Top 30 Accomplishments for 30 Years

Leadership Advocacy Education

Leadership

“An association exists for two reasons: to meet member needs today and to continue to provide member services in the future,” states Patrick Culhane, CPA President & CEO every year at each Annual General Meeting.

The CPA accomplishes its mission of “Payroll Leadership through Advocacy and Education” by implementing its strategic plan while living our core values of “Community, Professionalism and Authoritative Knowledge.”

The CPA's strategic plan continues to promote professional certification as the knowledge requirement for all payroll practitioners, expand the effectiveness of federal and provincial government relations, retain and attract members by offering more value-added services, and raise the profile of payroll in the business, government and academic sectors.

1. 1978: The world's first payroll association, with Diana Ferguson as the first President, is incorporated under the Canada Corporations Act with the following objectives:
   • To foster and advance the knowledge and professionalism of the member organizations' payroll administrators.
   • To provide a forum of member organizations, and an advisory council of those government agencies whose legislation directly and indirectly impacts payroll administration.
   • To promote changes in legislation that would benefit the member organizations and their employees.
   • To endeavor to achieve a closer relationship and understanding between this association and other associations in those areas where our interests overlap.
   • To gather statistics, conduct research and provide educational programs on behalf of the member organizations.
   • To provide offices and facilities for dissemination of information and the convenience of the member organizations.
     
     Today the CPA has had 26 volunteer Past Chairman/Presidents of the Board of Directors; Richard Rousseau serves as the CPA Chairman for 2008-2009.
     
     
2. 1979: In its first year, 675 members join the CPA.
   
   Today the CPA has over 13,000 Business, Professional and Associate Members, supporting hundreds of thousands of employers, who pay millions of employees.
   
   
3. 1979: Estelle Veroni designs the first CPA logo: “I sought to represent payroll's compensation function.” The letters were formed to represent coins as compensation for hours worked. In 2003, the special 25th anniversary logo was created to celebrate the Association's silver anniversary. In 2004, an updated version of that bilingual logo was introduced and continues as the CPA's brand today.
   
   
4. 1979: The world's first payroll publication DIALOGUE is launched. Originally, a quarterly black and white newsletter, it became a fully bilingual publication in 1984; in 1994, the English and French editions began being printed as separate publications. The October/November 1994 issue was the first to be printed as a four-colour glossy magazine.
   
   Today, DIALOGUE magazine is published six times a year, providing articles on payroll and related business issues and trends, members' contributions and Association activities. The “Very Important Payroll Professional” column has published interviews with over 50 members, award winners, staff and strategic stakeholders.
   
   
5. 1983: The CPA's first national payroll Conference and Trade Show is held in Toronto.
   
   Today, the CPA's Annual Conference and Trade Show is held in a different Canadian city each year, attracting over 750 delegates, 50 exhibitors, numerous education session speakers, keynote speakers and international guests.
   
   
6. 1991: The CPA launches Payroll InfoLine, a members-only toll-free telephone information “hotline.” In the first month, 140 calls were answered and 3,000 calls by the end of the first year. In 2005, the service expanded to include email inquiries.
   
   Today, the nine CPA Payroll InfoLine consultants with over 175 years of combined payroll experience respond to over 27,000 telephone and email inquiries annually (a 15% increase over 2007).
   
   
7. 1991: The first staff are hired and the National Office is opened at 1867 Yonge Street in Toronto. In 2005, the CPA's first two staff retirees from the Association - Ann Turner-Murphy, Manager of Education, and Gilles Coulombe, Manager of Programs and Service Delivery and the Quebec Regional Coordinator - retired.
   
   Today, the CPA has 46 staff members. The National Office is located at 250 Bloor Street East, Suite 1600, in Toronto. (The Association moved to this location in January 2005).
   
   
8. 1993: Jack Eastwood becomes the first volunteer Chairman of the Board of Directors. Ian Mise is hired as the CPA's first full-time staff President. In 1994, W. G. (Bill) Williams was hired as the CPA's Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, and from 1997 to 1999 he was the Executive Director.
   
   
9. 1995: The CPA streamlines its governance by reducing the number of board members to 11 from 24. The new governance structure included a new set of general by-laws (including adopting a new bilingual logo).
   
   
10. 1995: The CPA's first comprehensive website (www.payroll.ca) goes “live,” including “Payroll Mall,” and the Association moves to a bilingual brand format on its communications materials. In 2005, the website was re-launched to offer a members-only access to resources, an updated and professional look and navigation, and the ability to register and pay online for seminars and certification courses, renew memberships and update profile information.
    
    Today, the CPA's website has over 1,300 visitors a day and over 140,000 unique visitors a year. CPA members' top five most visited website pages are JobConnect, Certification, Payroll Tip of the Week, Professional Development Seminars and Payroll Mall.
    
    
11. 1995: The world's first National Payroll Week (NPW) program is launched in Canada in September. In 1997, NPW becomes a global event as celebrations run concurrently in Canada, the United States (sponsored by the American Payroll Association), and the United Kingdom (sponsored by the Institute of Payroll Professionals).
    
    In 2008, 2,900 payroll professionals attended 28 NPW events across the country during the week. It is the Association's most important long-term, annual public relations program providing the fourth broadest contact with members after Certification, PDS, and DIALOGUE magazine. The multi-faceted program includes events, posters and advertising, media, and merchandise.
    
    
12. 1996: The CPA introduces two “individual” membership options - Professional and Associate - in order to expand the CPA's membership appeal beyond the traditional corporate organization base.
    
    
13. 1997: The CPA launches JobConnect, an online employment advertising service for employers' payroll and related job openings on www.payroll.ca.  
    
    Today, over a 1,000 jobs a year are posted on JobConnectä. In 2008, the CPA partnered with Workopolis, one of Canada's leading technology staffing firms and a pioneer in providing web-based recruitment and staffing solutions to employers and job seekers, to enhance the site.
    
    
14. 1998: The CPA celebrates its 20th anniversary throughout the year by profiling its founding and special contributing members and providing a retrospective in DIALOGUE magazine (December 1998/January 1999).
    
    
15. 2000: Patrick Culhane is hired as President to enhance the profile and operations of the CPA. Under his leadership the CPA has developed into a nationally recognized association.
    
    In the last eight years, the CPA has increased membership by 90% to 13,000; expanded its products and services; increased annual revenues from $5 million to $12 million and net assets to $9 million; enhanced its federal and provincial government relations; redeveloped its Certification programs; restructured volunteer governance processes; and developed a strategic plan that continuously improves the Association. Today, the CPA continues to produce great financial results because of good planning, great governance, hard work, and a solid team effort. This is a credit to everyone - the staff, the Board of Directors and the supportive members of the CPA.
    
    
16. 2001: The CPA introduces a long-term strategic plan developed by the Board of Directors and Management Team.
    
    Today, the strategic plan is the driver of the Association. It defines the CPA's present and future, its direction, and its character by articulating its mission and values and setting the key strategies and priorities. The plan is reviewed and revised annually by the Board of Directors and Management Team.
    
    
17. 2001: The Mandates Task Force reviews and makes recommendations regarding the roles of volunteers and staff, resulting in the creation of a Subject Matter Expert (SME) database and the use of task forces rather than standing committees. SME members provide specific payroll knowledge and expertise to various activities including reviewing the Certification Programs and PDS seminars. In 2006, the CPA launched its newly re-developed Subject Matter Expert (SME) database - the SME Web Profile - on the membership page of its website to enable more members to contribute to the Association.
    
    Today, the CPA has over 300 Subject Matter Experts, consisting of the dedicated volunteers, staff, strategic partners and speakers who contribute their time and expertise by reviewing the Association's intellectual assets, such as the curriculum for the Certified Payroll Manager (CPM) and Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP) certifications, the PDS seminars, and other products and services. They also participate on task forces, committees and councils, such as the Federal Government Relations Advisory Council (FGRAC) and the Provincial Government Relations Advisory Council (PGRAC).
    
    
18. 2003: The CPA celebrates its Silver Anniversary and “25 Years of Payroll Leadership” across the country throughout the year. We introduced a special silver anniversary logo to commemorate this exceptional achievement. The silver anniversary celebrations were woven into all of the CPA's events and materials, including:
    
    
    • The distribution of silver 25th logo lapel pins to all the CPA members with an accompanying brochure.
      25th anniversary website with information from our past, present and future.
    • Feature articles in DIALOGUE magazine throughout the year: “50 Milestones in CPA History” and “25 Years: Then and Now.”
    • Special recognition for the significant contributors to the CPA as part of the Awards Banquet at the 21st Annual Conference in Halifax. Our founder, Diana Ferguson, and our volunteer Past-Chairmen and Presidents were also recognized with silver anniversary professional rings.
    • A 25th anniversary video, featuring interviews with members, volunteers (past and present), the CPA staff and association partners (government agencies, international associations and other leaders in the Canadian payroll community). It was shown at 20 National Payroll Week events held across the country in September.
    • Finally, an Open House on our actual anniversary date -December 5, 2003 - at our National Office in Toronto. All members, volunteers, partners and staff were invited - what a great way to conclude a shining silver year!
      
      Today, the CPA is celebrating its 30th “Pearl” anniversary in 2008 and through 2009. It has incorporated it into Conference and NPW, in speeches and on our anniversary date of December 5th in Toronto. A new online hall of fame called the “Salon of Distinction” honouring the Association's history, accomplishments, leaders, contributors and award winners will be launched next year on the website at www.payroll.ca to coincide with the anniversary issue of DIALOGUE magazine. January/February 2009.
      
      
19. 2004: The CPA initiates the use of Canada's 1.3 million employers' payroll metrics of total annual wages, remittances to the federal and provincial governments, and health care and retirement benefits to communicate the magnitude of payroll in Canada. In 2007, the CPA added the number of pieces of legislation with which payroll practitioners are responsible to be compliant.
    
    Today, Canada's payroll professionals pay and administer on behalf of Canada's 1.5 million employers:
    • $730 billion in wages and salaries
    • $200 billion in remittances to the Canada Revenue Agency
    • $30 billion in remittances to the Ministère du Revenu du Québec
    • $80 billion in health and retirement benefits
    • 25 million T4s
    • 8 million T4As
    • 6 million RL-1s
    • All while complying with over 185 federal and provincial legislative requirements.
      
      
20. 2004: The CPA launches its first “Understanding Your Pay” publication during National Payroll Week. The content written is a valuable resource that payroll professionals and others can use to answer the pay-related questions that are most important to their employees. In 2007, an updated second edition was published.
    
    
21. 2005: The CPA introduces CPA E-Source, a members-only e-newsletter that is published six times per year in English and French. Each issue includes legislative updates on various payroll and CPA-related topics, including the regular columns “Legislative Updates by Payroll InfoLine,” “Employment Law News by HRinfodesk.com” and the “CRA Column” (introduced in 2008), along with upcoming events and regional updates for PDS seminars and workshops.
    
    
22. 2005: The CPA has a major success in raising the professional profile of payroll when Robert Half International, North American's largest recruiter of accounting and financial professionals, changes the entry-level payroll position title to “Payroll Administrator” from the outdated “Payroll Clerk” title in its Glossary of Job Descriptions for Accounting and Finance. Since 2006, its Guide to Certifications for the Canadian finance and accounting market has included both CPA certifications: Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP) and Certified Payroll Manager (CPM) with Canada's accounting designations: CA, CMA and CGA. This is an important step forward in having payroll certification better positioned in relation to the accounting and human resources designations.
    
    
23. 2005: The CPA's launches “Your Payroll Privacy Questions Answered,” a book written by Murray Long, one of Canada's foremost privacy experts. The book contains answers to 200 questions raised during the CPA's first web seminar on payroll and privacy. This valuable resource provides insight and information on privacy-related topics, including the roles and duties of a Privacy Officer, disclosing employee data, employee privacy policies and file retention. In 2008, a revised and expanded second edition was published.
    
    
24. 2005: The CPA introduces the “Payroll Lexicon,” a listing of close to 700 payroll and related terms sorted alphabetically in both English and French, available under the members-only Resources section of the CPA website. The Payroll Lexicon can be viewed in two formats: on the English side website, the terms appear in English first (in alphabetical order) with their French equivalents; and on the French website, the terms appear in French (also in alphabetical order) with their English equivalents.
    
    Today, the Payroll Lexicon has been expanded to over 1,000 payroll and related terms.
    
    
25. 2006: The CPA enters into an agreement to endorse Thomson Carswell's payroll publications. As one of the leading publishers of payroll, human resources and accounting materials, Thomson Carswell has long been a supporter of the Canadian payroll community.
    
    
26. 2007: The CPA conducts its first member census to collect information on company demographics and key issues, and gather opinions and feedback on the delivery and quality of its programs, products and services. An overwhelming 98% of respondents stated that they felt the CPA was a service oriented organization, 90% would recommend the Association to a colleague or friend, and 90% indicated that the membership is valuable relative to its cost.
    
    Today, the results of the census continue to be used by the Staff and Board of Directors to evaluate, enhance and develop the CPA's programs, products and services. The CPA also uses market research, surveys, evaluations and feedback from certification courses, PDS seminars, Conference and other events.
    
    
27. 2007: The CPA launches a new member product, the “CPA Compliance Rates Sheets,” in a unique format: two separate removable and repositionable letter size sheets that “stick” to most clean surfaces without adhesive. Feedback indicated that the sheets were posted by members on work stations and cubicle walls across the country for reference throughout the year.
    
    
28. 2007: The CPA launches its first set of payroll guidelines, “Payroll Continuity Guidelines,” to provide payroll practitioners and their organizations with a framework with which to develop a plan to respond to unexpected events, such as natural disasters and other business disruptions. A Task Force identified common elements for managing payroll processes effectively in a crisis as the base for developing these guidelines.
    
    
29. 2008: The CPA launches its second guideline publication, “Pay Statement Guidelines,” to assist practitioners in issuing pay statements in compliance with multi-jurisdictional legislation. By incorporating charts and templates, these guidelines present a concise compilation of current legislative requirements and suggested best practices and formats. These can be used as a reference tool to assess current practices and assist in the development and review of company policies and procedures. The guidelines can also provide benchmarking when implementing or designing an in-house payroll solution or preparing for a payroll audit.
    
    
30. 2008: The CPA wins three awards in its 30th Anniversary year. Our Legislative Rates Sheets received the Award of Merit for Publication Design from the International Association of Business Communicators; our member services processes are recognized with the Great Things Award by ASI Canada for the best practice use of the iMIS database; and we received the Innovation Award for Training and Development from Workplace News for the creation and implementation of our web seminars.

Advocacy

Advocacy is half of the CPA's mission of “Payroll Leadership through Advocacy and Education” and affects all of the CPA's work. Today the CPA's Federal Government Relations Advisory Council (FGRAC) and the Provincial Government Relations Advisory Council (PGRAC) provide two-way advocacy to support the CPA's objective of increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of payroll-related legislation and administration for all stakeholders (employers, government, employees and the general public).

The CPA defines advocacy as working with the professionals in the civil service to improve regulations and administrative processes. Government relations is defined by the CPA as influencing public policy and legislation through the political process and is used sparingly by the Association.

1. 1978: Our founder, Diana Ferguson, gathers with a small group of payroll practitioners to review the proposed data fields for the new Record of Employment (ROE) form. The first half of the meeting was spent discussing how to make the requirements more realistic, and the rest, on creating the world's first payroll association - the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA).
   
   
2. 1979: The world's first payroll government advocacy committee dedicated to enhancing legislation is established.
   
   
3. 1988: The CPA provides input to Revenue Canada and the Minister of Finance regarding further acceleration of source deductions and tax-assisted retirement savings proposals, which eventually result in reform of pension legislation and RRSP limits.
   
   
4. 1990: The CPA issues a news release on errors in Revenue Canada's Source Deduction Withholding Tables. The release generates media coverage across Canada including a lead story in the business section of the Toronto Star.
   
   
5. 1994: The CPA plays an important role in the Employer History Reporting System (EHRS) Task Force and its final report, which includes recommendations on the ROE and the redevelopment of EI delivery systems.
   
   
6. 1996: The FGRAC provides input to Statistics Canada on the design of its Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH).
   
   
7. 1996 – The FGRAC “Readability Team” is introduced. It provided feedback to the Business Publications Division of the then CCRA on forms and guides, particularly the T4, T4A and Employer's Guide to Payroll Deductions.
   
   Today the Readability Subcommittee's annual reviews of federal government guides, forms and websites is the backbone of the CPA's recommendations to the CRA, HRSDC/Service Canada, and provincial communications representatives.
   
   
8. 1998: The CPA helps redesign the T4 by recommending the removal of the burden of reporting on the form and replacing footnotes with codes that reflect reporting information.
   
   
9. 1998: Members of the CPA's FGRAC and Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) receive a bronze award from the Institute of Public Administration of Canada's annual Innovation Management competition for their Employment History Reporting Implementation project.
   
   
10. 1998: The CPA is invited to participate in CCRA's Small Business Advisory Committee (SBAC) and continues to do so until 2005, when SBAC is disbanded.
    
    Today, in recognition of the Association's valuable contributions, Patrick Culhane, President and CEO, represents the CPA on highly visible committees including the federal government's Advisory Committee on Paper Burden Reduction (ACPBR) and the CRA's Action Task Force on Small Business Issues.
    
    These have increased the CPA's influence, as we propose recommendations on how to reduce the administrative burden imposed on business (i.e., PIER). In 2005, the ACPBR proposed a federal paper burden reduction target of 20 per cent that was included in the Government of Canada's 2007 Budget. In addition, key recommendations made in the CRA Small Business Action Task Force's March 2007 Report were initiated by the CPA (i.e., graduated penalties legislation).
    
    
11. 1999: The CPA presents its Partner Award to HRDC (now Service Canada) in recognition of “a private or public sector organization's outstanding work in assisting the CPA to achieve its ongoing objectives.”
    
    
12. 2000: The CPA and its members provide advice and direction to all stakeholders on implementing the tax on net income (TONI), one of the most significant legislative changes to the Canadian tax system. Provinces are empowered to levy taxes on income, rather than as a proportion of basic federal tax. CRA representatives state that TONI is currently implemented without a hitch as a result of the contributions of the CPA and its members.
    
    
13. 2001: The CPA's “best efforts basis” proposal is utilized by the CCRA and the Ontario Ministry of Finance to implement the October 1st Ontario tax rate change for the last quarter of the year.
    
    
14. 2001: Revenu Québec accepts a number of CPA suggestions for enhancements to their guides and forms, and the CPA provides input to the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) on workers' compensations issues.
    
    
15. 2001: The Ontario Ministry of Labour changes its reporting requirements on how vacation entitlement is communicated to employees based on input by the CPA and other employers.
    
    
16. 2001: The relationship between CPA and CRA representatives through the FGRAC is recognized by the United Kingdom's tax service as one of the best models in the world in terms of employer-government collaboration and the achievement of common goals.
    
    
17. 2002: The CPA is one of only 10 key stakeholder associations recognized by CCRA “as an important contributor to the integrity and efficiency of tax and customs administration in Canada,” along with the Canadian Bar Association, the Institutes of Chartered Accountants of Canada, and the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters.
    
    
18. 2002: The CPA presents the Board of Director's Award to the FGRAC Readability Subcommittee in recognition of “a group of subject matter experts who have exhibited vision, creativity, and teamwork in meeting the strategic plan of the CPA while demonstrating the CPA's values of community, professionalism and authoritative knowledge.”
    
    
19. 2002: The CPA advises the Ministers of Finance, CRA and HRDC on the need for greater lead time to set and implement new EI rates for January 1st each year. As a result, a new EI rate setting process was developed in 2005 that sets the rate by November each year.
    
    
20. 2004: The CPA presents its Partner Award to the CRA in recognition of “a private or public sector organization's outstanding work in assisting the CPA to achieve its ongoing objectives.” The CRA is the CPA's most consistent and direct government relationship and has implemented many of CPA's suggestions over the last thirty years.
    
    
21. 2004: The Association manages one of the most significant and challenging issues in its history by successfully influencing key changes to the “Best 14 Weeks Record of Employment (ROE) 53 Pilot Project.” The CPA's input reduced the administrative burden on employers and their payroll professionals by limiting the program's impact to less than 200,000 ROEs for 6,000 employers, rather than 8 million ROEs for 1.4 million employers.
    
    
22. 2004: The CPA enjoys one of its most significant provincial results, influencing the change in the administration of the Ontario Employer Health Tax (EHT) to a calendar-year basis. After input from the CPA, the Ontario Ministry of Finance changed the EHT remittance timing to a December 31st reporting cycle (consistent with other payroll remittances), saving employers millions of dollars in administration costs and cash flow. (This is not to be confused with the re-introduction of the Ontario Health Premium, which the CPA did not support.)
    
    
23. 2006: The CPA successfully influences the use of July 1st timing for 2006 Budget changes. The CPA continues to successfully advocate the use of January 1st and July 1st for changes affecting payroll announced in federal government budgets.
    
    
24. 2006: The CPA initiates a task force to review and identify administration and implementation challenges for the new Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP). The implementation of QPIP also played an instrumental role in enhancing the CPA's relationship with Revenu Québec and the Ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MESS). The Association was also part of the communication process regarding this new initiative.
    
    
25. 2006: The CPA successfully changes the reporting of health care benefits from mandatory to optional on the T4. The Association also encouraged Service Canada to extend the sunset of the Laser ROE program to April 2008 to provide payroll software, service providers and members with a viable alternative other than paper.
    
    
26. 2007: The FGRAC provides input on the insurability of overtime hours for the ROE in response to changes initiated by government representatives. Both the CRA and HRSDC/Service Canada reversed a decade-long administrative position and adopted a new legislative view that overtime hours paid on termination are insurable for both monies and hours. After consultation with payroll practitioners and government representatives, the CPA took the position that HRSDC/Service Canada should allocate overtime hours if required. The probability of this information ever being used is extremely low - there was only one example in the last 10 years where overtime was required to be allocated to increase a person's EI claim. To require employers to allocate overtime to past pay periods is an onerous and unrealistic imposition (keeping in mind that employers already endure unnecessary paper burden, as 5 million of the 8 million ROEs produced annually are never used). In short, although the CPA agrees that insurable overtime dollars and hours paid on termination should be reported in the pay period in which they are paid, it is HRSDC/Service Canada's responsibility to allocate the hours to a specific pay period if required.
    
    
27. 2007: CPA staff and members assist Service Canada with the development of the Social Insurance Number (SIN) Code of Practice. Because of privacy concerns and increased identity theft in Canada, the CPA took the lead to work with Service Canada on behalf of Canadian employers to ensure that the SIN Code of Practice was practical for payroll practitioners and employers.
    
    
28. 2007: The CPA together with the CRA develop an email Child Amount Notice, which provides employees the option of using an efficient email notice to reduce their federal payroll income tax effective July 1, 2007, rather than having to complete a new TD1. This email notice was consistent with the goal of paperwork burden reduction.
    
    
• In addition, the Department of Finance and the CRA's use of personal tax returns rather than TD-1s for the retroactive tax changes announced in the Federal Economic Statement on October 31, 2007, was consistent with the CPA's efficiency goals.
  
  
29. 2007: The CPA hosts the first annual Paper Burden Reduction Roundtable in Toronto in November, inviting regulatory reform experts from the Government of Canada and the provinces that currently have programs in place: British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. Through this activity, the CPA is able to build and promote provincial relationships, which will enhance communication for the Association in the future.
    
    In addition, the CPA was invited in April to present to the Council of Atlantic Premiers meeting to improve the rules and regulations for small and medium-sized enterprises. It was the ideal forum for the CPA to provide input on regulatory reform, including the need to reduce the provincial administrative differences regarding workers' compensation and labour standards.
    
    
30. 2008: Graduated penalties legislation is included in the 2008 Federal Budget. This success is the culmination of a decade of advocacy work. The graduated penalty structure is a key component of a fair tax system that promotes compliance and is consistent with comparable systems in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.
    
    The CPA also worked with CRA to improve Pensionable Insurable Earnings Review (PIER) efficiencies resulting in 25,000 organizations not receiving 280,000 notice payments and review slips.

Education

The leadership in payroll education half of the CPA's mission has been achieved through the Certification Programs and the Professional Development Series (PDS) seminars. These education and training programs provide the legislative compliance content used by hundreds of thousands of small, medium and large employers in their payroll processing and remitting systems.

The CPA has been transformed into a certification-based organization. The goal is that the Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP) certification is recognized by employers as the knowledge requirement for every payroll position and the Certified Payroll Manager (CPM) certification for every payroll management position in Canada.

The CPA has 30 years of developing and delivering the comprehensive courses and seminars that we offer. The knowledge and experience gained by payroll practitioners, service providers and other business professionals through these courses and seminars enable them to better serve their clients and advance their careers.

1. 1978: The world's first payroll seminars are presented on the new Record of Employment (ROE) to two sold-out sessions of 200 payroll practitioners in Toronto.
   
   Today, the CPA annually presents over 370 Profession Development Series Seminars to over 11,000 people, covering over 20 topics.
   
   
2. 1979: The CPA presents seminars on source deductions in cooperation with Revenue Canada (predecessor to the CRA). They are presented in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax to over 820 payroll professionals.
   
   
3. 1985: The world's first payroll certification course, “Introduction to Payroll,” is launched. Over 300 students took it by correspondence through Waterloo Distance Education.
   
   
4. 1987: The CPA introduces the second certification course “Payroll for Supervisors” (later renamed “Intermediate Payroll”).
   
   
5. 1989: Certification courses are launched in French. Over 75 students enrolled with the inaugural offering.
   
   
6. 1993: The CPA hires the first staff Manager of Education and brings the management of the Certification Program in-house.
   
   Today, a Certification Department of 10 staff manages the relationships with colleges and universities and personally counsels thousands of students each year.
   
   
7. 1995: The CPA introduces Computer-Based Training (CBT) delivery for the core payroll courses in conjunction with the Holmes Corporation and 125 students register.
   
   Today, the CPA has over 7,500 people a year taking the payroll courses online (using a system developed with Holmes Corporation).
   
   
8. 1996: The CPA begins to publish the “Honour Roll” in DIALOGUE magazine to recognize the payroll practitioners who complete their certification.
   
   
9. 1997: The CPA introduces the classroom study option for the core payroll courses at nine colleges and universities. Over 100 students take them in the first year.
   
   Today, the certification courses are offered in every province at over 50 colleges and universities and 100 campuses across Canada.
   
   
10. 1999: The CPA's Certification Program engages “reviewers” to evaluate modules and chapters for new legislation, policies and processes.
    
    Today, over 300 Subject Matter Experts annually review the chapters of each of the certification payroll course and PDS seminars.
    
    
11. 2000: The CPA enters a strategic alliance with International Business Schools (now Everest College) to deliver Canada's first two full-time payroll programs using the certification course content.
    
    
12. 2001: The CPA engages consultants from LeadingEdge Payroll Group Inc. as PDS seminar facilitators to complement its speaker roster.
    
    Today, the CPA has over 30 members and staff who are part of the PDS speakers group delivering hundreds of education sessions across Canada each year.
    
    
13. 2002: The CPA conducts the first market research on payroll skills and competencies of payroll practitioners and their employers to determine the future education needs of payroll personnel in Canada. These results were used by the Certification Re-development Task Force and staff for the new Certification Programs.
    
    
14. 2002: The CPA introduces the seminar “U.S. Payroll Primer for Canadians” in cooperation with the American Payroll Association (APA).
    
    Today, the CPA delivers five U.S. payroll topics with the APA.
    
    
15. 2003: The CPA's core payroll courses are included in full-time accounting and business diploma programs at the post-secondary level at Sir Sandford Fleming College (ON) and Okanagan University College (BC).
    
    Today, full-time programs at the University of Winnipeg and Seneca College also include the CPA's payroll courses in their business programs.
    
    
16. 2004: The CPA conducts further market research on payroll roles and responsibilities of payroll practitioners. Both practitioners and senior executives identified at there are opportunities for payroll to assume even broader roles for compliance and human resource activities.
    
    
17. 2004: The CPA launches its first web-based seminar, “Payroll and Privacy.” Over 500 participants took part in the seminar.
    
    The CPA has now offered more than 30 web seminars (English and French), which were attended by more than 2,000 members. The top three topics this year were:
    1. Statutory Holidays: Ensuring Compliance
    2. Documenting Your Payroll Procedures and Practices
    3. Vacations: Assessing your Policies and Practices
    
    
18. 2004: The CPA adds payroll consultants from Thomson Carswell Professional Publishing to its roster of speakers delivering PDS seminars.
    
    
19. 2004: The CPA provides legislative compliance content to more people by entering into a strategic alliance with ADP Canada to deliver 70 joint Year-end programs, which reached 2,000 more payroll practitioners.
    
    Today, the CPA's “Year-end and New Year Requirements” full and half-day seminars are attended by over 4,000 payroll professionals, including clients from ADP Canada, Ceridian Canada, CGI, Desjardins and National Bank.
    
    
20. 2004: The CPA enters into agreements with the L'Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec, and the Institutes of Chartered Accountants of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. As the CA is Canada's best recognized accounting designation, having them attend CPA courses as Continuing Professional Education is a major step forward by the business community in recognizing payroll as a profession, and the CPA as the authoritative source of Canadian payroll knowledge.
    
    
21. 2005: The CPA launches the new Certification Programs using the standard professional model - a unique body of knowledge; continuing professional education; and a code of professional conduct. Based on extensive market research, and academic consultation with adult educators, two levels of certification are now offered: Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP) and Certified Payroll Manager (CPM).
    
    The PCP certification has four courses: “Payroll Compliance Legislation,” and “Payroll Fundamentals 1,” “Introduction to Accounting” and “Payroll Fundamentals 2.” The Certified Payroll Manager (CPM) has five courses: “Payroll Management Processes,” “Managerial Accounting,” “Organizational Behaviour,” “Compensation & Benefits Management,” and “Payroll Management Practices.”
    
    Holders of the Payroll Manager (PM), Payroll Supervisor (PS) and Payroll Administrator (PA) certifications and those enrolled in the Payroll Management Certificate Program were provided with the opportunity to grandparent or transfer to the new Certification Programs (deadline for transfer was December 31, 2008).
    
    
22. 2006: The CPA recognizes 1,200 CPMs, who through hard work and dedication, achieved the highest level of payroll certification, at the first payroll professionals graduation dinners held in Canada.
    
    
23. 2006: The CPA formalizes its Professional Code of Conduct, providing standards of professional conduct for members that reflect the Association's core values of “Community, Professionalism and Authoritative Knowledge.” They apply to all members and students of the Association.
    
    
24. 2006: The CPA announces new Continuing Professional Education (CPE) requirements through which certified payroll professionals will enhance their knowledge by participating in a continuous learning process. The objective of CPE is to ensure that members holding the PCP and CPM certifications keep current with changing legislation and processes of their payroll roles and responsibilities by engaging in new learning.
    • PCPs are required to complete 14 hours of new learning per year.
    • CPMs are required to complete 21 hours of new learning per year.
      
      
• New learning options include attending the Annual Conference, PDS seminars and NPW events; completing post-secondary courses; taking an accounting or HR professional designation; contributing as an Association Subject Matter Expert; and taking part in other writing, teaching, networking or new learning opportunities.
  
  Today the CPA is developing an online reporting system for certification holders to record CPE credits.
  
  
25. 2007: The CPA launches the PCP/CPM Recognition Luncheons to recognize the new graduates of the Association's Certification Programs. Over 700 new certification holders, their employers, their families and key stakeholders attended the eight events across Canada in March, April and May.
    
    Today, the CPA's PCP/CPM Recognition Luncheons include new graduates, alumni, and key stakeholders and provide important local networking opportunities for payroll professionals. In 2008, over 1,500 attended the 14 events across the country.
    
    
26. 2007: The CPA Certification Hub online portal is introduced to support the coordinators and instructors who deliver the Certification Programs across the country in the classrooms and online. It offers a wealth of review tools, exercises and resources to help students, instructors and coordinators succeed.
    
    
27. 2007: The CPA expands its professional development offerings by adding two new half-day programs: “Exploring Privacy for Payroll Professionals,” and “Legislative Update: Year-end and New Year,” which focuses on the “what's new” component of the year-end process.
    
    
28. 2007: The CPA's Certification Department launches a blended learning pilot. Students in payroll courses at Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta, were given access to the CPA online resources to support their learning.
    
    Today blended learning isa huge success and available to all post-secondary institutions offering the CPA's payroll courses—over 29 colleges and universities are currently using this resource.
    
    
29. 2008: The CPA's Certification Programs have over 7,800 professionals, including over 2,300 CPMs and over 5,500 PCPs. There are also 11,000 course registrations for the Certification Programs.
    
    
30. 2008: The CPA presents over 350 PDS seminars annually to over 11,000 people covering over 20 topics including:
    
    • Payroll Administration in Canada
    • Learning Payroll I
    • Learning Payroll II
    • Employment Standards
    • International Assignments
    • Managing Garnishments
    • Payroll Accounting for the Non-Accountant
    • Payroll Administration in Quebec
    • Pensions & Benefits from a Payroll Perspective
    • Quebec Labour Standards
    • Special Payments & Completing the Record of Employment
    • Taxable Benefits
    • Terminations
    • Year-end & New Year Requirements (full and half-day)
    • Exploring Privacy for Payroll Professionals (half-day)
    • Six U.S. payroll topics in cooperation with the APA

About the CPA | Membership | Certification | Professional Development | Resources | JobConnect | Payroll Mall