PwC Pays CPA Ontario $1.45M in Fines and Costs for Admitted Breaches of the CPA Ontario Code of Professional Conduct

TORONTO, ON, Dec 13, 2023 – CPA Ontario, the regulatory body responsible for the licensing and oversight of Chartered Professional Accountants and accounting firms in Ontario, has settled a discipline matter in which PwC admitted breaches of the CPA Ontario Code of Professional Conduct and paid $1.45M in fines and costs.

PwC self-reported that 445 of its professional staff across its Ontario offices, primarily in its assurance practice, participated in answer sharing during mandatory internal training assessments between 2016 and 2020. This included training on accounting and auditing standards, audit strategy, planning, procedures and documentation, professional integrity and independence matters, and specific issues that arise in audits. 

PwC admits it failed to have appropriate policies and procedures and a system of quality control in place to ensure that mandatory internal training assessments were being completed independently. The firm failed to adequately communicate the requirement for independent completion and did not have appropriate procedures in place to prevent, detect or monitor for answer sharing. The mandatory assessment process was therefore not effective in demonstrating whether the substantive professional competencies being evaluated were in fact attained. 

“PwC failed to create and foster a culture in which the high standards of ethics and integrity required of professional staff were conveyed and applied to internal training assessments,” said Janet Gillies, CPA, CA, executive vice-president, Regulatory and Standards, CPA Ontario. “This failure undermines the public’s confidence in the ethics and integrity of the participating staff and the profession as a whole.”

CPA Ontario has taken into account remediation by PwC including implementation of policies and attestations as to independent completion of assessments, ongoing periodic monitoring, and internal discipline. As per the terms of the settlement, PwC has paid a fine of $1,000,000 and costs of $455,000 to CPA Ontario in respect of its investigation and prosecution. 

More information on CPA Ontario discipline cases, including the decision document on this case, is available on our website.  

About CPA Ontario

CPA Ontario governs and regulates CPAs and accounting firms in Ontario. We grant CPA designations and public accounting licenses. We enforce the highest professional and ethical standards, provide professional guidance, and support the continuing development of our members. We educate and assess students, so they are ready for market demands. We enable mobility of CPAs through inter-provincial and international agreements. We are a community of over 100,000 CPAs and 20,000 students in Ontario. 

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