Open Post - CPA vs. CA

Since I am an international student from Canada, I have a lot of friends who goes to Canadian universities and few friends who are majoring in accounting. Unlike in the United States where accounting majors are working toward CPA (Certified Public Accountant), Canada accounting major students are studying in order to become CA (Chartered Accountant). So, I decided to do an open post on the differences between those two titles.

Of course, to achieve either one of these two titles, people have to take a CA exam or a CPA exam. However, in order to be qualified to write the exam, people need to meet some requirements and the requirements for CA exam and CPA exam are different.

Firstly, in order to take the CA exam, people need "51 credit-hour" including courses such as Financial Accounting, Cost and Management Accounting, Auditing, and etc. and the exams are mostly written and essays. For CPA exam, people need "24 semester units in business-related subjects".

Also, CPA is quite flexible in work experience. While CA requires people to have at least of one full year of work experience, only some states in US requires people to have work experience for CPA.

After learning about CPA and CA, I came up with a conclusion. Due to higher difficulty, CA sounds more prestigious than CPA. However, CPA do not really have drawbacks when they start working.

Citation: 

"Quick Links." Academic Qualification Requirements. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://www.icao.on.ca/Admissions/QualificationProcess/AcademicRequirements/1014page1141.aspx>.

"CPA Requirements." CPA Requirements. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://www.calcpa.org/Content/licensure/requirements.aspx>.