(Posted July 2026)
The CPA Professional Program task force presented updates regarding the upcoming CPA Professional Program at the Canadian Accounting Academics Association (CAAA) conference in June. Here are the highlights:
Practical Experience
There are eight eligible CPA training areas – Financial Reporting, Management Accounting, Assurance & Trust, Taxation, Finance, Strategy or Governance, Non-Financial Reporting, and Data (including Big Data).
CPA candidates pursuing the licensure pathway, which would provide them with a Public Accounting license, must gain all experience in the Financial Reporting and Assurance & Trust training areas.
There will be three foundational task statements that must be met during the 8 months of Foundational Work Experience and then other task statements for the 16 months of Professional Work Experience depending on training area. There are also three overall task statements for this area – Professional Skepticism, Ethical Decision Making, and Communication. Candidates will need to provide completion or competency for each of the task statements.
Knowledge Assessment (KA)
The KA exam will be a 5-hour exam with 150 objective-format questions. Objective-format questions include multiple choice, multiple response, fill in the blank, etc. This exam will not be disclosed publicly.
Approximately one hour of the exam will be in Financial Reporting, one hour will be in Management Decision-Making, and the remaining three hours will be in the other specific competencies and the Foundational competencies (see Competency Map 2.0 for more details).
The exam will be split into two sections – a 3-hour section and a 2-hour section, with a short cognitive break in between those sections. The sections will not necessarily align with the topical break-down noted above.
Candidates will not have access to reference materials (CPA Handbook, Income Tax Act) during this exam.
Foundational Development (FD)
The FD exam will be a 5-hour exam that is composed entirely of objective-format questions and testlets. The exam focuses on decision making within all ten specific competency areas.
Objective-format questions may include multiple choice, multiple response, fill in the blank, etc. Testlets are short (approximately 1-page) case narratives followed by objective-format questions pertaining to the case narrative.
This exam will not be disclosed publicly. Candidates will have access to reference materials (CPA Handbook, Income Tax Act) during this exam.
CPA Core – Common (Professional Final Exam Part I)
The Common portion of PFE Part I is a 3-hour exam that will include several cases (approximately 2-3 cases, 60 minutes or 120 minutes). These cases are expected to have directed requireds.
Only 1 exam per year (out of the three offerings) will be publicly disclosed. Candidates will have access to reference materials (CPA Handbook, Income Tax Act) during this exam.
CPA Core – Licensure (Professional Final Exam Part I)
Candidates who choose to take the Licensure stream will write a 5-hour PFE Part I exam consisting of the Common exam plus a single 2-hour Licensure case.
Candidates who are unsuccessful on the Licensure case may still pass Core-Common and continue in the program. , choosing to attempt licensure post-designation. They may also decide to rewrite the full exam to gain licensure. Candidates who are only successful on the Licensure portion (and not the Common portion) will have to rewrite the entire exam again to pass.
Only 1 exam per year (out of the three offerings) will be publicly disclosed. Candidates will have access to reference materials (CPA Handbook, Income Tax Act) during this exam).
CPA Leadership (Professional Final Exam Part II)
This exam is a single 5-hour case that will be written as a single block of time. The CPA Professional Program’s goal is to gradually develop judgment and decision-making skills as a candidate gains practical experience. This case will introduce more ambiguity with requireds and will require candidates to prioritize what is most important to users to help develop those skills. The case will have more to do than what is possible within the time constraints, and so good time management and prioritization skills will be a necessity.
Only 1 exam per year (out of the three offerings) will be publicly disclosed. Candidates will have access to reference materials (CPA Handbook, Income Tax Act) during this exam.
CPA Professional Readiness (Professional Final Exam Part III)
This module and exam may only be completed once a candidate has completed their practical experience. It is the final step before receiving the CPA designation.
The exam is three hours in length and consists of a 2-hour strategy case and a 1-hour ethics case. Ethics cases focus on the CPA ethical mindset rather than classic philosophical dilemmas. These cases will involve significant ambiguity with requireds and candidates will have to identify issues and explain how to resolve them without direct triggers.
Only 1 exam per year (out of the three offerings) will be publicly disclosed. Candidates will have access to reference materials (CPA Handbook, Income Tax Act) during this exam.
Overall
The CPA Professional Program is significantly different from the current program. It will encompass more judgment and prioritization skills than are required in the current program. Densmore is working on prep courses for each of the modules/exams to help candidates prepare for and pass each step of the way. Stay tuned for more details as they are made available.
We encourage candidates to complete the current program if possible, as complete information is not yet available for the new program.
Summary of exams:
| Exam | Length | Question Format | Reference Materials Allowed? | Publicly Disclosed? |
| Knowledge Assessment | 5 hours | 150 objective-format questions | No | No |
| Foundational Development | 5 hours | Objective-format questions and testlets | Yes | No |
| CPA Core – Common | 3 hours | 2-3 cases, 60 minutes or 120 minutes | Yes | Yes; 1 exam per year |
| CPA Core – Licensure | 5 hours | Additional 2-hour single case taken after the common portion Must pass the full 5-hour bundled exam to obtain licensure | Yes | Yes; 1 exam per year |
| CPA Leadership | 5 hours | Single integrated time-pressured case with high ambiguity | Yes | Yes; 1 exam per year |
| CPA Professional Readiness | 3 hours | 2 cases: 2-hour strategic case 1-hour ethics case. Must complete all practical experience prior to taking. | Yes | Yes; 1 exam per year |