To complete the CPA certification program, candidates must complete education (CPA PEP), examination (CFE), and experience (PER) requirements within the required deadlines as follows:

• Experience: To calculate your experience deadline, take the date of your acceptance into the CPA Professional Education Program (CPA PEP) and add seven (7) years to this date.
• Education and Examination: To calculate your education and examination deadline, take the start date of your first module/exam and add six (6) years to this date. Please note your education deadline cannot exceed your experience deadline.

The CPA profession recommends that you attempt your first CPA PEP module within the first year of CPA Certification Program enrollment. If you choose not to take a module within your first year, you risk not having the full six (6) years to complete your education and examination requirements.

The CPA profession strongly recommends that you complete the experience requirements concurrently with the CPA PEP requirements. It is valuable to have your education inform your experience and your experience inform your education. You are encouraged to secure relevant paid employment within the first year following acceptance into the CPA Certification Program. Within two-to-three weeks from your approved admission application, you will receive an email with instructions on how to access the Practical Experience Reporting Tool (“PERT”) and how to create your PERT Profile. This should be done within 90 days of your CPA PEP registration date.

Each non-active year will extend your CPA Certification Program deadline by an additional year, to a maximum of two (2) years. For example, one (1) non-active year granted will extend each CPA Certification Program deadline by one (1) year.

To have met substantial progress, you must have attempted the CFE at least once within the 6-year education time limit.

To have met substantial progress, you must be able to demonstrate you will be able to meet the CPA Practical Experience Requirements (“PER”) outstanding within the next 12 months, from the date of time limit PER deadline. You must ensure your practical experience reporting is up to date in the Practical Experience Reporting Tool (“PERT”).

For education, if you have not yet reached the Capstone level and have less than 18 months remaining in the program, should consider submitting an extension request. If you have reached the Capstone level, consider submitting an extension request 9 months before their deadline. Education extension requests for candidates outside of these ranges will not be considered, except in cases of documented serious extenuating circumstances such as prolonged illness or disability.

For experience, if you have less than 18 months remaining until the PER completion deadline and believe you cannot complete PER within the 18 remaining months, consider submitting an extension request.

Education:

• Review the key dates on the CPAWSB PEP schedule to ensure you are available to participate in the needed modules/exams under the requested extensions time frame.
• Review the CPAWSB Learner Support webpage resources to assist you in creating a plan to meet your educational time limit requirements.

Experience:

• Report relevant practical experience up to the most recent employment date in the Practical Experience Reporting Tool (“PERT”) for the employer on record.
• Have the experience verified by your supervisor(s), review your PERT reports with your mentor, and then have the mentor meeting documented in PERT.
• Request a CPA Review.

In an extension request, you will need to include information about your why you have been unable to meet the deadline, the length of extension you are requesting, and a current resume (to be sent by email to cpaapplication@cpawsb.ca). If your request is related to extenuating circumstances, additional supporting documentation (such as a doctor’s note) will be required.

Please refer to the legacy transition guidelines for your deadlines to complete the CPA certification program.