As the governing body of a self-regulating profession, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (the Institute) has a responsibility to protect the public interest by ensuring that all members, students and firms observe high professional and ethical standards. This responsibility is met through a program of interrelated activities that includes:

high standards of qualification, involving both a demanding education program with a rigorous final examination, and a significant period of prescribed practical experience under authorized supervision;
a comprehensive professional development program;
an internationally-recognized, mandatory practice inspection program directed to ensuring that members and firms engaged in public practice maintain prescribed professional standards;
practice and ethics advisory and counselling services; and
a comprehensive and well-resourced disciplinary process that, through experienced members of the profession and public representatives, deals on a timely basis with complaints and other matters concerning the professional conduct of members, students and firms.

The Institute does not have the power to compel a member, student or firm to pay monies or to perform acts in relation to third parties. These powers are exercised by the courts. Similarly, disputes in respect of fees, unless satisfied through the operation of the Institute's fees mediation service, are determined by the courts.

Professional Conduct Committee

The professional conduct committee investigates all written complaints received about Institute members, students and firms, as well as any other matter drawn to its attention that may indicate a violation of the Institute's rules of professional conduct, regulations or bylaws. The committee also provides advice to members, students and firms on questions concerning the ethical propriety of a proposed course of action or the application of the rules of conduct to a specific situation. The committee, which is composed of twenty-five volunteers appointed by the Council, sits in two divisions. It includes 23 Institute members, representing a broad cross-section of the membership from all parts of the province, and two public representatives.

Matters under investigation and information gathered by the professional conduct committee are confidential to the committee except to the extent necessary to carry out a prosecution when charges are laid. Members, students and firms under investigation (referred to hereafter as "respondents") have the right to legal counsel at all stages of the proceedings.

When a complaint is received, a copy of it is forwarded to the respondent, who is asked to provide written comments and other information about the matter that the respondent would like the professional conduct committee to consider. Complainants are requested to provide all pertinent details of the alleged misconduct, including any related documents, and respondents are expected to provide a full and complete response to the allegations made against them. Upon receipt, a copy of the respondent's reply is forwarded to the complainant for information and further comment. Any additional information provided by the complainant is shared with the respondent.

Failure on the part of a respondent to reply promptly to a letter from the professional conduct committee requesting comments about a complaint will typically result in a charge under either Rule of Professional Conduct 104 for failure to reply, or Rule of Professional Conduct 203.2 for failure to cooperate in a professional conduct committee investigation.

When all correspondence and other pertinent data have been received from the complainant and the respondent, they are forwarded, together with a report summarizing the pertinent details, to the professional conduct committee. In considering the matter, the committee may find it necessary to obtain further information from the respondent. In these cases, the committee may:

request the respondent to attend an informal subcommittee meeting; or
request the respondent to attend a formal committee meeting.

Where the subject matter of the complaint is complex or serious, the committee may appoint an investigator to obtain detailed information, including statements and supporting documents, from all parties to the matter. Typically the investigator meets with the complainant to obtain further information pertaining to the complaint. The investigator also meets with the respondent and others who are able to provide information about the complaint. The investigator then prepares a written report to the professional conduct committee summarizing his or her findings. The investigator and the respondent are invited to attend a professional conduct committee meeting to answer questions about the matter under investigation. Where the investigator has gathered together documents in support of a report, standards enforcement staff of the Institute will provide the respondent with a brief of the documents circulated to the professional conduct committee.

The professional conduct committee, after considering the information before it, may conclude that:

the member, student or firm did not breach the rules of professional conduct and the file should be closed; or
a breach of the rules of professional conduct may have taken place but the matter does not justify the laying and prosecuting of charges before the Institute's discipline committee. In these cases, the professional conduct committee may provide guidance and advice to the respondent to assist the respondent in avoiding a similar situation in the future; or
a breach of the rules of professional conduct has taken place and a charge or charges should be laid.

Complainants are informed as to the disposition of their complaints after the professional conduct committee has reached a decision on the matter. If, after closing a file, new information is received, the committee may reopen the file.

Any complainant dissatisfied with the committee's decision not to lay a charge or charges of professional misconduct may, upon payment of the appropriate fee, make application to the independent Reviewer of Complaints for a review of the professional conduct committee's decision. The Reviewer of Complaints, who is not a member or student of the Institute, has the power to refer the matter back to the professional conduct committee for reconsideration (whereupon the Institute will refund the fee) if he or she determines that:

the professional conduct committee failed to follow appropriate procedures in arriving at its decision; or
there is reason to suspect lack of independence on the part of any member of the committee who participated in the decision; or
the committee did not give due consideration to all of the available evidence in arriving at its decision.

The decision of the Reviewer of Complaints is final. When the professional conduct committee reconsiders a matter as the result of a referral back to it from the Reviewer of Complaints, it issues written reasons for its decision which it sends to the complainant and the Reviewer of Complaints.

Discipline Committee

When the professional conduct committee lays a charge or charges of professional misconduct against a member, student or firm, a formal hearing is held in front of the Institute's discipline committee. The discipline committee's members are appointed by the Council and consist of Institute members and public representatives. Hearings are conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act and the bylaws of the Institute, and are open to the public unless an application is granted that they be held in camera.

At a discipline hearing, legal counsel to the professional conduct committee acts as prosecutor and presents evidence in support of the charge or charges. Witnesses are examined and cross-examined and evidence is presented generally as it would be in a civil trial. The discipline committee has the authority to summon witnesses and require the production of evidence relevant to the case.

After considering all the evidence and listening to submissions from both the professional conduct committee and the member, student or firm charged, the discipline committee makes its decision. If the decision is not guilty, the hearing is concluded. If a finding of guilty is made, the committee proceeds to hear evidence and submissions from the parties as to the appropriate sanctions to order in the circumstances of the case. The discipline committee has the power to order that:

the member, student or firm be reprimanded
the member, student or firm be fined
the member, student or firm be charged costs of the investigation and hearing
the member or student be suspended from the Institute
the student be struck off the register of students
the member be expelled from membership in the Institute
the member satisfactorily complete professional development courses and/or examinations and/or engage an advisor or tutor
the member or firm complete a period of supervised practice
the member or firm be reinvestigated by the professional conduct committee
the member's or firm's practice of public accounting be restricted for a specified period of time
the member complete or the firm establish a professional training program
the member or firm establish, maintain and uphold quality control procedures for the practice
the member or firm be disciplined in such other manner as the committee may determine
the decision and order of the discipline committee be publicized with or without the name of the member, student or firm

The Appeal Committee

Either a member, student or firm found guilty of professional misconduct, or the professional conduct committee, may appeal a decision or order of the discipline committee to the Institute's appeal committee.

As with the professional conduct committee and the discipline committee, the appeal committee consists of volunteer members of the Institute and public representatives, all appointed by the Council.

An appellant can request an appeal on the basis of the record of the proceeding before the discipline committee, or, where it can be demonstrated that there was a denial of natural justice or there is a deficiency in the transcript of the discipline proceeding, by way of a hearing de novo. The appeal committee has all the powers conferred on the discipline committee, and can confirm, reject or amend decisions and orders of the discipline committee. In addition, the appeal committee may make any order that, in its discretion, the nature of the case or natural justice may require. The decisions and orders of the appeal committee are final and binding.

Further Information

For further information about the Institute's disciplinary process:

Contact:

Standards Enforcement ,