Membership Application Guide – Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA) & Reciprocal Membership Agreements (RMA) Applicants

You may apply for membership with CPABC if you are a fully qualified member in good standing of an international accounting body that holds a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) or Reciprocal Membership Agreement (RMA) with CPA Canada.

1. Review CPABC’s website for MRA and RMA Agreements & their Eligibility Requirements
2. MRA & RMA Applicants to CPABC must demonstrate that they meet the requirement as outlined in CPABC Bylaw 501(8)(b)

• You may start and return to your online application as many times as necessary to complete the application.
• If you do not submit your completed application within 14 days, any documents you uploaded will be purged to protect your privacy and you will be required to upload them again.
• To submit an application to CPABC, you will need to pay the Application Fee ($750 plus applicable taxes, non-refundable)
• You will receive an email from CPABC after the application fee has been paid confirming submission of your application
• Please allow 6-8 weeks for CPABC to process your application after the application form and all required documents have been received.
• Once your membership in CPABC is conditionally approved, you will receive an email with instructions on paying applicable member dues.  Upon payment, you will be admitted as a member in CPABC and may use the CPA designation.

Create a profile through CPABC’s Online Services portal. Click on “Membership Application – MRA/RMA”.  Follow the prompts to access the online application form.

NOTE: If you already have a non-member CPABC Online Services profile, please contact cpabcapplications@bccpa.ca for assistance with updating your profile to obtain access to the online application form.

You will need access to a printer and a scanner to submit required documents.

If you do not submit your completed application within 14 days, any documents you uploaded will be purged to protect your privacy and you will be required to upload them again.

Questionnaire

The information on this page is required to confirm your eligibility under an MRA/RMA.

MRA applicants only:

A current and detailed resume must be uploaded before you can continue through the application process.

Transcript of exam results from your MRA accounting body: You can upload this document as part of the application process or it can be sent directly to CPABC by your accounting body. Additional transcripts may also be required. CPABC will notify you by email of any additional required transcripts.

Profile

Enter your personal information by clicking on the pencil icon. 

All applicants are required to provide proof of legal name. The following documents are accepted for legal name verification:

• Passport
• Permanent Resident Card
• Birth Certificate
• Canadian Driver’s License
• Marriage Certificate
• Change of Legal Name Certificate

Please click the Browse button to select document for upload. Multiple documents must be combined into one file for upload. Valid file formats are PDF, JPG, JPEG, PNG or GIF – file size cannot exceed 5 MB.

If there is any discrepancy between the name recorded in our system and your supporting document, upload your supporting document and contact CPABC at cpabcapplications@bccpa.ca. Do not proceed further with your membership application until CPABC confirms your identity, updates your record and notifies you via email that you may continue with your application.

Home Address

Click on the pencil icon to update your home address information.

CPABC Bylaw 508 requires members to provide current contact information. CPABC collects and uses this information for the purposes of fulfilling its objects under section 3 of the Chartered Professional Accountants Act. Members are required to update their contact information immediately upon any changes.

Employment Information

Click on the pencil icon to update your employer information. 

If your employer is not listed, select the box indicating “My Employer/business is not listed” to submit an add employer request containing your employer’s information including name, address, email address and phone number. 

You may continue with and submit your application for review; CPABC will update your employment information accordingly.

Character Declaration

As per Bylaw 500 (3) applicants must satisfy CPABC’s Membership Committee that they are of good character in order to be admitted to membership.

Answer the questions in this section accurately and completely. We will notify you if you are required to submit additional information to CPABC to assess your suitability for admission to membership.

Once you have completed the form, download and print your Character Declaration.  Applicants must provide an original (wet) signature on the Character Declaration. If you are having difficulty providing an original signature; please contact cpabcapplications@bccpa.ca for further assistance.

Scan and upload your fully completed Character Declaration.  

Application Review

Before submitting your application, please review the information and answers that you have provided.

Application Fee and Submission

The final step in the application submission process is paying the application fee ($750 plus applicable taxes). The application fee is non-refundable.

Once you have paid the application fee, your application will be submitted to the CPABC Application Team for review. All applications are reviewed in the order in which they are received.

Please allow 6-8 weeks for CPABC to process your application.

Additional Required Documents

MRA Applicants

Certificate of State Board Membership Form (US)*

Certification of membership with IMCP and COMPIC (Mexico)*

*These documents are required to be submitted directly to CPABC by the membership body. It is your responsibility to submit the necessary forms to the membership body for completion.

If the membership body does not wish to complete CPABC’s Certificate of Membership form, they may issue their own letter confirming all details as required under the MRA.

International Practical Experience Verification form. This form is to be submitted by the signatory to CPABC directly.  If that is not possible, you may complete the form, have it notarized and then submit it via email to cpabcapplications@bccpa.ca.

RMA Applicants

Certification of Membership Form. This document is required to be submitted directly to CPABC by the membership body. It is your responsibility to submit the necessary forms to the membership body for completion.

If the membership body does not wish to complete CPABC’s Certificate of Membership form, they may issue their own letter confirming all details as required under the RMA.

Conditional Approval

Once you receive an email notice that your application has been conditionally approved, you must pay your CPABC member dues. Member Dues are automatically pro-rated at the time of application approval.

Use of the CPA designation is not permitted until confirmation of membership dues payment to CPABC is received. If dues are not paid within 30 days from the application approval date, the approval will be revoked and your application closed.

For more information regarding membership dues, please reference the current membership dues schedule.

MRA/RMA Post-Admission Requirement

Membership granted under a MRA or RMA is conditional upon completion of one of the following Post-Admission programs within the first two years of membership:

• CPA Reciprocity PD Program (CPARPD)
• CPA Reciprocity Education and Examination Program (CPARE)

Registration for either program is not possible prior to achieving membership. Registration information will be provided to newly admitted members after payment of member dues.

CPABC may verify the accuracy of information you provide in your application for admission to membership, including addendum submissions. If you provide a false or misleading application, CPABC may deny you admission to membership or cancel your membership.

You may not use the CPA designation until all aspects of the application process are complete, including approval and payment of membership dues. This application is limited to membership in CPABC. An application for a practice license must be made separately to the CPABC Public Practice department (publicpractice@bccpa.ca).

By becoming a member of CPABC, you undertake to comply with the CPA Act [SBC 2015], CPABC Bylaws, Bylaw Regulations and the CPABC Code of Professional Conduct, as may be amended from time to time.

The information on this form is collected by CPABC under the authority of the CPA Act [SBC 2015] and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act [RSBC 1996] for the purpose of processing your application for membership with CPABC. Upon admission to membership, this information will form part of your member record, which will be used by CPABC to administer and regulate your membership with CPABC; provide services under section 3 of the CPA Act; develop new, or evaluate and make improvements to existing programs, services and products. Should you have any questions about the collection of this information, please contact: Associate Director, Membership Registration, 800-555 West Hastings Street Vancouver, BC, 604-872-7222

CPABC’s Membership Directory is available to the public and displays members’ preferred name, first name, last name, designation and city of employment.  If you have a valid reason why your information should not be included, please contact the Privacy Officer (privacy@bccpa.ca).

See CPABC’s Privacy Statement or contact privacy@bccpa.ca for more information.