Practical Experience falls within the regulatory division of CPA Alberta. It is the mandate of Practical Experience to protect the public by ensuring that candidates obtain the appropriate practical experience in order to be admitted into membership.
Candidates are registrants of CPA Alberta. This means that candidates have all of the same duties and obligations that designated members of the profession and professional accounting firms have to comply with. This includes all of the applicable obligations and requirements set out in the Chartered Professional Accountants Act (the Act); the Bylaws, Directives, and Resolutions made pursuant to the Act; and the CPA Alberta Rules of Professional Conduct. Those duties and obligations include complying with all the requirements of CPA Alberta, including the underlying obligation to be ethical in all aspects of conduct, both professionally and personally.
Candidates can obtain their experience in one of two routes or a combination of the two. The pre-approved program route (PPR) involves a structured training path, where the employer and CPA Alberta have worked together to develop a program that will satisfy the Practical Experience Requirements in 30 months. The reporting requirements for candidates in PPR is streamlined in that CPA Alberta evaluates the experience at the time the candidate completes the program. This streamlined process exists because CPA Alberta monitors PPRs once every three years to ensure they continue to operate as approved.
The experience verification route (EVR) is not as streamlined but is much more flexible in that it allows candidates to work anywhere as long as they are gaining qualifying experience. Candidates in EVR are required to submit detailed practical experience reports to CPA Alberta. The Practical Experience team evaluates their experience and determines what competencies have been achieved, and provides guidance on how to meet the necessary competencies.
All candidates, regardless of their path, are required to be mentored throughout their term of practical experience by an Alberta CPA.
Whether a candidate obtains their experience through the EVR or the PPR route does not impact their application to membership. If a candidate is planning on providing professional or public accounting services post-qualification (i.e. once they become a CPA), the practical experience stream that they choose may impact their eligibility to register a professional accounting firm (PAF). More information can be found on our website or by reaching out to CPA Alberta.
