The Four Canadian Accounting Designation

Getting an accounting designation in Canada is not a simple process.  It's very different from the Philippine setup.  In the Philippines, we have the Certified Public Accountant, in Canada, there are four.  The four designations are the CA, CMA, CGA and the RPA.  There is even an ongoing discussion about merging the accounting designation in one and calling it CPA (Chartered Public Accountants).  The CA, CMA and CGA are the popular designations and a lot has been written about the pros and cons of each designation.

I recently attended an info session for the RPA designation.  I never really knew about RPA until the info session and I was surprised that getting the designation and maintaining it is easier and cost effective as the other 3.  In fact you may already have qualified for the RPA designation by having the other 3.  

I have already decided to pursue my CGA designation, but I am still thinking about pursuing the RPA because of the added cost of maintaining both designations and weighing the cost versus the benefits of the designation offer.