiency to work in the province and further settle here as well. Aspiring candidates can apply under the Quebec Regular Skilled Worker Program by submitting an Expression of Interest, regardless of their occupation. However, the province will only select suitable candidates based on a variety of factors, including experience, educational qualification, language ability in French or English, and age. Moreover, in the case of selection, individuals will also receive a Quebec Selection Certificate and further apply for permanent residence with IRCC.
Atlantic Immigration Program
The Atlantic Immigration Program enables skilled foreign workers and international students who have already completed their Canadian education to permanently settle in Atlantic provinces such as New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and Labrador.
AIP doesn’t select candidates based on occupation. Furthermore, to qualify for AIP, candidates will need to display at least one year of full-time work experience. Also, the work experience must be a paid one. A total of 1,560 hours within the previous five years along with fulfilling other language requirements and a full-time employment offer under an employer from Atlantic Canada.
Canadian Accountants- the need to work as a CPA
For Accountants in Canada, the highest professional designation is Chartered Professional Accountant. This designation can lead an individual to executive and advisory positions in fields such as accounting, business, and finance. However, it is not at all mandatory to work as a Canadian Accountant.
Several job positions do not require a CPA designation, and these are entry-level or mid-level positions only. These include occupations like accounting technicians, staff accountants, bookkeepers, and accounts receivable clerks. Also, several Canadian employers tend to recruit applicants based on a bachelor’s degree in accounting, BBA, and MBA. In the case of an applicant acquiring education outside Canada, they will need to present the Educational Credentials Assessment to analyze the validity of foreign credentials and their equivalence to Canadian ones. As far as CPAs are concerned, most companies will prefer them when recruiting for senior positions in finance, accounting, and auditing. Although CPA is not an essential requirement for accountants, it can certainly lead to faster career growth. Apart from this, it will also enable individuals to attain jobs at the senior level or executive positions. These could be chief financial officers, comptrollers, treasurers, and auditing managers.
Becoming a CPA by acquiring international training as an Accountant
The process of becoming a CPA will largely depend on your existing qualifications and certifications for an accountant who has acquired international education. Additionally, in specific cases, individuals might even require to restart their CPA procedure. These could be cases related to individuals with graduate or undergraduate degrees who don’t hold an international accounting body membership. In such a scenario, individuals might have to start the certification process for CPA all over again.
In another situation, individuals holding any designation related to Chartered Accountants or Chartered Professional Accountants in a different country might also qualify for a CPA job position in Canada faster, either through an MOU or reciprocal agreement.
Obtaining a CPA designation- individuals lacking international CA or CPA credential
There are a few situations in which individuals will need to begin afresh with their CPA certification; they’re as follows:
- In case individuals acquire their bachelor’s degrees or master’s degrees from outside Canada, they are equivalent to Canadian degrees. Also, they’re not members of an accounting body with professional relevance.
- They hold bachelor’s or master’s degrees from a different country (not Canada), and they’re equivalent to Canadian education at the university level. Besides this, they hold membership under an accounting body without an MOU, or CPA Canada agreement.
Owing to each circumstance, the individuals must finish the CPA Professional Educational Program, clear the common final examination, and obtain practical experience to attain a CPA certification.
Let’s dive deeper into the CPA certification process.
CPA certification process- an overview
Individuals must acknowledge a number of factors when they begin their CPA certification process. These include registration under a provincial CPA body, credential assessment submission, language proficiency, a CPA PEP, the Common Final Examination, practical experience, and CPA designation.
Registering with a provincial CPA body
As a student, the foremost step will be to create a profile and register under a provincial CPA body. Next, they must also pay for a transcript assessment and submit the CPA PEP application. Candidates must also visit the official website of CPA Canada for any further information. Usually, provinces permit to the beginning of the transcript assessment and enrolment procedure for a PEP before coming to the country.
Credential Assessment submission
Candidates will need to submit their academic as well as professional credentials to the provincial or territorial CPA body where they wish to reside and settle. The CPA body in the province will determine the process for document submission.
For example, individuals can’t submit foreign academic credentials directly to CPA Ontario. Hence, they must proceed with the World Education Services. It provides International Credential Advantage Package and evaluation for each course.
Also, provincial CPA bodies of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta demand foreign transcripts and their assessment through the CPA Western School of Business. The provincial CPA body will further assess the transcript to determine an individual’s academic eligibility. Additionally, it will also check whether they have completed the subjects required before entering the CPA Professional Education Program. In the case of incomplete educational subjects, they will receive suggestions from the provincial body to mend the gap before entering the program.
Language skills
The main language for CPA PEP is English. Hence, individuals must have English language proficiency as a pre-condition for admission to the program. Each province will have its separate requirements, and they will be different. However, the general requirement will be the language test outcome submission. Individuals must score at least CLB 8 in four language skills, including reading, writing, speaking, and listening. French language proficiency proof will be essential for entering a CPA program in Quebec.
Exploring the CPA Professional Education Program
The CPA Professional Education Program aligns with the Federation of Accountants and follows its standards of education and assessment. Candidates must make sure that they register with the Provincial CPA body before they begin their CPA PEP. This program consists of two modules, including elective and capstone. Each module has two modules of its name. Additionally, these core modules focus on six areas of competencies. They are as follows:
- Financial reporting
- Management Accounting
- Strategy and governance
- Finance
- Taxation
- Audit and assuring
For the elective module, people can select any two subjects: performance, management, assurance, finance, and tax. Students under CPA Public Accounting don’t have many options and will have to stick to Assurance and Tax. On the other hand, the Capsule modules merge the main technical information with the competencies learned during the previous modules to finalize the standard examination. If individuals need to work part-time to fulfill the work requirements for the program, they will complete the CPA PEP in at least two years. Only after this, they’ll be able to achieve their CPA designation.
Cracking the Common Final Examination
The Common Final Examination requires the students to dive deeper into solving the business cases and also display their competency level in the program’s technical areas.
Demonstrating relevant practical experience
The Canadian CPA designation requires candidates to possess relevant practical experience based on competency. In order to qualify for the CPA designation, they must display a 30-month relevant professional accounting experience, which is paid and under supervision. However, for Quebec, only 24 months of experience will do.
The practical experience can only be acknowledged once you have a mentor or guide for CPA. However, prior experience of about twelve months within the last seven years will count only if one fulfills at least one proficiency level in the two technical areas of CPA.
Achieving a CPA Designation
After completing the Common Final Examination and attaining practical experience, candidates must proceed with registration with a local CPA body and further utilize the Chartered Professional Accountant Designation. Once you begin using your designation, you must be able to pay the yearly membership fees and finish off with Professional Development Programs. Moreover, they must strictly follow all the relevant guidelines.
Achieving a Canadian CPA for candidates with an existing CA/CPA designation from a partner country
A few countries comprise MOUs or reciprocal agreements with Canadian Chartered Professional Accountants. As a result, it gets simpler for CPAs and CAs with foreign training to achieve Canadian CPA certification. These agreements can be further classified into the following:
- Mutual Recognition Agreement– This agreement applies to CPAs having a U.S. registration and CPCs with registration in Mexico. They qualify for a CPA designation, and they can also begin with their accounting in Canada. However, they must have a state board license and also fulfill the basic requirements related to education and experience. Additionally, the ‘Ordre des Experts-Comptables de France’ members will have the opportunity to practice in Quebec.
- Reciprocal Membership Agreement– According to this agreement, members must have a good connection with international accounting bodies to gain eligibility for CPA designation in Canada. Moreover, they must be able to fulfill the essential education and experience requirements to obtain the designation in countries, such as Hong Kong, South Africa, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, England and Wales, Ireland, and Scotland.
- Memorandum of Understanding– This agreement states that members with strong ties with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in countries like India and Pakistan don’t have to pass the CPA PEP modules. However, they must certainly clear the Common Final Examination to obtain their CPA designation in Canada. Although it is not compulsory to undergo the Capstone modules but completing them will be more beneficial.
Time duration to acquire a Canadian CPA status
Usually, individuals will take at least two to three years to finish the CPA PEP. These years will also involve the CFE exam and becoming a Canadian CPA. This time excludes the period for undergraduate degree completion.
Individuals under CPA or CA registration with a partner country can quickly transform their status to a CPA designation as the process is usually not lengthy.
Move to Canada as a Canadian accountant for a higher salary range
Canadian provinces pay different salaries to accountants in Canada depending on their work experience and expertise in specific areas. Canadian government’s Job Bank reveals that financial accountants and auditors receive a median salary of $35.75 per hour in Canada. In Northwest Territories, they can receive the highest pay range of up to $51.37 per hour. Similarly, Alberta and Saskatchewan also offer a median salary range of up to $42 per hour and $39.42 per hour, respectively.
Per the CPA survey in 2019, salaries tend to be really high for CPAs, and their annual compensation for all sectors and regions turned out to be $112,000.
Hour median wage for bookkeepers and accounting technicians is $24.04 per hour. These job positions offer the highest salaries in Nunavut at $51.21 per hour, in Alberta at $27 per hour, and in Northwest Territories at $42.82 per hour.
Newcomers can access Canadian accounting jobs
If you have the necessary international qualification to be an accountant in Canada, you can jumpstart your unique career path. Find an appropriate accounting job profile in Canada even before moving to the country through the following ways:
Comprehending Canadian job market needs
Canada demands different skills and expertise when it comes to accounting jobs. Hence, it becomes all the more important to research Canada’s job market needs. The first thing to do is to analyze the skills, expertise, qualification, and work experience required in accounting job postings. Doing so will enable you to understand what is in demand in terms of accounting jobs in this country. Generally, owning a CPA designation is not essential for entry-level and mid-level positions. However, it might be possible that a few employers prefer candidates who are working toward obtaining a CPA designation.
Those who seek a CPA designation must begin their process by registering with a provincial body and proceeding with their CPA PEP modules. This way, they will be able to access a variety of jobs. Additionally, the work experience will also contribute to a professional experience of 30 months to shift to a CPA certification.
Live up to the Canadian accounting standards
Newcomers must enhance their skills and qualifications including the following:
- Public Sector Accounting Board
- International Financial Reporting Standards
- Accounting Standards for Non-Profit Organizations
- Public Sector Accounting Board
- Accounting Standard for Private Enterprises
To acquire Canadian accounting jobs, candidates need to present themselves as strong contenders. They can do so with the help of enhancing their certification levels and upgrading the programs. Essentially, Canada’s job market attaches value to software certifications, including PeopleSoft ERP, Qlikview, MS Excel, SAP HR, and Finance. Other high-value tools include report-writing tools like Power BI and Cognos, as they are prominent in the Canadian job market. Additionally, tax knowledge and popular accounting software tools like Xero and Quickbooks can also make you extraordinary.
Create an accounting resume using a Canadian format
Usually, Canada offers three chief resume formats, such as functional, chronological, and combination. The foremost thing to look for while choosing a resume format for Canadian accounting jobs is to analyze your experience and if there are any gaps in your work experience. These factors will determine the best format for your resume.
Moreover, Canadian employers often use an Applicants Tracking System to select the most appropriate resumes aligning with their job position.
The second step would be to use more keywords and phrases according to the job posting or job description. Doing so will enable the recruiters to find your resume in their search practices. Next, aspiring workers can also customize their resumes according to each job post.
Explore job opportunities through other platforms
Some of the most recognized job platforms include Indeed, Monster, Job Bank, Glassdoor, GrabJobs, and LinkedIn. You could also put in extra effort by searching for suitable employers and further making a list. Next, visit the employer’s professional profiles (on LinkedIn) and other career pages.
Strengthen your professional connections
Canada has a professional work culture, and it is all the more essential to broaden the networking chain. The Canadian job market is vast, and once you develop a strong professional network, you would find it easier to access this market. Moreover, newcomers must actively extend their network by connecting with LinkedIn professionals and attending professional events frequently. Forming these kinds of relationships will enable you to gain insights into the current recruitment practices of employers and receive referrals as well. Also, you can maintain your ties by connecting through emails and social media accounts. Since not all job postings are publicly advertised, you get to know about them through your networking only.
Procedure for hiring eligible employees for accounting jobs in Canada
For open job positions, Canadian employers post job advertisements on their websites or job portals. However, employers hire for most job positions, between 65 to 80 percent, through their professional networking. Next, the recruiter will connect with the interviewee through an official screening session and check his or her expertise, skills, education, and work experience.
Post the official screening; candidates might have to undergo several interview rounds related to a culture test interview and other skill tests. Mostly, they will have to display soft skills and other relevant technical skills. If they need to be selected for the specific job position, they must receive an employment offer and also undergo an intense background verification. Furthermore, they will get a chance for negotiation.
Moving to Canada as an accountant in Canada with an international qualification
Most Canadian provinces prefer accountants with international qualifications because of a lack of proper employees available in the local Canadian market. Hence, if you’re a Canadian accountant with international qualifications, moving to Canada and settling there permanently will be easier and simpler. Moreover, if you seek a CPA Designation, the certification process will take a significant amount of time. But it will also lead an individual to apply for senior-level accounting occupations.
Conclusion
Accountancy jobs in Canada are among the most in-demand occupations. Hence, one thing is for sure these jobs are available on a larger scale in the country. However, what is challenging is to acquiring the right set of skills and being proactive in terms of submitting your resume or CV in the right place. This article is getting all the details of the numerous methods which can eventually land you a Canadian accounting job.
