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Next Steps for Unsuccessful Candidates

Candidates who were unsuccessful on the CFE can choose any of the following options:

  • Request and pay for a re-mark of their CFE result
  • Request and pay for a Performance Analysis Report (PAR) 
  • Register to retake the failed portion(s) of the CFE

Candidates choosing to retake the CFE must consider the following during registration depending on the day(s) they were unsuccessful:

  • Candidates who fail only Day 1 are required to repeat only Day 1
  • Candidates who fail either Day 2 or Day 3 are required to repeat both Day 2 and Day 3
  • Candidates who fail all three days are required to repeat all three days as part of the same CFE offering

Information on future CFEs is available on the CPA Canada website , the CPAWSB website and on My CPA Portal .

Retaking the CFE

Retaking Day 1

Day 1 of the CFE is based on a previous Capstone 1 case, with each Capstone 1 case being used for two offerings of the CFE Day 1. After a CFE Day 1 case has been tested twice, it will be retired and not tested again.

Candidates who were unsuccessful on Day 1 of the CFE have the option of registering to write any upcoming CFE Day 1 case as posted publicly on the CPA Canada Capstones webpage . Experienced CFE writers will be emailed the relevant Capstone 1 case after the CFE registration period closes. Alternatively, shortly after Capstone 1 concludes, candidates can obtain the related Capstone 1 case and the sample strong response directly from the CPA Canada Capstones webpage . Additionally, candidates can review “Part A” of the most recent CFE Board of Examiners’ Report on the CPA Canada website for more information about active and past CFE Day 1 cases.

Candidates seeking CFE Day 1 practice cases may obtain these from their existing Capstone 2 modules, as several versions and offerings of the CFE Day 1 are accessible there. If the desired offering of CFE Day 1 practice cases is not present in any of your existing Capstone 2 modules, candidates have the option to purchase a Capstone 2 Review Materials Module (RMM) to access the relevant CFE Day 1 practice cases.

Retaking Days 2 and 3

If you wish to register for Days 2 and 3 of a future CFE offering, please disregard the Day 1 description on the registration page and choose either CFE option in My CPA Portal .

Re-marks and Performance Analysis Reports

If you wish to request and purchase a re-mark, a PAR, or both, an option to do so will be available in My CPA Portal  following the results release (please select “appeal” to request a re-mark). 

The deadline to request and pay for a re-mark or PAR is posted on the CPA PEP Schedules webpage, and is Monday, December 12, 2022. 

Re-marks will be completed by January 30, 2023. The PARs for failing candidates will be released in early February 2023 (May 2022 writers) and early May 2023 (September 2022 writers). Before requesting a re-mark, please note the following:

  • A re-mark ensures that you receive credit for all competencies demonstrated and does not provide any additional feedback on your result.
  • CPA Canada does not accept any circumstantial information and will not consider any cases of hardship when re-marking a paper.
  • Only unsuccessful candidates may request a re-mark or a performance analysis report.
  • Candidates must submit their request before the final deadline. 

Candidates who fail at Level 1 and are assigned an overall sufficiency grouping of 1 or 2 may want to request and pay for a re-mark of their results (formerly an appeal). Candidates who passed Level 1 but failed to demonstrate competence in one specific competency area at any of Level 2, Level 3 or Level 4 may want to request a re-mark.

A PAR will detail the weaknesses that are evident in the candidate’s response and profile the elements of the response where the candidate’s performance did not meet the standard. The analysis will not give feedback on the areas where the minimum standard was met (areas where candidates performed well are not commented on). 

Sample PARs can be found here:

Automated Feedback report - Day 1 only

To support failing candidates with more timely feedback, the Board of Examiners provides an automated feedback report for Day 1 of the CFE. The report is automatically generated using the marking data collected for each response rather than being based on a personalized review of the response. It is therefore being provided at no cost to all failing Day 1 candidates. This report is intended to allow for the identification of the key deficiencies in the candidate’s Day 1 response, which then allows the candidate to decide whether to request the more detailed personalized performance analysis report noted above, for a fee. 

As noted above, it is recommended that you wait to receive your automatic feedback report before deciding whether to purchase a Day 1 PAR. Automated feedback reports will be available on Wednesday, December 7 by 1 pm MT. Reports will be available for download from the Candidate National Marks Portal . You will not be notified once the reports are ready therefore, we recommend that you check for your report on December 7 after 1 pm MT.

Sample Day 1 automated feedback report:

 

No re-mark

Re-mark Day 1

Re-mark Day 2/3

Re-mark all days

No PAR

N/A

$275

$500

$725

PAR Day 1

$450

$675

$950

$1,175

PAR Day 2/3

$700

$975

$1,150

$1,425

PAR All days

$1,100

$1,375

$1,600

$1,750

All fees are GST applicable.

Should a candidate’s fail standing be changed to a pass standing upon re-marking, the detailed performance analysis will not be performed, and any associated fees will be refunded.