Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA)

No – PASS/Orbit is the only course in India preparing students to obtain their Canadian CPA

No – Only PASS/Orbit has developed a dedicated course to prepare students with an Indian CA to pass the CFE

You can register online at www.orbitinstitutes.com

(a) You receive an online confirmation
(b) Students will be provided with a technical binder and you will have access to all of the technical videos
(c) We will send you practice cases
(d) Classes will start

Yes, there will be additional material as the course progresses

Both – much of the material is online and you also receive several binders of hard copy material

Yes – For live online classes you sit at your computer and log in and watch the instructor teach the class. You can ask questions by texting or by using your microphone We will e-mail a schedule with the upcoming classes

Not a problem – all live online classes are recorded, so you just watch the video. The video is uploaded the following day

Unlimited use until you pass the Exam (CFE)

If you have general questions about the course, you can contact Orbit – 91-20-2616-9533 / 1250 OR cell 98-9275-6220 OR info@orbitinstitutes.com
If you have technical questions, you can contact Ira (iwalfish@passyourcpa.ca WhatsApp, 416-888-7173) or Michael (mjlevi@passyourcpa.ca or WhatsApp, 416- 560-3797)

Yes – you can study anywhere in the world. You just need access to the internet

Difficult to answer – If working full time, should begin no later than December 2021 for the May 2022 exam and no later than March 2022 for the September 2022 exam. If not working, can start a bit later. The earlier you start, the better the chances are of passing

No – it will just mean more time is required to review the technical and get up tospeed. We have had students in our course who wrote the Indian CA over 20 years ago.

The 2 biggest topics are financial accounting and management accounting

Common Final Exam

Any Indian student who has an Indian CA

No – An Indian student with an Indian CA can go directly to the final exam, the CFE. (If you don’t have an Indian CA you would need to write other exams before you write the CFE)

Twice a year, in May and Sept. Upcoming exams are May 25-27, 2022 and Sept. 7-9, 2022

You write the CFE in the Canadian Province that you register with

No – it is a Canadian exam, i.e. everyone writes the same exam across Canada. Most popular Provinces are Ontario and British Columbia

It is discouraged but may be possible

3 times

When do the results come out?

The exam is written on the computer, using word and excel

No – the exam is open book. Candidates have access to the CPA Handbook (which provides accounting guidance) and the Tax Act

There are 6 technical areas on the exam: Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Auditing, Tax, Finance and Governance

Yes – in particular (i) Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises (ASPE) for financial accounting and (ii) Canadian Tax

Yes – the exam is case based. Day 1 is a 4 hour case based on Capstone 1 (see below), Day 2 is a 5 hour case called “the comp” and Day 3 is 3 shorter cases, between 70 and 90 minutes each, totaling 4 hours. There are no multiple choice or technical questions on the exam

No – Day 1 is marked separately – pass or fail. Day 2 and 3 are combined and marked together – pass or fail. If you fail Day 1 but pass Day 2/3 you would only write Day 1 again; if fail Day 2/3 but pass Day 1, you only have to re-write Day 2/3

Canadian students have to take Capstone 1 before the CFE. They are put into groups and work online, for 7-8 weeks, responding to a large case study. On the 1st day of the CFE, the 4 hour case is a continuation of the Capstone 1 case (i.e. involves the same company as the Capstone 1 case, 5 or 10 years later, new 15-20 page case)

No – Indian CAs are exempt from Capstone 1, from Jan. 2019 onwards

Canadian students have to take Capstone 2 before the CFE. Capstone 2 is essentially practice cases. Students write prior CFE cases each week (last 7 weeks before the CFE), hand them in weekly to CPA Canada and get them marked and returned

No – Indian CAs are now exempt from Capstone 2

No – the PASS/Orbit program builds in an alternative to Capstone 1 and 2, so you are not disadvantaged

Not really – for the following reasons (a) The Capstones are expensive (about $2,600 Cdn for both combined); (b) The PASS/Orbit course essentially incorporates Capstone 2, so you are getting it anyway, through the course; and (c) Capstone 1 is very time consuming, teaching skills not necessary for the CFE, so the PASS/Orbit course ignores those areas and provides other training necessary for the Day 1 case on the CFE

No – it is not a difficult process. Students with a CA from India are able to immigrate into Canada, quite easily, usually through a special program, the FSW, Federal Skills Workers Stream, www.cic.gc.ca (click “Express Entry”)

No – you do not need a job in Canada in order to immigrate

Typically 7 months if things go smoothly, which they should (see Covid questions below)

Yes – Indians immigrating to Canada do find work, even before they have a Canadian CPA, but it is much easier to land a job if you have passed the Canadian CPA

Yes, you can check out the following links:

There are 2 major changes: (1) The PR process is much slower and (2) at certain times, students from India cannot enter Canada

We suggest the following steps:

Note – registering with PASS is totally separate from the whole immigration process and you should register with PASS as soon as you make a decision to write. PASS is flexible and will move you into a different CFE (no additional cost) if the immigration process takes longer (or for any other reason that you delay writing)

No problem – we simply move you into the next batch and you continue studying, watching videos, attending sessions etc. No additional fees. You continue to have access all material and videos as long as you need

Price - $1,900 US
Students who have an Indian CA are not required to attend Capstone 2 (See IV above). Capstone 2 is, however, very important for passing the CFE, as it allows students the opportunity to write prior CFE cases and have them professionally marked. In order to ensure that students who do not attend Capstone 2 with CPA Canada are well prepared, for this option, PASS has incorporated the prior CFE case writing covered in Capstone 2 into the PASS course.
Students will purchase the cases from Capstone 2 for approximately $250 and then will write these cases and the PASS professional markers will mark them. In the Capstone 2 portion of the course students will have the opportunity to write old Capstone cases for all 3 days of the CFE. This includes 12 cases: 2 Day 1 case, 2 Role Comp Day 2 cases and 8 Day 3 multi cases

Using Ontario as an example (fees could differ slightly if registering with a different Province). All fees in Canadian dollars.

Approx. 5,000 US $ or $6,500 Cdn $ (includes 1 trip to Canada to write the CFE)

Price - $1,350 US
If students do not want PASS to mark the Capstone 2 cases, students can still purchase the cases from CPA and write them on their own and self-mark them. The price for this option is lower than the recommended option, as PASS is marking fewer cases for the student (about 12 cases instead of 24).
With the exception of the PASS marking of these Capstone 2 cases, in the last 7 weeks leading up to the CFE, all other aspects of the course (i.e. lectures, PASS cases, videos, technical material etc.) are identical between the two options.

PASS believes the recommended option is preferable, where PASS marks the Capstone 2 cases ($2,795), as it is important for students to get as much professional feedback on their cases and this option includes the marking of more cases.
However, if financial considerations are the driving force in the decision, the alternative option is a reasonable option that should be considered.

Interest free installment plans available. Contact Orbit to discuss.

Michael Levi and Ira Walfish are the 2 directors of PASS

Michael worked at Deloitte Canada for 9 years and Ira worked at EY Canada for 10 years and both left their respective public accounting firms in 1995 to start PASS. PASS prepares students to get their Canadian CPA

PASS has taught students from all 4 of the big accounting firms, Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PWC as well as thousands of students from other public accounting firms and industry. PASS currently runs the PWC CFE program across Canada

Yes – PASS is the oldest firm in Canada involved in CPA prep courses and Michael Levi won the Ontario Gold Medal when he passed his CA exam (1st in the Province of Ontario)

PASS is the only course provider with a dedicated course for students from/in India

The PASS course is far more extensive (more classes, cases marked) than any of the other courses

No – For the past 25 years PASS has been exclusively training students to pass the CFE

You can go to the respective website and find out all the information you need, when you have a CA from India. The link is:

Definitely not – you should start the process to study ASAP and then at the same time, start the process to register with CPA Ontario or CPAWASB. You don’t want to waste valuable time, not studying, while you are waiting for your registration to be processed

As long as you have a CA from India in good standing, it is very unlikely that your application will be denied. We are not aware of any Indian CA whose application has been denied.