The CMA Provincial Bodies and CMA Canada signed the existing MRA with CIMA (The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) in 2012. Upon unification of Canada’s three individual accounting bodies in 2014, the commitments of each CMA body that was party to the agreement was transitioned to the new CPA body for that jurisdiction. With the exceptions of CPA Bermuda, which did not have a legacy CMA body, and CPA Quebec, which gave notice of termination to the CIMA in 2012, the new CPA bodies continued to honour the agreement. The existing MRA expired in 2019.
We are negotiating a new agreement that sets out how members of each respective profession can obtain the designation of the other. The process is anticipated to continue for many months.
As at October 1, 2021, the two organizations are still in the process of analyzing and finalizing equivalence which has taken longer than expected. Both parties are committed to finalise the Agreement by Q4 2021. Please note that new applications for mutual recognition should not be submitted under the expired MRA and all future applications will be accepted and processed under the terms of the new agreement, once this is approved and confirmed. The details of the arrangement will be published as soon as they are finalized.
Please note: the restriction on CIMA members, who completed a fast track route to membership from being able to apply, is likely to continue under any new arrangement. This would include any IFAC recognition or experiential routes that were not in existence and not anticipated by the original MRA, and would not be considered under the new agreement.
Further information for CPA and CIMA members interested in applying the respective memberships can be found here.
CIMA and CPA are committed to fostering global mobility for accountants and will continue to have pathways into their respective designations for internationally trained professional accountants.
We will continue to keep all members informed about the status of our reciprocity agreements. A listing of all current reciprocal agreements is available https://www.cimaglobal.com/Members/Your-Membership-Information/Agreements-and-other-bodies/
Please access our Frequently Asked Questions page for more information.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact:
CIMA: https://www.cimaglobal.com/email-us/
CPA: member.services@cpacanada.ca