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CPA Canada applauds successful CFE writers

Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) salutes the 722 individuals who successfully passed the May sitting of the profession’s Common Final Examination (CFE).

TORONTO, August 13, 2021 – Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) salutes the 722 individuals who successfully passed the May sitting of the profession’s Common Final Examination (CFE).

“These bright and ambitious individuals have completed a major milestone on the journey to join the ranks of Canada’s CPAs,” says Charles-Antoine St-Jean, CPA Canada’s president and CEO. “We commend them for their impressive accomplishment, especially considering the challenges of studying for and successfully writing this complex exam during the pandemic.”

The three-day evaluation is an important aspect of the profession’s certification process and is designed to assess the knowledge, judgement and ethics of the candidates. The CPA profession requires individuals to demonstrate a full range of skills and competencies gained through education, examinations and work experience.

“As was the case during the previous writing of the CFE in September 2020, the challenge was to keep CFE writers, staff and volunteers safe in a pandemic environment while protecting the integrity of the exam,” says St-Jean.

To ensure that regional public health and safety guidelines were followed, every candidate was able to write the exam in an individually assigned hotel room.

Following each CFE, the profession recognizes the CFE writers who achieved the highest standings on the exam. Kamille Español, from Ovintiv Inc. in Calgary, Alberta, is the recipient of the May 2021 Governor General’s Gold Medal Award as the May 2021 CFE’s top writer. In addition to the award, Español receives a cash prize of $5,000.

Explaining her approach to taking the exam, Español says: “It’s so easy to put pressure on yourself. But it’s OK if you don't know absolutely everything. Just remind yourself that you prepared as much as you can. And, rather than focusing on what you don’t know, think about how much you already do. That, essentially, is what helped me stay calm during the three days of the CFE.”

The CPA Canada Atlantic Gold Medal Award and a cash prize of $2,500 for achieving the highest standing in that region goes to Tanisha Welcher, from the Canada Revenue Agency in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

For a complete list of honour roll members, please visit cpacanada.ca/CFEHonourRollList.