About the CGA Association
The Association was founded in 1908 and currently represents 70,000 CGAs and students around the world. As a self-regulating profession CGAs are represented:
- regionally by provincial or regional CGA Associations, as well as,
- nationally and internationally by CGA Canada.
CGAs achieve their professional designation by completing the Association's Program of Professional Studies. CGAs enjoy diverse careers in finance, commerce, industry, public accounting, government, academia and the not-for-profit sector.
Founding of the Association
The story of the Certified General Accountants Association begins in Montreal in 1908 when John Leslie, then assistant comptroller of Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), was approached by two CPR staff accountants who asked him to lend his name to the formation of an association that would promote the development of their accounting skills.
By 1913, the Association had grown to 83 members from more than 50 companies. Official recognition of the new Association came on April 14, 1913, when the Canadian House of Commons passed an act incorporating the [Certified] General Accountants' Association as a self-regulating professional organization. By the end of World War II, there were offices from Halifax to Vancouver. Today, CGA Canada honours one member each year with the John Leslie Award. It recognizes the achievements of exceptional CGAs, and is given to a Certified General Accountant who has achieved national recognition for exceptional service to business, the community, politics, or the arts, or who has overcome physical adversity.
Education, examination, and professional development were the three cornerstones of the CGA organization as far back as 1910. In the 1950s we introduced a standardized, nationwide curriculum developed in conjunction with the University of British Columbia.
Today, there are nearly 30,000 students worldwide enrolled in the CGA program. Online learning, mandatory professional development, and new partnerships with Canadian universities give CGA students the skills and hands-on practical experience they need to succeed.
