It’s been a bumpy road, but the B.C. branches of Canada’s three accounting professions are at last on the way to a merger.
The Certified Management Accountants Society of BC (CMA BC), the Certified General Accountants Association of BC (CGA-BC) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC (ICABC) announced May 9 that they have signed an agreement to pursue the unification under the Chartered Professional Accountants of BC (CPABC) designation.
The national wings of all three organizations were in negotiations by late 2011, but CGA-BC terminated discussions May 24, 2012. Gordon Ruth, CEO of CGA-BC, said the negotiations stalled because not all provincial organizations were involved and there appeared to be no progress nationally, particularly in Ontario.
“When we saw that there was progress happening across the country, our board made a decision to re-enter into merger discussions in British Columbia,” said Ruth, indicating that this took place in February of this year.
The three B.C. organizations now plan to work with the provincial government to enact legislation to make the merger official in the next few months.
Shelley Brown is a partner at Deloitte, chair of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and co-chair of the Chartered Professional Accountants.
“There’s always been a belief by those who are knowledgeable in the standard-setting, the governance and how the three bodies have grown, that we would be better as one unified profession in Canada.”
She added that there are 40 different governing accounting organizations across Canada (including separate CA, CGA and CMA wings in each province) and about 160,000 accountants nationwide, which makes the current model inefficient.
Ruth said the merger is consistent with the direction of business, both in Canada and worldwide.
“You’re seeing business adopt global positions. Throughout Canada, there’s a recognition of the value of a more competitive and global environment.”
Brown agreed.
“The key decisions are being made at the global tables, and it’s in Canada’s best interest to have one strong voice at those tables.”
The CA, CGA and CMA provincial organizations currently rank as the sixth-, ninth- and 15th-largest professional organizations in the province.
With a total of almost 29,000 members, the merger would make CPABC the second-largest professional organization in B.C., second only to the College of Registered Nurses of BC.
