The Next Generation Needs Your Expertise
Pre-approved mentors
Each candidate enrolled in the Pre-Approved Program (PAP) has a
mentor assigned by their employer. There are 203 mentors registered
in the program, but many of them are mentoring multiple candidates, as
roughly 300 mentors are actually needed for students currently enrolled
in the PEP program. The program would benefit by having additional
mentors to meet its existing requirements, and we expect that as many
as 750 could be needed to meet future ones.
Experience verification mentors
Candidates in the Experience Verification (EV) path are responsible
for finding their own mentors. Since the majority of growth in the
profession is expected to come from this training pathway, there is an
urgent need to find mentors who are open to working with any suitable
candidates.
Roughly 250 mentors are needed for EV candidates currently enrolled
in the PEP program, and we currently have 439 EV mentors registered
in BC. But while our current needs are being met, we anticipate requiring
as many as 1,400 EV mentors in the near future.
studiovision/iStock/Thinkstock
As explained in the accompanying article on BC’s labour market
needs for professional accountants, CPABC needs to focus significant
efforts on growing the profession. In order to fill the positions created
by economic growth and attrition (due to the number of CPAs who
will be retiring), the new CPA PEP program will need to attract more
students than the combined legacy programs previously accommodated;
in turn, this will require a significant increase in the number of CPA
mentors—members in good standing who will guide aspiring CPAs
in achieving the required competencies, with a focus on developing the
essential skills for ethical behaviour, decision-making, problem-solving,
communication, and leadership.
In upcoming issues of the magazine, we’ll provide updates on our
progress in meeting the objective of securing enough mentors to meet
the needs of candidates in the CPA program.
Required CPA Mentors
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
In the near future, as many as 750
and 1,400 mentors could be needed
for the Pre-Approved Program and
the Experience Verification path,
respectively.
Find out more
The number of mentors needed is directly linked to growth of the
program, which we expect to be substantial. The above numbers basically
allow us to meet our present needs, but we must continue to grow in
order to meet the future needs of the profession. For more information
about the mentoring program and/or to register as a mentor, please
visit bccpa.ca.
0
PAP
EV
Current Needs
Future Needs (12-24 months)
Orange line indicates current number of registered mentors.
”Future needs” figures will be lower if mentors take on more than
one candidate.
CPABC in Focus • Nov/Dec 2014 23