You must meet two conditions to register for a second course:
- The exams must be scheduled for different times. Exam schedules are set nationally and cannot be changed. Check the CPA preparatory courses exam schedule to ensure the exams are not scheduled for the same date and time.
- You must meet the required prerequisite(s) for the second course.
CPA preparatory courses are very demanding and we recommend you plan an average of 20 hours of study time per week for core courses and non-core courses. Students should expect to spend additional time if they are less familiar with any concepts. Given this time commitment, we recommend you enroll in only one course per semester.
If you plan to enroll in two courses concurrently, meeting the time commitment may be challenging if you are also working. To discuss your options, please contact our advising team at prepadvising@cpawsb.ca.
The flexible model of CPA preparatory courses means you can select your examination date immediately after you register for a course or wait to choose an exam date when you feel ready to do so. There is no downside or penalty for waiting, please keep the following in mind:
- You must attempt the course end examination within one year of the course start date. The start date for non-core courses is considered the course registration date.
- You must register for your preferred exam date at least six weeks before the exam.
- You can change your exam date once you have selected it; however, a withdrawal fee will apply if you decide to change your exam date within six weeks of the exam.
The fee paid with course registration covers one course registration and one exam registration. Exam withdrawal and rewrite fees (if applicable) are separate.
If you are taking a CPA preparatory course you will have access to the course materials in D2L for 12 months from the course start date. At the end of the 12 months, the course will be “retired”, and you will no longer have access.
CPA preparatory courses are very demanding and we recommend you plan to spend an average of 20 hours of study time per week for each preparatory course. Students should expect to spend additional time if they are less familiar with any concepts.
There are 14 CPA preparatory courses with exams offered over four semesters annually. It will take three to four years to complete all 14 courses, assuming one exam per semester.
Non-core preparatory courses have e-textbooks and are available through Brightspace (D2L); you will be provided with information on accessing the Bookshelf on electronic devices upon registration.
Core preparatory courses do not have e-textbooks; all course notes and resources will be available through Brightspace (D2L).
Please refer to the CPA Preparatory Courses Student Guide for more information.
Knotia is CPA Canada’s platform, it gives access to the CPA Canada Handbook. You will be provided with access to Knotia once you have access to the course materials in Brightspace (D2L).
You will not have access to the Canadian Federal Income Tax Collection or Professional Engagement Guide.
Contact the CPA Canada Customer Service Department at 1.800.268.3793 or member.services@cpacanada.ca for any issues with your Knotia account.
You can withdraw from a course via My CPA Portal . If you withdraw before you write the final exam or before your exam time limit expires, you will not be charged an exam attempt. Fees for preparatory courses are refundable, less an administrative fee, until Brightspace (D2L) access has been granted.
To withdraw from a course:
- Log into My CPA Portal
- Click on ‘Registrations’ then ‘Module Registration’
- In Module Registration click on ‘View’ next to the applicable course
- On the page for the applicable course click on ‘Withdraw’
Before withdrawing we recommend that students contact our delivery team at prepadvising@cpawsb.ca.
Non-Core Preparatory Courses
There are four quizzes based on the e-textbook. These quizzes are not mandatory for completion, but students are encouraged to complete the quizzes to help them prepare for their exam. Quizzes will not contribute to your overall course mark.
Please refer to the CPA Preparatory Courses Student Guide for more information.
The evaluation of non-core courses is based 100 percent on the final exam. Students must achieve 50 percent on their final exam to pass the course.
Core Preparatory Courses
The core CPA preparatory courses are designed to allow students to work through course concepts in an effective and efficient manner. The courses will incorporate technology solutions that will adapt course content to meet unique learner needs.
Each course contains six units. For each unit, you will complete the following learning activities in this order:
- Smartbook and adaptive questions
- Assigned practice problems
- Assigned task-based simulations
- Unit quizzes
Informational Technology does not have task-based simulations. Please refer to the CPA Preparatory Courses Student Guide for more information.
You will need to achieve a minimum overall grade of 75 percent on your course activities, by the end of your six-week course, for your course. This is used to determine your exam eligibility. The following unit activities contribute to your course completion grade:
- Adaptive Review
- Unit Assessments
- Practice Problems
- Task-based Simulations
- End of Course Survey
Informational Technology does not have task-based simulations. Please refer to the CPA Preparatory Courses Student Guide for more information.
You can view your accumulated overall exam eligibility grade in Brightspace (D2L) at any time. To view your grade, go to your course page in Brightspace (D2L) and click on Grades – at the very bottom you will see the ‘overall course grade’.
Please note your overall score listed on the Wiley Efficient Learning system does not represent your overall exam eligibility exam.
Please contact prepadvising@cpawsb.ca before the unit activity’s deadline. Approval for these requests are not guaranteed.
- Consistent with CPA PEP, to be eligible to write the course exam, you must achieve a minimum grade of 75% on course activities. The grade calculated on a combination of reasonable attempt and performance on activities.
- If you do not meet this requirement, you may not be eligible to write the course exam.
- Once you are eligible to write the course exam, the exam grade becomes your final course grade. In other words, the exam grade is weighted 100 percent towards the course grade (and the other activities completed in the course do not count towards the course grade).
- You must achieve a minimum grade on the exam of 60% to pass the course. If you achieve 50-59% on the exam, you may rewrite the exam without retaking the course. If you achieve below 50% on the exam, the course must be retaken (and eligibility towards the exam must be attained again).
Students enrolled in a semester-based core course must complete course activities within six weeks of the course start date. You will see the scheduled due dates in Brightspace (D2L) for each activity. The completion of these activities will count towards the 75 percent course completion requirement to write the course exam. Upon meeting the 75 percent eligibility requirement, you have one year to write the exam.
If you do not achieve a minimum grade of 75 percent on course learning activities within the six instructional weeks, you will not be eligible to write the course exam. You will be charged with a failed course attempt and be withdrawn from the course. You will be required to register for the course and pay the applicable fees again.
You will have access to lead facilitators on the course discussion board. Please contact prepadvising@cpawsb.ca if you have any administrative questions.
Sample exam questions and accompanying solutions will be available in the courses.
