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The Canadian accounting landscape - already in upheaval over the fate of merger talks - has become even more intriguing over recent developments in Alberta that raise the spectre of the province perhaps destined to become the last stand for the historic CA designation in Canada.
Organizations representing certified general accountants (CGAs) and certified management accountants (CMAs) in Alberta have overwhelmingly endorsed unification of the profession, deciding to proceed with a merger with or without the formal involvement of chartered accountants (CAs), who have been in the vanguard of unification elsewhere in Canada.
Adding further irony, the CGAs in Alberta are the only remaining pro-unification CGA body in the country, with the exception of Quebec, where a government supported merger involving all three groups became official last May.
The voting results among members of the Certif ied General Accountants' Association of Alberta and Certified Management Accountants of Alberta were nearly identical, with 78.7 percent of CGAs and 79.2 per cent of CMAs giving the new Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) organization and designation a thumbs-up. About 70 per cent of the members in both organizations voted; the high participation rate is partly attributable to the fact voting was tied to the annual registration process.
"We were very pleased with the results of the vote, both from the CGA side and CMA side," said Kara Mitchelmore, chief executive officer and president of CMA Alberta in Calgary. "We really made an effort to go out and talk to our members, and make sure they had forums for their comments [and] their concerns, in addressing them in a timely fashion."