Frequently Asked Questions

Only Professional, Associate and certain Organization Members receive membership cards and kits.

For Organization Members, only Payroll Representatives, Second Payroll Representatives and Additional Representatives receive membership cards as well.

If you fall under any of these categories, you will receive your membership kit, which includes your membership card, receipt and information on upcoming seminars and events in the mail 4-6 weeks after your application and payment have been processed.

We publish an online database of course equivalents offered at more than 180 post-secondary institutions. Click here to search the database.

If a course does not appear in the database, it simply means that we have not yet reviewed it. A detailed course outline must be submitted to the Certification Department for assessment and inclusion in the database should it be recognized.

• Be equivalent to a Canadian post-secondary level course; high school courses or job experience are not eligible. If the course was completed outside of Canada, you must get an educational credential assessment from an accredited assessment agency.
• Be a minimum of 30 credit hours in length.
• Have a final method of evaluation worth at least 20% of the overall course mark.
• Have been completed with a minimum grade of 65%. (Note: Transfer credit courses ending prior to January 1, 2013, must have a minimum grade of 60%.)
• Have been completed within the last 10 years.

Examples of many types of CPE Approved activities are listed on the Approved Activities List.

If a particular activity does not appear in the Approved Activities List, consider the following question: "Does the activity further my abilities as a payroll professional?" If the answer is yes, the activity is likely acceptable.

If you started the PCP courses after January 1, 2015, you have to complete the 4 educational requirements of the PCP certification within 5 years and obtain at least one year of weighted payroll experience obtained within 5 years before or 5 years after the start of the Payroll Compliance Legislation course if you are taking courses online or through continuing education.

For students taking the PCP courses through a full-time program at a recognized college, university or private career college, the PCP Work Experience Requirement timeline begins once you complete the Payroll Fundamentals 2 course. 

You do not have to hold a management title to satisfy the CPM work experience requirement.

The most common problem is that your membership has expired. Contact Member Services for help at membership@payroll.ca.

No. Jobs purchased for posting on JobConnect will only be posted on the CPA’s website. While the CPA has partnered with Workopolis Niche Networks to run JobConnect, jobs posted on the CPA’s JobConnect will only be accessible to CPA members and not affiliated with Workopolis.

A gift card would be considered a "near-cash" gift or award. Near-cash refers to how easily something can be converted to cash. Regardless of the amount, gift cards and gift certificates are considered taxable employment income and are therefore subject to CPP and income tax in all jurisdictions except Quebec.

Revenu Québec (RQ) allows a gift card or gift certificate to be given as a non-taxable gift or award (up to the $500 exemption) as long as the merchant or merchants are clearly identified on the card and the reason for which the employee is receiving the card falls within their gifts and awards policy. (A Quebec employee receiving such a gift or award would have the value of the gift card subject only to federal tax.)

In the seminar calendar, you can use the search tool to search for upcoming seminars by topic or keyword, or by city or region. You can also view seminar topics for each broad learning category by clicking on the appropriate link from the learning menu or from the learning landing page.   Once you are on the applicable course description page for your selected topic, you may see a list of cities where that seminar will be offered in upcoming months.

There is no requirement by Revenu Québec (RQ) to separate the eligible and non-eligible portion of the retiring allowance on the RL-1 slip. The total amount of the retiring allowance is reported on the RL-1 slip in box O (code RJ).

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requires the reporting of eligible and non-eligible retiring allowances separately on the T4 slip.

For employees who receive a retiring allowance upon or after termination who have years of service prior to 1996, the employer is required to calculate the eligible portion of the retiring allowance. The eligible amount is determined by using the following calculation:

• $2,000 for each year, or part year, prior to 1996
• $1,500 for each year or part year prior to 1989 that employee was not vested in a pension plan or DPSP.

The eligible portion is reported in code 66 of the T4 slip and the non-eligible portion is reported in code 67.

If you cannot remember your CPA number, first access the CPA Login page. Once there, click on the latter part of “Forgot my CPA Number.” Enter your email and click on “Submit.” You must enter the preferred email address you have on file with the CPA. Otherwise, you will not receive the email with your CPA number.
           
If you need help, contact membership@payroll.ca.

We do not evaluate non-academic credentials. Increasingly more post-secondary institutions provide this type of evaluation service, sometimes called Prior-Learning Assessment or Recognition, through their Continuing Education divisions.

Contact your local college or university to find out what service they offer. If the post-secondary institution's review exempts you from one of its course offerings, we may also honour the credit.

Should you wish to track your CPE using the online CPE tracking tool to log volunteer hours with the CPA as a SME or hours spent reading DIALOGUE magazine, enter "Subject Matter Expert – CPA" or "DIALOGUE magazine – CPA," respectively, as the provider for your CPE activity.

If you are currently a PCP, you are not affected by the PCP Work Experience Requirement as long as you maintain certification by fulfilling the ongoing requirements. In fact, you may benefit from the enhanced status of the PCP program as a result of the PCP Work Experience Requirement.

Yes. If you have less than 2 years of applicable payroll experience in your current or past position, you can combine positions to satisfy the 2-year requirement. You must complete a separate application form for each payroll position being submitted for assessment.

The cookies settings on your web browser may be the cause of your problem. Difficulty creating or accessing your account and profile often indicates that cookies are not enabled in your web browser's security settings. Check your browser's online help or other included documentation to configure cookies and Internet security preferences.

If your local network or your internet service provider uses a proxy server, you need to contact your network administrator or internet service provider's helpdesk for assistance.

JobConnect accepts all major credit cards for posting jobs. At this time employers cannot be invoiced for jobs. 

A retiring allowance, as defined in subsection 248(1) of the Income Tax Act and part 1 of the Quebec Taxation Act, is an amount received upon or after retirement or termination from an office or employment in recognition of long service. This is often money paid at the discretion of the employer and not required by law. Sometimes this payment is referred to as a termination, lump-sum, or severance payment. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) IT Folio S2-F1-C2, Retiring Allowances provides additional technical interpretations.

The term "retiring allowance" does not necessarily mean that the individual is retiring and is used by the CRA and Revenu Québec (RQ) to describe a payment made to a terminating employee as compensation for loss of office or in recognition of past service.

Before a retiring allowance can qualify as such, the employer must establish the employee-employer relationship has been severed. If the terminated employee is still expected to perform services for the former employer, or is still accruing benefits in the company’s pension plan, an employee-employer relationship is still deemed to exist and the payment would not qualify as a retiring allowance.

Regular employment income, such as bonuses, commission payments, accumulated overtime, legislated pay in lieu of notice and vacation pay, do not qualify as a retiring allowance. However, accumulated sick leave credits paid out on termination, damages awarded to a former employee in a wrongful dismissal case and severance pay required under Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000, and the Canada Labour Code, Part III, or a gratuitous severance pay in any jurisdiction, qualify as a retiring allowance. Amounts over and above the legislated minimum lieu of notice periods may qualify as a retiring allowance provided the employee-employer relationship has, in fact, been severed.

As retiring allowances are usually paid at the discretion of the employer, the amount will vary for each employee. The method of payment can vary as well. For example, some employers will pay the retiring allowance as a lump-sum payment on termination, whereas others will choose to spread this payment over a number of months, or even a number of years.

Payments that qualify as a retiring allowance are taxable using the lump-sum tax rates and are not subject to Canada/Quebec Pension Plan contributions, Employment Insurance (EI) premiums, or Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) premiums.

Revenu Québec (RQ) and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) have different requirements regarding health spending accounts.

Since RQ considers health insurance plans to be a taxable benefit, it does not make an exception when it comes to the health spending account. To determine the value of the taxable benefit throughout the year, the following calculation must be performed:

[(A x B) /C] + [D x E) / F]

Where:

A: The total of all benefit reimbursements paid to all employees who have the same type of coverage (e.g. single or family)

B: Number of days during the year the employee has coverage under the plan

C: The total number of employee coverage days for all employees (total of column B)

D: Total of all administrative or management fees paid to a third party

E: Number of days during the year the employee has coverage under the plan

F: The total number of employee coverage days for all employees (total of column E)

At the end of the year, the employer will have to adjust the value of the taxable benefit based on the real amounts that were used by the group of employees covered under the same plan if estimations were initially used.

The taxable benefit is subject to QPP contributions and Quebec income tax and must be reported on the RL-1 in boxes A and J.

The CRA considers that if the majority of the reimbursement is for health expenses, it is not a taxable benefit and there is no T4 reporting requirement.

To reset or create a password, click on Member Centre (at the top right corner of the website) or click on My Profile (in the Membership menu). Then click on “Forgot password.” Enter your CPA number and click on “Submit.” An email will be sent to the preferred email address you have on file with the CPA providing instructions on how to reset or create our password.
 
If you need help, contact membership@payroll.ca.