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Membership Resignation

If you are moving on to a new career, transferring to another province or simply no longer require your CPA Ontario membership, you may submit a Member Resignation request through My Portal.

Resignation requests require review and acceptance by the Registrar.

Note: If your employment status has recently changed to retired and you are 55 years of age or older, you may want to review the AMD and CPD Retired Exemption criteria first before proceeding with resigning from membership.

On this page, you’ll find information on the CPA Ontario membership resignation process, as well as additional information on how your resignation might impact your firm or Public Accounting Licence (if applicable).

Impact of resignation

Designation

You will no longer be permitted to use the designation “Chartered Professional Accountant”, any legacy designations or the initials “CPA”, “CA”, “FCPA”, “CGA”, “FCGA”, “CMA” or “FCMA” whether alone or combined.

Insurance/benefits

Eligibility for continuation of coverage under various CPA Ontario member benefit plans, including a member’s insurance plan, is based on membership status. Your coverage may not be valid as a result of your resignation. If you have an insurance policy with a plan sponsored by CPA Ontario, it is your obligation to check with the insurer and make arrangements to transfer your policy to another plan.

Readmission

If you choose to apply for readmission to membership in the future, requests will be subject to the provisions of the Bylaws and the Regulations in effect at the date of that application. If you were admitted to membership after November 19, 2018, and subsequently left membership, you will not be permitted to readmit if you remain out of membership for 10 years or more. Please review our Readmission page for more details.

Before submitting a membership resignation request

Before you submit a Member Resignation request please ensure your AMD/CPD Application is completed, as per Section 7.5.2.2 of the By-law, and you consider and complete the following items as they apply to you:

  • Close any active Firms or Professional Corporations by submitting a Firm Closure request in My Portal and obtain Discovery Insurance.

To submit a Firm Closure request go to My Portal, select Firm Dashboard ► Firm Requests ► Firm Closure ► Submit request

  • Discontinue your active Public Accounting Licence by submitting a Discontinue PAL request in My Portal.

To submit a Discontinue a Public Accounting Licence (PAL) request go to My Portal, select Obligations and Requests ► Member Requests ► Discontinue a Public Accounting Licence (PAL)

  • If selected for an audit of your CPD requirements or an AMD exemption in the year you choose to resign, you must comply with the audit before your Membership Resignation can be accepted. Find out more details on our CPD and AMD Audits page.
  • If you wish to become a member of another provincial accounting body on the basis of your membership with CPA Ontario, you must remain a member in good standing while you apply to that provincial body and obtain its membership before you resign. Do not resign from CPA Ontario until you have been admitted to membership in the other body.

Submit a member resignation request

To submit a Member Resignation request, go to My Portal, select Obligations and Requests ► Member Requests ► Member Resignation.  Resignations take effect once accepted by the Registrar. Annual Membership Dues (AMD) are payable as of April 1. However, if you submit a Member Resignation request between April 1-June 30, as per Regulation 11-1, Section 11 you are eligible for a 50 per cent reduction of AMD. Please contact us to receive this reduction.

Resignations received after June 30 do not qualify for a reduction.

Rejected applications

The Registrar will not accept a resignation if you:

  • are the subject of a practice inspection or reinspection
  • are the subject of a complaint review, investigation, proposed settlement agreement or allegations by the Professional Conduct Committee
  • have not fully complied with a settlement agreement or order of a Committee of CPA Ontario
  • owe any dues to CPA Ontario

To protect the public interest, you may be required to fulfil certain restrictions or conditions before a resignation application is accepted.