The CPA preparatory courses will be offered until December 2027, after which point they will no longer be available. Below you will find additional details about CPA Preparatory Courses as the launch of the new CPA Professional Program approaches.
Extension of CPA preparatory courses to December 2027
We are pleased to confirm that CPA preparatory courses will be offered until late 2027. The final date to register for a course is October 20, 2027, and the final exam sitting will be in December 2027. There will be no rewrites available after the final exam sitting.
Should you wish to complete your remaining prerequisites with CPA Atlantic School of Business, it may still be possible to do so, but please keep in mind that depending on how many courses you have remaining, you may need to strategically plan out your remaining semesters and may need to take more than one course at a time. While it is possible to take more than one course at a time, you would need to ensure that you meet the prerequisites for both courses and would need to ensure that they don’t have conflicting final exams. An exam schedule is available on our preparatory course website here.
Another option that you can consider would be to take either some, or all, of your prerequisites externally at another recognized post-secondary institution. Students who wish to take their courses externally would need to consult CPA Atlantic School of Business’ Transfer Credit Guide to ensure that they are taking the correct courses. Please note that for some courses, such as Taxation, more than one course may be required to be granted the full exemption. Taking courses from multiple institutions to meet a single course may not align with the needed learning outcomes and could potentially affect exemption eligibility. Taking courses externally may be the option to consider if you wish to allow yourself a longer time over which to complete your courses.
You are welcome to select the university which best suits your study needs. For more information on courses or admission to any of the institutions listed on the Transfer Credit Guide, please connect directly with the institution.
Students are also welcome to take courses both with CPA Atlantic School of Business and an external post-secondary institution concurrently. As a reminder, you will need to ensure you fully meet the prerequisites for the courses you take at CPA Atlantic School.
Athabasca University Transfer Credit
To provide additional flexibility, CPA Atlantic School of Business and CPA Western School of Business have established a transfer credit pathway with Athabasca University. This option enables CPA preparatory students to complete prerequisite courses at Athabasca University and continue gaining the prerequisite knowledge required to enter the CPA Professional Program.
For additional information and guidance, please refer to the Athabasca University transfer credit option.
CPA Professional Program Entry
The final offering of CPA PEP Core 1 starts in January 2027. If you are not able to complete all CPA preparatory courses or equivalents to enroll in CPA PEP before the final offering of the module, you will instead begin in the new CPA Professional Program.
The admission requirements for the CPA Professional Program have now been updated and are available on the website. One of the academic requirements is demonstrating accounting and business knowledge. You can demonstrate the accounting and business knowledge in two ways:
- Accounting and Business Coursework: Complete 45 credit hours of accounting and business coursework with specific competency coverage. Passing all the CPA preparatory courses meets this requirement; or,
- Pass the Knowledge Assessment.
Accounting and Business Coursework
If you intend to meet the competency requirement by completing 45 credit hours of accounting and business coursework, we encourage you to complete as many CPA preparatory courses as you can before December 2027 and complete any remaining courses at a post-secondary institution after that date.
Knowledge Assessment
You are not required to complete specific coursework if you intend to demonstrate accounting and business knowledge by passing the Knowledge Assessment. Coursework you have completed to date and coursework you complete in the coming months will help you prepare for the Knowledge Assessment. While you are not required to complete any specific coursework, we would still recommend that you consider completing courses either externally, or through CPA PREP to help yourself prepare. A strong foundation in accounting topics, particularly Financial Reporting and Managerial Accounting, will be necessary to be successful on the exam.
We encourage you to review the Competency Map 2.0 for more information on the knowledge expected at entry to the CPA Professional Program and to be tested within the Knowledge Assessment. We are exploring how to support students who intend to write the Knowledge Assessment and anticipate having more information in Summer 2026.
More detailed information on the Knowledge Assessment is expected in the summer.
If you would like advice on which path is best for you, email transition@cpaatlantic.ca.