Students win COIN in Ontario CA challenge

Top students received awards at Toronto luncheon June 10

Toronto, Ontario (June 10, 2008) – Students considering a bright looking future in the Chartered Accounting profession scored some impressive prizes in this year’s edition of COIN: The CA Challenge. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario held its annual competition on May 13 to give high school students considering a career as a Chartered Accountant the opportunity to compete, have fun and earn some cash prizes. The awards were presented to the Top 20 students and their respective teachers at a luncheon at the Institute in Toronto June 10.

"COIN is a popular Institute initiative to encourage students to consider becoming a Chartered Accountant," said Mona Ghiami, Director of Career Information at the Institute. "This year 560 students from 157 high schools in 17 districts participated in this highly competitive contest."

Today, the Institute announced the contest winners from across Ontario. The first place prize provincially is $1,500, with the two students who tied for second place getting $1,000, and the rest of the Top 20 Honour Roll members each receiving $100 and an invitation to the awards luncheon. There are also separate $100 prizes and certificates of achievement for the top students from each of the 23 CA District Associations across the province. In cases where students finished on top in their region and in the top 20 province-wide, they received $200. In the case of ties, both students receive the full prize money.

The Ontario-wide winners are:

1st Place All Ontario – Zhe Liang, Centennial Collegiate, Guelph
2nd place (tied) All Ontario – Ian Wang, Bell High School, Kanata
2nd place (tied) All Ontario – Victor Ngai, Woburn Collegiate Institute, Scarborough

Regional District winners (listed by name, school and student’s hometown):

1st place Central Ontario District Association – Ravi Trivedi, J. Clarke Richardson Collegiate, Ajax
1st place Essex-Kent District Association – Vanessa Mullins, Essex District High School, Essex
1st place Etobicoke District Association – Lester Paul Lumang, Michael Power-St. Joseph High School
1st place Georgian Bay District Association – Christopher Ing, Innisdale Secondary School, Barrie
1st place Halton-Peel District Association – Mark Fernandez, St. Francis Xavier Secondary School, Mississauga
1st place Hamilton District Association – Chengcheng Xu, Nelson High School, Burlington
1st place Niagara District Association – Spencer Ray, Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School, Grimsby
1st place North Bay District Association – Donald Scully, Chippewa Secondary School
1st place Northwestern Ontario District Association – Brittany Beyak, Atikokan High School
1st place North York District Association – Yumin Cui, Early Haig Secondary School
1st place Ottawa District Association – Ian Wang, Bell High School
1st place Scarborough District Association – Victor Ngai, Woburn Collegiate Institute
1st place Stormont Dundas Glengarry District Association – Andrew Seguin, Holy Trinity Catholic High School, Cornwall
1st place Toronto District Association – Tie: Douglas Lam, North York High School, and Arthur Wang, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute
1st place Waterloo-Wellington District Association – Zhe Liang, Centennial Collegiate, Guelph
1st place Western Ontario District Association – Caroline Rose, A.B. Lucas Secondary School, London
1st place York District Association – David To, Richmond Hill High School

To win, the students competed by answering 75-questions at the premises of a firm employing CAs. Think it’s easy? Would you know:

How to assess inventory market value according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)?
The principles of revenue recognition?
How to assess depreciation?

The 2008 winners knew all that and more.

All of the participants receive a certificate of participation and a chance to find out more about the exciting opportunities offered by a career as a Chartered Accountant.

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About the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario:
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario is the qualifying and regulatory body of Ontario's more than 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 and the student website is www.ca2b.biz.

For more information, please contact:
Perry Jensen
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario
69 Bloor St. East Toronto, Ontario M4W 1B3
416-969-4271 or 1-800-387-0735 ext. 271
pjensen@icao.on.ca