Professional Misconduct and Complaints
As the governing body of Ontario Chartered Professional Accountants, CPA Ontario is responsible for protecting the public interest by ensuring that its members, students and firms act in accordance with the expectations set out in its rules and regulations, which include adhering to high professional and ethical standards. Failure to observe standards in professional and non-professional interactions with the public can harm the reputation and value of the CPA designation and undermine public confidence in the profession.
Concerns about alleged misconduct should be reported through the complaints process as noted below.
How to file a complaint
Before filing a complaint, we encourage the complainant (the individual making the complaint) to determine whether CPA Ontario’s disciplinary process is the appropriate intake channel. The complaints process is not a forum for resolving fee and/or financial disputes between our members, students or firms and their clients or other parties.
Where possible, we encourage the complainant to attempt to resolve their concerns with the respondent(s) (the party being complained about) before filing a complaint. CPA Ontario’s complaint intake team cannot provide advice on your situation.
Once a complaint has been submitted to CPA Ontario, it cannot be withdrawn.
In addition to making a complaint to CPA Ontario, you may also wish to explore the availability of other options, such as the civil and/or criminal justice system. Please contact local law enforcement or seek independent legal counsel as necessary.
Where resolution is not possible, a complaint can be filed by completing the digital intake form.
The form will ask the complainant (the individual making the complaint) for specific information relating to the event(s) giving rise to the complaint, the name and contact details pertaining to the CPA member, student or firm involved, as well as supporting information and documents. Some examples of supporting documentation include: engagement letter(s); financial statements; tax filings; and correspondence relating to the event(s) that you are complaining about.
To avoid unnecessary processing delays, we encourage complainants to gather all of this information in advance and to add it to the designated areas of the digital intake form. Incomplete intake forms will result in processing delays and may significantly impact CPA Ontario’s ability to proceed with the complaint.
If a complainant requests to remain anonymous, they must acknowledge that in doing so, they will not receive further communication from CPA Ontario with respect to their complaint, including any response(s) from the respondent(s) (the party being complained about) and that the decision will not be communicated. Additionally, CPA Ontario’s ability to proceed with a meaningful review of the complaint may be significantly hindered, rendered unfeasible or be stopped altogether.
In fairness to the respondent(s), CPA Ontario may share with them some or all of the information and documents that are sent to us. As such, we cannot guarantee complainants' anonymity.
CPA Ontario’s complaints process is paperless. All information and documents submitted as part of a complaint must be provided in an electronic format. To protect personal and confidential information throughout the complaints process, CPA Ontario uses a secure file transfer system to manage the exchange of documents and correspondence with all parties involved.
If you have questions about completing the digital intake form or using the secure file transfer system, or if you require an accommodation, please email Standards Enforcement.
CPA Ontario is committed to communicating in a respectful and professional manner and we expect the same from those who use our complaint process. The complaint process and the circumstances that give rise to complaints can be stressful. However, we will not accept racist, discriminatory or harassing behaviour or profane communications and will take steps to protect our staff from this behaviour. Repeated behaviour of this kind will result in CPA Ontario restricting communications or no longer communicating with complainants beyond advising them of the outcome of complaints.
Complaints are confidential, and CPA Ontario reviews complaints in accordance with the mandate set out in the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario Act, 2017 (the “Act”), in order to protect the public interest. As such, CPA Ontario may share with and provide copies of the information and/or documents that it receives from the complainant, and other parties related to this complaint, to the respondent, which may include, but is not limited to, Personal Identifiable Information such as: residential/business address, telephone number and/or e‐mail address; social insurance number; taxpayer identification number; financial account number; or credit card number.
CPA Ontario may be unable to process a complaint without supporting documents. In complainants choosing to not submit evidence in support of their complaint, CPA Ontario’s ability to proceed with a meaningful review of the complaint may be significantly hindered, rendered unfeasible or be stopped altogether.
Information provided to complainants and respondents in the course of the complaints process is confidential and should not be used or disseminated for any other purpose. Pursuant to the Act, no record of a proceeding under the Act and no document or thing prepared for or statement given at such a proceeding and no decision or order made in such a proceeding is admissible in any civil proceeding, except for specific limited circumstances set out in section 63 of the Act.
Section 60 of the Act restricts CPA Ontario’s ability to share information obtained through the complaints process. Exceptions are listed in section 60 of the Act.
There are, however, certain occasions when information and/or documentation provided in relation to a complaint may be disclosed to other people and areas of CPA Ontario. For example, should the matter be referred to the Discipline Committee of CPA Ontario, the proceedings are generally considered public and, therefore, information related to a complaint may be disclosed. Further, in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 15-1, a complaint may be referred to the Registrar or elsewhere in CPA Ontario as a matter within their jurisdiction.
In addition, in accordance with section 2.2.2 of the Bylaw, CPA Ontario may release information and documents to any other Provincial Body, Regional Body, and/or Regulatory Body in order to enable CPA Ontario and/or that Provincial Body, Regional Body, and/or Regulatory Body to carry out its statutory mandate.
Even after a complaint has been addressed, confidentiality is still required.How the complaints process works
CPA Ontario’s handing of complaints is critical to maintaining public trust. Review the steps below to learn more about how professional standards complaints feed into CPA Ontario’s Disciplinary Process. Details on the complaints process can also be found in Regulation 15-1.
The role of the Professional Conduct Committee
The Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario Act, 2017, and the CPA Ontario By-law and Regulations charge the Professional Conduct Committee (the “Committee”) with the responsibility for administering the CPA Code of Professional Conduct (the “Code”) and Student Code of Conduct (the “Student Code”). This includes the responsibility to review complaints and determine whether a breach of the Code or the Student Code may have taken place.
The Committee may consider information received from any source a complaint and review and investigate accordingly. The Committee may also delegate its authority to the Vice President, Complaints and Investigations.
The Committee is comprised of experienced volunteer members of the profession and public representatives appointed by CPA Ontario Council.
The Committee is investigative, not adjudicative, and any conclusions reached by the Committee, including any guidance or admonishment provided to the respondent, are based on information obtained through the investigative process that has not been tested in a formal hearing.
The Code and the Student Code encompass ethical principles and competency standards aimed at protecting the public and achieving orderly and courteous conduct within the profession. Compliance with the Code or the Student Code often involves the exercise of professional judgment on the part of a CPA or a student and, accordingly, the Committee, which is charged with the administration of the Code and the Student Code, is given broad discretionary authority under the CPA Ontario By-law and Regulations.
What to do when a complaint is filed against you
As a member, student or firm of CPA Ontario, should you be the subject of a complaint, you are required to co-operate with CPA Ontario’s regulatory process. This requirement is imposed by Rule 104 of the CPA Code of Professional Conduct and Rule 402 of the Student Code of Conduct.
You must promptly reply in writing to any communication from CPA Ontario in which a written reply is specifically requested, including providing requested documentation.
Failure to co-operate in the complaints process could result in formal allegations of professional misconduct and a hearing before the Discipline Committee.
Throughout all stages of the complaints process, members, students or firms under review or investigation have the right to legal counsel. To ensure your privacy, you will be required to authorize CPA Ontario to correspond with your legal counsel.