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CA Institute speaks out on Bill 124
CAs support access for internationally trained professionals
Toronto, Ontario (November 15, 2006) - Representatives of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario today voiced their support for Bill 124, Ontario's Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act, 2006 , in a submission at Queen's Park. Tom Warner, Vice-President and Registrar, and Edwina McGroddy, Director of Admissions, Membership and Licensing, presented the Institute's position that the Act strikes the right balance between fairness to immigrants and keeping professional standards high.
"We don't need any more studies to tell us that our workforce - including our knowledge-based workforce - is going to grow smaller as the baby boom cohort approaches a retirement wave," said Warner. "Ontario needs skilled immigrants - and more of them - if we are to sustain current workforce levels and keep our economy on the move. Nowhere is this requirement more evident than in financial services, which is increasingly the backbone of our economy."
In the case of the CA profession, the access process for internationally trained professionals is already at best practice levels. In January 2005, a 'report card' issued by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities ranked the Institute second among 10 professional bodies evaluated, in terms of their response to barriers identified by internationally trained professionals.
The Institute's approach is to provide a fair and transparent career path that provides detailed, step-by-step information on the assessment process, the experience and examination requirements, the costs involved, and a summary of labour market conditions for Chartered Accountants.
"The Institute ensures fair access to the CA profession for internationally trained applicants through a rigorous, sophisticated assessment process. It examines the qualification standards of the candidate's home accounting body and it assesses the individual merits of a candidate's education and experience," said McGroddy. "This is a public interest requirement, to ensure that we have the right people, with the right skills, in the right positions to make the right decisions based on qualifications of only the highest standards."
The Institute supports improving access for the internationally trained across the professions as a way to strengthen the province's economy and make it even more competitive. In Bill 124, the McGuinty government has provided a sound framework for ensuring access to the professions to the internationally trained.
About the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario:
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario is the qualifying and regulatory body of Ontario's 32,000 CAs and 4,000 CA students. Since 1879, the Institute has protected the public interest through the CA profession's high standards of qualification and the enforcement of its rules of professional conduct. Recognized internationally, the CA designation denotes financial expertise, strategic thinking, business insight and leadership. The Institute website is: www.icao.on.ca.
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For more information please contact:
Perry Jensen
Director of Media Relations
[T] 416-969-4271
[F] 416-962-8900