A Century of Professional Excellence 

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A Century of Professional Excellence

One hundred years strong: CGAs have been providing exceptional leadership, service, and networking opportunities for a century.

FROM: JAN-FEB 2008 ISSUE

Throughout 2008, CGA-Canada and its provincial and territorial affiliates are jointly celebrating the national association’s remarkable first century. What began as a small accounting club under the leadership of John Leslie in 1908 went on, in 1913, to receive a federal charter from the government of Canada. When the CGA designation was in its infancy, the association had 83 members from more than 50 companies. Education, examination, and professional development were its three cornerstones. By 1945, there were offices from Halifax to Vancouver and membership was 1,253.

Today, CGA is the fastest-growing accounting designation in Canada with 68,000 members and students. CGA-Canada has affiliates in every Canadian province and territory as well as in Bermuda, the Caribbean and Hong Kong, and has representation offices in China. 

Accounting Visionary

CGAs owe a great deal to Mr. Leslie, whose vision was behind the founding of the Canadian Accountants’ Association. He was assistant comptroller of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) at the time and he partnered with two fellow railway accountants, E.B. Manning and F.A. Cousins, to create a new accountancy fraternity, in Montreal. Its purpose was to “encourage improvement in skills and job performance” among those working in the profession. Mr. Leslie served as the association’s first president.

Born in Toronto in 1861, a young John Leslie set his sights on a business career and became auditor for the Grey and Bruce Railway. When the CPR took over Grey and Bruce in 1884, Mr. Leslie stayed on to become the CPR’s auditor of disbursements and rose through the management ranks. In 1928, he became vice-president finance and treasurer.

His appointment to the position of vice-president was “appropriate and well-deserved recognition of the ability and fidelity to the company’s interests of one of its older officers and to the work of a department which...has been notable for its accuracy and effectiveness,” according the CPR’s archives. “The directors are properly gratified that such a huge department should be administered by Mr. Leslie and his assistants with such satisfactory results and scrupulous regard for the company’s interests.”

A Leading Member of Society

During most of his career, Mr. Leslie lived in Montreal and was a prominent member of the community. He belonged to the Saint James Club, Canadian and Beaconsfield golf clubs, was honorary president of the Old Brewery Mission, a member of the American Railway Accounting Officers Association, a governor of the United Theological College, and a trustee of the Dominion Douglas Church. He also served on the board of Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd., one of the CPR’s largest and most important subsidiaries. He was married to Victoria Alexander.

Mr. and Mrs. Leslie’s son Eric followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming the CPR’s vice-president and controller from 1943-55. Eric was a pioneer in business computing and contributed to the railway’s integrated data processing operations. Eric’s son Jack also joined the CPR and remained an employee for 46 years. When he retired in 1989 he was the railway’s chief of transportation.

Since 1988, CGA-Canada has honoured exceptional members with the John Leslie Award, which may be given once a year. It recognizes extraordinary service to business, the community, politics, or the arts, or someone who has overcome physical adversity.

CGA-Canada’s History of Achievement

The organization that John Leslie founded went on to enjoy one success after another. Five years after it was formed, the association, renamed the General Accountants’ Association, received a federal charter and the CGA designation was confirmed. The rest truly is history. Here are some of the association’s most notable milestones:

• Certification standards and examinations are established in 1913. A year later, eight candidates wrote the first exam; three of them passed entitling them to use the initials CGA.
• In the post-war 1920s, membership boomed as burgeoning commercial, financial and industrial sectors drove demand for accountants. In 1921, the association’s first chapter was formed, in Toronto.
• Brother Orestus, of the Académie Commerciale in Quebec City, drafted the association’s first syllabus in 1925.
• In 1938, the Montreal branch conducted its first meeting entirely in French. Examinations were offered in both French and English for the first time in Quebec in 1948. The evolution toward a bilingual organization was underway.
• In 1951, CGA-BC and University of British Columbia developed what became a national curriculum standard.
• The CGA education program was offered in Bermuda and the Caribbean for the first time in 1964.
• In 1974, the Board approved what would become the Code of Ethical Principles and Rules of Conduct. The national office relocated to Vancouver from Montreal.
• CGA-Canada became a founding member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in 1977.
• The CGA education program was extended to Macau in 1984, and later to Hong Kong and China.
• A major revision of the education program, known as Program 90, was completed between 1987 and 1991. Competency-based objectives, management emphasis, and integration of information technology became the characteristics of the revamped program.
• In 1988, a bachelor’s degree became a requirement for certification.
• CGA-Hong Kong was granted affiliate status in 2003. A decade after being introduced in China, CGA education materials are offered at more than a dozen Chinese universities.
• In 2004, the CGA education program moved to an online learning model.
• Renowned for its high standards and ethics, and flexible and convenient online delivery, CGA’s Program of Professional Studies today boasts some 26,000 students.

Source: CGA-Canada

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