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Recognition of Degrees & Degree-Credit Courses

The Institute assesses credentials on the basis of the documentation provided by students. The Related Items box provides information on its assessment procedures and on the courses that are currently recognized for Institute credits so that potential students can prepare an application with all the required materials and with a general idea as to whether the Academic Qualification Requirements are met. 

Documentation Required

Pursuant to ss. 2.7 and s. 3 of Regulation 6-1; Student Registration, students must provide the information that the Institute may request to efficiently process registration and course recognition. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Proof of degree conferral, with date of graduation.
• Official transcripts directly sent to the Institute from the degree-granting institution, or from other institutions, or both (e.g., International Baccalaureate Organization, the Cambridge CGE, the AP School Board, CÉGEP, and the like).
• Letter or statements of transfer credits detailing the source of the credits (e.g., IB Diploma) and the exemptions from the curriculum. Accredited programs and streams may qualify for slightly different documentation for transfer credits; contact Customer Service for details.
• Detailed course outlines for the years/terms in which the courses were successfully completed; the details include a weekly schedule of activities describing the topics being studied and reference to the learning materials.

Degree Requirement

University Degrees

The core academic qualification requirement consists of a 4-year, 120-academic-credit-hour university degree; credits for internship, co-op term or similar experienced based credits do not count toward the 120-academic-credit-hour requirement; however, Contact Customer Service for details on qualifying practical experience and read the Institute's Regulation 6-1 Student Registration.

Community College Applied Degrees

The Institute recognizes community college applied 4-year, 120-credit-hour degrees that have been approved by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities of Ontario, as fulfilling the university degree requirement.

Community College Courses

College courses and college diplomas are not recognized for Institute credits because they do not meet the degree-credit requirement in Regulation 6-1, Student Registration. However, the Institute will assess post-diploma degrees that are granted by a degree-granting institution pursuant to an articulation agreement between itself and the college issuing the diploma to determine whether the transfer credits meet the Institute’s requirement.

Generally speaking, the Institute will recognize up to 45 transfer credits for a two-year college diploma and up to 60 transfer credits for a three-year college diploma. For more information on the Institute’s Regulation and Policies relating to college courses and diplomas, please contact Customer Service.

Other Transfer Credits or Advanced Standing

The Institute will review all other transfer credits or advanced standing for CGE, International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placements, CÉGEP, and the like.

51-Credit-Hour Requirement

Most qualifying courses from Ontario degree-granting institutions have been reviewed and pre-approved; they are listed by degree-granting institutions in individual tables. They are grouped by accredited and non-accredited, undergraduate and graduate programs and available in the Related Items box to the right of the screen. Other courses that are not listed may be qualifying for Institute credits.

The Institute maintains tables of reviewed and pre-approved courses for a limited number of out-of-province degree-granting institutions. Typically, the Institute requires detailed course outlines for all out-of-province courses. Contact Customer Service for additional details.

Students are encouraged to fulfil the 51-credit-hour requirement as part of an integrated 4-year, 120-academic-credit-hour degree program.

Introductory Financial Accounting Courses

Courses in introductory financial accounting will NOT be accepted for Institute credit if their completion follows that of intermediate or advanced financial accounting courses.

Programs Offering All 51 Credit Hours

The processing and recognition of the 51 credit hours for students who complete all the required courses within the same program/institution are straightforward and quick.

However, courses completed at another institution even when on a letter of permission from the degree-granting institution will be assessed as an out-of-program course.

Programs Not Offering All 51 Credit Hours

Students who will be completing courses leading to the “51 credit-hour requirement” outside of their program, with or without letters of permission, should request a preliminary assessment prior to enrolling in the out-of-program courses to ensure later recognition by the Institute.

The listing of a course in one of individual tables does not guarantee recognition where students mix courses from different institutions.

Grade Requirements

An overall Grade Point Average (GPA) of “B –” (70.00%) or greater in the courses comprising the 51-credit-hour requirement must be achieved, with a passing grade in each course as determined by the degree-granting institution.  When students repeat courses, the Institute calculates the overall GPA using the higher mark.

Procedures for calculating the overall GPA

Where the grades on a student’s transcript are reported only in letter form, they are converted into numeric grades as shown in the Conversion Tables available in the Related Items box to the right of the screen; where they are reported as numerical grades, no conversion is needed.

The 51-credit-hour GPA is a weighted-average GPA. The Institute multiplies the numerical grade of a given course by its credit-hour weight for Institute’s purposes; then sums up these results and divides the total by the total credit hours completed. For example, Introductory Accounting has a credit-hour weight of 3 and Micro Economics has a credit-hour weight of 1.5; assuming that the grades are 79 and 65 in each of these courses respectively, the GPA for Institute’s purposes is 74.33, that is [(79 × 3) + (65 × 1.5)] ÷ [3 + 1.5].

A generic excel table to help one calculate a GPA is provided with the Grade Conversion Tables and Template in the Related Items box.

The overall GPA is reported in the following format: XX.XX% and is NOT rounded up.

Appeal Rights

A decision of the Registrar not to register or reregister an individual as a Student or to de-register a Student may be appealed by the individual or Student to the Institute’s Membership Committee.  The parties to an appeal are the individual appealing and the Registrar.  The appeal shall be conducted in accordance with the Institute’s Rules of Practice and Procedure. The decision of the Membership Committee is final.