Students must have a University degree. Following the completion of a degree students would generally complete a post graduate program CPA Canada has developed called the CPA Professional Education Program (CPA PEP); this Program involves going through a number of modules and then writing and passing the CFE (Common Final Exam).

The first 2 modules, Core 1 and Core 2 cover all of the various competencies students are responsible to know and are relevant for all students pursuing a CPA; the main focus of Core 1 is financial reporting and the chief focus of Core 2 is management accounting.  Students would then choose to do 2 elective modules form among the following areas: Assurance, Taxation, Finance and Performance Management.

Each of the four modules involves passing an exam. After you have passed the exams you would then go on to Capstone 1. The main focus of capstone 1 is completing a business case which students work on as a group rather than individually. For this module there is no exam; however the student group is required to submit a report and present it.

After Capstone 1 students would do Capstone 2 which involves writing practice cases (including a mock exam) which are debriefed and intended to help you get through the CFE. There is no final exam for Capstone 2; however students need to make a reasonable attempt in order to go on to the CFE.

Students who have a degree in accounting and have completed 120 credit hours are generally able to go directly into PEP.  However if the student’s degree is not in accounting the student can make up for missing prerequisites required for admission to PEP through  the CPA Professional Education Program (CPA PEP). CPA PREP is an accelerated bridging program that is delivered part-time through distance learning by the provincial (or in some cases regional) bodies.

For further information on the requirements for entering PEP as well as PREP we would suggest that students visit the CPA Canada website or provincial websites.

There are various universities which offer Masters or Diploma programs that have been accredited to offer all or part of PEP.  Students who participate in these programs would be exempt from all or some of the PEP modules.

One downside is the cost. Many of these programs cost several thousand dollars. Furthermore they generally involve spending more time at university which may delay starting to work and earn money. Also we have spoken to some of the students who participated in these programs who were concerned that they would be going on to the write CFE without going through the same preparation as students who completed the PEP module exams offered directly through CPA Canada.

No you do not need a job. As a matter of fact if you don’t yet have a job, passing the exams leading to a CPA may help you get one as it will improve your resume.

No Canadian students must take the modules although there are some exceptions for some international students who can write final exams only and are not required to take the modules.

For further details please visit the CPA Ontario or CPA Western School of Business websites.

Yes. There are deadlines for enrolling in all of the modules.  It is important for students to refer to the respective Provincial Institute module schedule to find out these dates (e.g. CPA Ontario for Ontario students or the CPA Western School of Business if you are in a western province), so as not to be disappointed and miss an exam sitting, simply because a deadline was missed. These schedules provide the enrollment period for each exam.

People who wish to write the CFE in May/June must complete Capstone 1 in the winter prior to the CFE and people writing in September must complete Capstone 1 in the spring prior to the CFE.

There are actually a number of benefits to doing the exams only rather than doing the modules. Firstly, there is a large cost savings.  The cost of doing all 4 modules is over $5,000 whereas the cost of writing the Exams is under $2,000.

Secondly, the modules require a major time commitment as students must submit assignments (e.g. cases) throughout the modules. This can be challenging for students who are balancing PEP with work.

Thirdly, it normally takes 2 years to get through all of the modules; if one only writes the Exams one can write the CFE and be completely finished in only one year and a bit. Also if the CFE is written within one year of starting the program there is less time for students to forget important knowledge required for the CFE.

The modules will be about 20% shorter than under the current system.

Yes - you can enter the new program but you would first need to pass a Knowledge Assessment Exam to ensure that you have sufficient knowledge to begin the first module.  This replaces PREP under the current system.

There are not specific courses that you need to take through CPA Canada as long as long as you can demonstrate sufficient knowledge on the Knowledge Assessment Exam.

• March 2027: First offering of the Knowledge Assessment Exam
• May 2027: First offering of new CPA Professional Program modules
• September 2027: First offering of the CPA Professional Final Exams 

You will need to complete a minimum of 24 months of work experience, with demonstrated competency, consisting of:

• Up to 8 months of Foundational Experience: Hands-on work where you begin applying your knowledge.
• At least 16 months of Professional Experience: More advanced work, focused on developing decision-making skills.

3 times a year starting in 2028, in January, March and September.

3 hours

It has a combination of multiple choice questions and cases.

No, the pathway to the exam and the exam will be different. 

For students who are not interested in licensure the exam will be 3 hours.

su Assurance and Trust, Big Data and Data analytics, Financial Reporting  and Non-financial Reporting 

It will include both multiple choice questions and cases.

This module and exam focuses heavily on developing your ethical mindset, critical thinking and CPA Advanced Professional Competencies

It is 5 hours.

It is comprised of just one large 5 hour case.

No, everyone will write the same exam.

This module is where you will strengthen your CPA Ethical Mindset and build your CPA Advanced Professional Competencies through both self-study and five days of interactive case-based learning. You will explore what it means to be a CPA professional, understand the CPA Code of Conduct, work effectively in teams, and tackle emerging global, social, and technological issues. 

The exam will be cased based and the focus will be on ethics and strategy.

No, you can only write this exam after you have met all the practical experience requirements which will take 24 months.  

January 1, 2027.

July 2027.

January 2028.

May 2028.

July 2028.

No, there is transitional process whereby you can get exemptions from modules and/or exams under the new program.

You are exempt from attending the Foundational Exam, but still need to write all of the other exams and attend the other modules.

You are exempt from the Foundational Module and Exam, but required to attend all the other modules and write all the other exams.

You are exempt from the Foundational & Core Common Modules and the Foundational Exam but are required to attend the other modules and write the other exams. 

If you did not pass the Assurance and Tax electives, the exemptions would be the same as if you passed one elective.  If you passed the Assurance and Tax Elective, you are also exempt from the Licensure Module.

You will be in the same position as someone who passed both electives but did not make it to the CFE.

You will be exempt from the Foundational Development Module and Exam as well as the CPA Core Module, and CPA Leadership Module but will need to write all of the CPA Professional Final Exams (i.e. Parts 1, 2 and 3) and attend the CPA Professional Readiness Module.  

You do have a choice.  However, if you want to write under the new system you would need to wait until it begins.  The first Knowledge Assessment Exam which is intended for people who do not have an accounting degree is not until March 2027.  

The last CFE is not until September 2028. The last Core 1 module begins in January 2027; so if you enroll in the last Core 1 module, you can potentially get to the CFE by September 2028 and get your CPA under the current system. If unfortunately you fail some exams and don't make it to the CFE in time, you can then transition into the new system and get advanced standing.  Please see the FAQs on Transitioning to the New CPA Professional Program in 2027 for more details on exemptions. You may also want to read the PASS Blog: 

Help! - I'm In Transition - What do I do?

At this point it is impossible to say as the new exams have not yet been written.  We will only know the answer to that question once the new system has started.

They likely will. The problem however is that they may or may not be representative of the actual exam.  When the last transition took place in 2015 from the UFE - the predecessor to the CFE - sample exams were provided, but they were not very representative of the real CFE.  Even once the CFE started some tweaking was still required by CPA Canada so even the first real CFE in 2015 is not completely representative of today's CFE.

Under both systems there are cases and multiple choice questions. Also there are short cases as well as a large 5 hour case in the new system. 

Yes - there will be new topics under the new CPA educational system.  An example of this would be Value Creation. Furthermore the content of existing topics may be modified under the new system.  For example under the current system there is a topic Strategy & Governance.  One topic under the new system is Ethical decision making and Organizational governance/data governance. Another is Strategy, risk management and Innovation.  Some of the knowledge for these two topics may be similar to the knowledge required for Strategy & Governance under the current system; it is however likely that additional new knowledge will be required.

Yes there are some advantages.  

Yes there are some advantages including:

PASS advises students to do what they feel is best for them.  This is a personal decision and the answer may not be the same for all students.

Under the old program people who did not have an accounting degree had to make up many courses by either taking the courses at university or taking courses offered by CPA Canada, through a program called PREP.

If you are still not sure what to do, contact Michael (mjlevi@passyourcpa.ca, 416-560-3797) or Ira (iwalfish@passyourcpa.ca, 416-888-7173) and we'll help you figure it out.

We would not say that anybody "needs" to take the PASS PEP Module Exam Course. We however believe that it is very beneficial to students. This is due to the fact that there is a tremendous amount of material for which students are responsible on the PEP Module Exams which has been accumulated over a number of years at university. 

Yes. It would not be a problem for the student to take the PEP Module Exam courses he/she requires. These are priced separately on the site, which you can see in the PEP Module Exam Course description.

This page describes our recommended courses.

This page describes our recommended courses.

Yes: After the lecture on a given topic students write practice objective format questions - mainly multiple choice questions - which are taken up in class. Students are also provided with practice exams, which include numerous objective format questions and cases. Finally for the elective modules students can submit the practice exams which are marked by professional markers and returned to students with constructive feedback. Please take a look at the course description on the PASS website.

The course fee includes all of the material, i.e. both the technical and case binders.

PASS provides resources to help students to develop their technical and case writing skills, both of which are important for the PEP module exams, to get through CPA PEP. To help students prepare from a technical perspective PASS provides extensive technical resources for PEP students and for students in Accredited Programs or students exempt from the Core and Elective Modules, including notes as well as videos which cover all of the major technical topics for which students are responsible. 

PASS will help students get through the PEP modules by providing resources for Core 1 and Core 2 as well as the Assurance and Taxation Modules.

It is not absolutely essential for students to obtain additional resources beyond those provided by CPA Canada. However many students find the additional resources provided by PASS to be very helpful for CPA PEP for a number of reasons.

• PASS provides a technical binder with a summary of technical topics all in one binder making it very easy and efficient to study.
• PASS also provides thorough video technical lectures by very knowledgeable instructors on all difficult topics, which is particularly helpful for some of the more difficult technical topics; this complements the training provided in the modules.

PASS has been offering courses for students wishing to obtain their CPA for over 30 years.  

PASS has provided courses to students from firms ranging from one partner firms right through to the Big Four. As a matter of fact over the years we have offered courses to all of the Big Four firms including PWC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG. For the last 22 years PASS has delivered the PWC national UFE program and is now delivering the PWC CFE program.

The live online courses are courses offered by a live instructor; they are however offered electronically rather than in a physical class room. Students have the opportunity to ask questions orally or using a chat box as the sessions are conducted in real-time (i.e. students sit at their computer and watch the instructor lead the session and students have the ability to ask questions either by text or voice).  The platform we use is Zoom.

This is quite different than a video online session which is not live where students simply watch the video.

You may wish to refer to the detailed description of course venues on our website.

Yes, but students need to e-mail Ira a request in January for the filled out tax deductible form.  It is not sent automatically.

In most instances we would recommend live online sessions over video sessions as it is very beneficial to have a live instructor who can answer student questions in real time. Also it is easier to focus in an online session compared with watching a video.

The only advantage of the video session is that videos can be watched at the student's convenience.

This can be very helpful when for example the student has a work schedule which conflicts with the times that live sessions are being offered. Also with a video the student can control the pace.

However, all students who take the live online sessions have access to all of the videos and can watch them whenever they wish.

Michael Levi and Ira Walfish teach most or all of the financial accounting (core 1), assurance and management accounting (core 2) sessions. Most of the tax sessions are usually taught by Professor Joanne Magee, of York University. See the list of PASS instructors for more information.

No - You can have access to all videos as long as you need them and watch them as many times as you wish.

Yes - we constantly get feedback that the live online sessions are very useful.

Students come in live, ask questions and don't have to travel anywhere. If something is missed, students just watch the video, as all live sessions are recorded and students get access to all recordings for as long as they need them.

That is certainly possible. Many former PASS students have taken advantage of this flexibility and have used both venues - live online and video online - for the same course.

Yes, that is one of the nice things about PASS. All students regardless of the venue they use, have access to all of the videos relating to their courses.

No. Students are not required to be registered with a provincial CPA Institute in order to register with PASS, although students must register with their provincial CPA Institute (or CPA western School of Business if you are writing out west) before they can write any of the exams which comprise the CPA certification program.