How to migrate to Canada as an accountant
Canada has provided a special program to attract skilled and specialized foreign workers who intend to immigrate and live in this country. Canadian Federal Skilled Worker Program. So as an accountant one of the first steps for you to take is to learn how to immigrate to Canada as an accountant and learn about the Canadian Skilled Worker program and create a profile in the Express Entry system. The Canadian Skilled Worker program improves your chances of success in the process of immigrating to Canada as an accountant. The Canadian Skilled Worker Program is for skilled workers who want to get a permanent residence permit in Canada. In the Express Entry there is Comprehensive Scoring System (CRS), which determines your rank among eligible candidates, and after registering in this system you will receive points based on your resume and qualifications. People who plan to immigrate to Canada will be happy to know that Canada has a provincial nominee program in addition to the federal skilled work program. This program can increase your CRS score by up to 600 points, in other words, it almost can guarantee that you will enter Canada. The Canadian Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is an immigration program that allows different Canadian provinces and regions to nominate immigration candidates. A lot of these provinces are specifically looking for professional accountants. So as an accountant you can immigrate to Canada by being nominated in a province. If you immigrate through Canadian Provincial Nominee Program, you will receive a permanent residence permit in Canada from the beginning, although you will be expected to live and work in that province for two years. After these two years, you are free to live and work anywhere in Canada.
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Required documents to work in Canada as an accountant
Note that in order to work in Canada as an accountant, you must first go through a degree equivalency process and then you will be able to obtain a work permit and enter the Canadian job market. In other words, in order to migrate to Canada as a qualified accountant, you need to have chartered or regulated status in your home country. For this purpose, certified and official accountants in different countries are typically recognized as eligible according to Canadian standards through a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) or a Reciprocal Membership Agreement (RMA). If accountants fall into one of these categories, they may be eligible for the Canadian certificate. A Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) is an international agreement under which two or more countries agree to recognize the results of a conformity assessment (for example, certificates or test results). In addition to obtaining a Canadian accounting certification, you must also have a valid degree. Therefore, if you intend to immigrate to Canada as an accountant, you must at least have a bachelor’s degree in accounting. If you have studied outside of Canada and you have obtained your degree from a university in another country, you will need to get an ECA (Educational Credential Assessment). An ECA is used to certify a foreign document, diploma or certificate and to prove the validity and equivalence of this certificate with the Canadian certificate. In addition to that, depending on which Canadian province you intend to work in, you will need to provide additional documentation.
Most institutions, companies and organizations in Canada use the NOC code. The NOC code is a four-digit code assigned to different occupations. This four-digit code represents information about that job. The NOC code for the accounting job is 1111. You can check this code to get more information and see the job descriptions.
What does an Accountant do in Canada?
Accountants in Canada work in the public or private sector. Their main responsibility is to audit accounting data and provide financial advice to individuals and organizations. Their goal is to make sure that their customers meet the provincial and national regulations, so that they follow all of the procedures and that all incomes and expenses are accounted for. Another role that an Accountant can undertake is the role of a financial advisor and auditor, who are always focused on their ultimate goal, which is to maximize profits for their clients by reducing expenses as much as possible. Accountants can specialize in taxation, corporate accounting, forensic auditing, and insurance accounting. Accountants can work for a variety of organizations, including public or private companies, commercial organizations, non-profit associations, and government offices. Accountants in Canada can also work as self-employed workers (Canadian self-employed).
The following table summarizes the main tasks of accountants in Canada.
| Relevant details | Responsibilities |
|
Documenting financial reports for clients |
| – | Managing financial records, systems, and budgets. |
| – | Running financial audits for clients. |
|
Advising clients on financial matters (e.g. business improvement, cost reductions, and insolvency) |
|
Preparing new financial and tax reports for clients and analyzing existing ones, ensuring they comply with current standards and legislations |
| – | Supervising and training aspiring Accountants and interns |
Canadian Labor Market for Accountants
The Canadian job market is very strong and favorable for accountants and is expected to continue to be for several years to come. The unemployment rate for qualified accountants in Canada is below the average unemployment rate in Canada. So as a qualified accountant you can be sure that your expertise is needed in Canada and you can have many job opportunities across Canada. However, most accounting firms are located in large cities and therefore you will find more job opportunities in larger cities. But, you must also keep it in mind that in some of Canada’s less populous provinces and cities, there is a high need to hire skilled and skilled labor. Some of the places in Canada that currently require accountants desperately are Nova Scotia, Alberta, British Columbia, and News Brunswick. An accountant who works on a regular basis works between 35 to 40 hours a week. However, accountants work for more hours when the deadline is near or when there is a lot of work to do (for example, the end of a fiscal year). An accountant is also expected to visit his/her clients’ offices for auditing or reviewing financial books. Most customers are in the same city as the accounting office. Therefore, most of these visits will happen within the city, but there may be intercity trips as well.
Accountant salary in Canada
Just like all of the other jobs, the amount of income received by accountants depends directly on their expertise and work experience. Obviously, a professional accountant or accounting manager will earn more money than a regular accountant or assistant accountant. In addition to that, the average salary varies somewhat from province to province in Canada. For example, a professional accountant with a CPA degree who has less than 5 years of experience earns an average of about $ 75,000 a year, while an accountant with the same degree but with more than 5 years of experience earns an average of $ 96,000 a year. Also, an accountant who has 10 to 20 years of work experience will earn an average of 114 thousand dollars per year, and this amount can increase for accountants with more than 20 years of experience to 165 thousand dollars per year. The average salary of a regular accountant in Canada is $ 58,601 per year or $ 30 per hour. This figure is about 1.8 times higher than the Median wage of the country. In other words, the amount of income received by accountants in Canada is about twice as high as the average income in Canada. For a novice accountant who wants to get started, the average salary will be around $ 41,000 a year. While the average salary for more experienced accountants, as mentioned, is more than 75 thousand dollars a year. These results are based on 1,655 salaries extracted from job descriptions.
In the table below you can see the average income of accountants in Canada in different Canadian cities.
| Average income | City |
| 59,091 | Toronto |
| 57,825 | Montreal |
| 56,779 | Vancouver |
| 60,591 | Ottawa |
| 68,515 | Calgary |
| 56,813 | Mississauga |
Citizenship for accountants in Canada
If you are planning to immigrate to Canada as an accountant, you must apply through the Express Entry pool. The Express Entry pool is a point-based system and there are two ways for you to migrate through this pool. If you earn enough points in the Federal Skilled worker program and qualify, you will get a permanent resident permit in Canada and can reside in any of the Canadian provinces that you want. But if you apply for the provincial nominee program, you are required to work and live in the province that has been your sponsor for the first few years. In order to qualify and earn the necessary points, it is recommended for you to have at least a master’s degree. Have more than 3 years of relevant work experience and an IELTS language certificate with score of 7 or higher. Also note that, a 29-year-old scores maximum points for age. Therefore, it is better for you to immigrate to Canada by the age of 32 to have a good chance.
If you have immigrated to Canada as a student and studied in Canada, the good news is that your studies in Canada as well as your work experience in Canada will have some points. Therefore, people who have studied in Canada will have a higher chance of getting a permanent residence permit in Canada through the Express Entry system. After 5 years of getting a permanent residence permit in Canada, you can apply for Canadian citizenship. Of course, you need to meet the requirements and be present in this country for at least 3 years.
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