LDProfessional Final Exam 2
CPA Leadership, the longest case in the program

One comprehensive case, five hours. It is the only exam in the new program CPA will disclose publicly, and the only case exam CPA describes as time pressured.

Join the mailing list →The whole program

FormatOne comprehensive case

Length5 hours

Reference materialsHandbooks, ITA, ETA

First sittingSeptember 15, 2027

What the exam looks like

You decide your own approach, which issues matter most, and how to structure your response.

Format
One comprehensive case, written in a single block
Length
5 hours, the longest single case in the program
Case difficulty
Moderately complex, with limited direction and less prescriptive requirements
Time pressure
Yes. The only case exam CPA describes that way
Reference materials
Handbooks, Income Tax Act, Excise Tax Act
Publicly disclosed
Yes — the only disclosed exam in the program
Module starts
June 26, 2027
First sitting
September 15, 2027

The content and how it is weighted

The weights move away from the technical areas and towards judgment.

TOPIC WEIGHTSCPA Leadership
Strategy, risk management and innovation
20 to 35%
Ethics and governance
15 to 30%
Management decision-making
15 to 30%
Data analytics and finance
10 to 20% each
Assurance, financial reporting, non-financial reporting and tax
Up to 10% each
lower bound
upper bound
Being the disclosed exam mattersEvery other exam in the new program is non-disclosed, so there will be no bank of past papers to practise on. Leadership is the exception. That makes released Leadership cases the closest thing candidates will have to the past-exam practice the current CFE allows, and it is worth planning your preparation around them.

What this exam actually asks of you

What changes when the requirements stop telling you what to do.

Prioritise, connect, and land it

Leadership is less technical than Core, but it is still a case. The work moves to critical thinking and judgment: deciding which issues matter most, connecting your analyses to each other, and arriving at a recommendation that holds together. There is deliberately more to do than the time allows, so what you choose to leave out is part of what is being assessed.

Coming 2027
GCPA resources for CPA Leadership

We are building our coaching for the new program against the published blueprints, the same way we built the CFE and PEP courses. Nothing is for sale yet. Join the mailing list and we will email you once, when this one is ready to buy.

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One email per course, nothing else. The list closes once every course has launched.

Everything we have published on the new program

The program is new and CPA is still releasing detail, so this is general to the whole transition as well as to this exam.

October 6, 2026Analyzing the new CPA Professional Program exam blueprintsEvery exam in the new program: format, length, topic weights, and which ones let you use reference materials.Read the article →October 4, 2025Everything you need to know about the 2027 CPA Professional ProgramThe full breakdown: transition rules, module structure, exam formats and every key date.Read the article →August 23, 2025Deadlines and transition rules you need to knowThe five updates that matter most, and what they mean if you are mid-program.Read the article →
ON YOUTUBEWatch the walkthroughsFree, no signup. Updated as CPA Canada releases more.
▶CPA Canada 2027: Why the Leadership Exam Is Different▶CPA Canada 2027: Less Technical, But Harder Than You Think?▶CPA Canada 2027: New Exam Blueprints Finally Released!
See the whole channel →

Source: the CPA Professional Program Exam Guide, issued August 27, 2026. We update these pages as CPA publishes more. Back to the CPA Professional Program →