Already qualified overseas? Your climb starts higher up.

If you hold a designation from a recognised body, most of the CPA education path is typically waived. The exam is not. Here is where you actually start, what is still required, and what it costs.

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WHERE YOU START

Much of the path is behind you. The exam is not.

This is the same climb every Canadian candidate makes, with the education stages removed. What is left is the part most internationally certified accountants have never done: writing a case under exam conditions.

Start by checking your own agreementCPA Canada lists every accounting body it holds a recognition agreement with, and what each one entitles you to.CPA Canada: International Credential Recognition →

Confirm your own requirements before you planWhat is waived depends on which body you qualified with and which province you are applying in. Members of bodies holding a mutual recognition agreement, reciprocal membership agreement or memorandum of understanding follow different rules from those without one, and some routes replace the CFE entirely. If your body is an IFAC member without an agreement in place, you may be required to sit challenge examinations. Confirm with your provincial body before committing time or money to any module.

A note on practical experienceThirty months of prescribed practical experience still applies, but internationally certified accountants can apply for an exemption based on experience already earned, at home or in Canada. Students registered through the accounting body outside Canada route generally do not report through PERT, and the exemption request is only assessed once you have enrolled in a CPA PEP module.

WHICH ROUTE IS YOURS

If you qualified in India, Pakistan or Nigeria

CPA Canada holds a memorandum of understanding with each of these bodies. In all three cases the education modules are waived and the exam is not. This is the group we work with most.

INDIA

ICAI

Memorandum of understanding

— Exempt from all CPA PEP modules

— Capstones not required, but strongly encouraged as CFE preparation

✓ CFE required — all three days

✓ Experience assessed; bridging may apply

PAKISTAN

ICAP & ICMAP

Memorandum of understanding

— Exempt from all CPA PEP modules

— Capstones not required, but encouraged as CFE preparation

✓ CFE required — all three days, three attempts

✓ Over two years post-designation experience means no further review

NIGERIA

ICAN

Effective 1 February 2025

— Exempt from all CPA PEP modules

— Capstones not required; Capstone 2 encouraged as CFE preparation

✓ CFE required — all three days, three attempts

✓ Degree plus the ICAN programme, or eight years of relevant experience

Qualified somewhere else? Confirm before you plan.Requirements differ sharply by body. Members of bodies holding a mutual recognition or reciprocal membership agreement, including the United States, follow different rules again. Check your own body with CPA Canada and your provincial body before you commit time or money to any module.

THE 2027 PROGRAM

What happens to these agreements is not published yet

Every route on this page is written against the CPA program as it stands today. The 2027 CPA Professional Program replaces it, and how the existing agreements carry across has not been set out.

What we know, and what we do notThe memoranda of understanding, mutual recognition agreements and reciprocal membership agreements above govern the current program. We do not yet know which of them will be restated, renegotiated or left unchanged for the 2027 program, nor what an internationally certified accountant will be exempt from under it. Anyone telling you otherwise is guessing. If your timeline runs close to the changeover, that uncertainty is the single biggest thing to plan around.

We are watching for it, and we will tell youWe follow CPA Canada and the provincial bodies on this closely, because it decides what our own international students need to do. The moment the agreements and exemptions for the 2027 program are published, we will work through what changes for each route and send it out.

Not sure which programme you will report under?Tell us where you qualified and when you expect to start, and we will tell you what we know about your route today.

Ask about your route →

THE GCPA TAKE

Should you take Capstone 2 if you are exempt?

Capstone 2 can be genuinely valuable, particularly if you qualified outside Canada and have never written a case in the style the CFE demands. That is the real gap for most internationally certified accountants, and Capstone 2 is one way to close it.

IF YOU JOIN OUR PROGRAMSkip the module

Put your time and energy into one place. Our program is exam-focused and efficient, and it covers the same ground faster. If Capstone 2 is optional for you, we do not recommend taking it alongside us. You would be paying twice to learn the same skill and splitting your attention while you do it.

IF YOU ARE NOT JOINING USTake the module

Do not walk into the CFE having never written a case under exam conditions. If you are preparing on your own without structured case practice and marking, Capstone 2 is worth the investment. It is far better than arriving at the exam cold.

EITHER WAY, BUY THIS

The Capstone 2 Review Materials Module

You do not need to enrol in the full module to get its materials. Request them separately from your provincial CPA body and you get the same content for a fraction of the fee.

HOW TO GET IT

Request it from your provincial CPA body

~$250plus tax

This is the single best-value purchase available to an exempt candidate, and it is especially worth it if you are writing Day 1.

YOU GET

The official feedback guides

Three Day 1 practice cases

Cases and solutions

Debriefing videos and webinars

Flash cards

YOU DO NOT GET

Feedback on your cases

The National Marking Centre hotline

Discussion boards

Workshop attendance

The feedback guides are the point.They are the marking standard for past CFE cases, which is what lets you debrief properly rather than guessing what the marker wanted. If you buy nothing else, buy these. To request them, email your provincial CPA body’s PEP enrolment address. CPA Western lists the Review Materials Module at the foot of its modules page. Enrolment is non-refundable and access is usually granted within a few business days.

What the full module gives youIts Day 2 and Day 3 practice cases are real past CFE exams, which makes them excellent. Its Day 1 cases are simulations rather than past papers, and students regularly find them an imperfect guide to the real Day 1. There is no facilitator and no new technical content.

We have written about all of it

How to Get CPA Canada Capstone 2 Review MaterialsStep by step, including who to emailRead the post →Should You Take CPA Canada Capstone 1 and 2?The full pros and consRead the post →CFE Day 1: Why Capstone 2 is Not ReliableWhy the Day 1 practice cases fall shortRead the post →CPA Canada Capstone 2 Study GuideGetting the most from the moduleRead the post →

STUDENT REVIEWS

Why students choose us

Reviews as they appear on our site. See all reviews →

“

Wanted to say thanks, I passed and got Gold Medal. Really appreciate your help over the past several years.

Justin

CFE Gold Medalist

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He coached and mentored me on CPA modules with dedication and enthusiasm, for which I am thankful and recommend him with conviction.

Mojgan

CPA Candidate

“

Good news, I want to inform you first my exam was great. Thanks to your help and our efforts together. I have never understood the basics which you helped a lot.

Matt

Student

The exam is the part that is left

You have done the technical work already. What the CFE tests is writing it under time pressure, in the form a marker credits. That is exactly what we teach.

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