The Lazaridis School of Business and Economics’ Graduate Diploma (GDip) in Accounting builds upon your undergraduate accounting program and provides a structured and comprehensive path for those working toward the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation.
Offered full-time over 12 weeks in the spring and fall terms, the program strengthens your expertise in key CPA competency areas, including financial reporting, management decision-making, assurance and trust, tax, and strategy and risk management. Our program utilizes the 5-step decision process throughout and emphasizes the CPA ethical mindset. Through advanced, integrated learning aligned with CPA Competency Map 2.0, the GDip helps accelerate your progression through the CPA qualification pathway and prepares you for success as a professional accountant.
The Lazaridis Graduate Diploma (GDip) in Accounting builds on your undergraduate accounting education and provides an accelerated pathway towards achieving the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation.
Through five integrated courses aligned with CPA Competency Map 2.0, you will deepen your knowledge of financial reporting, management decision making, assurance and trust, tax, and strategy and risk management, while strengthening the professional competencies required of today's accountants.
The program is designed to support your progression through the CPA qualification process by combining advanced technical knowledge with the communication, leadership, professionalism, and problem-solving skills expected of CPA's. Upon successful completion of the GDip in Accounting, you will be able to challenge the Professional Final Exam (PFE).
To successfully complete the GDip in Accounting program, students must achieve a minimum grade of 70% in each course.
The best place to start your path to the CPA designation is in the Lazaridis Graduate Diploma in Accounting program, and here is why:
The GDip in Accounting courses are designed and delivered by a combination of research faculty and experienced industry professionals.
Our instructors and course developers are CPA's with extensive academic and professional experience. Their strong connections to the profession and CPA education help to ensure the curriculum remains relevant, practical, and aligned with the competencies required of today's accounting professionals.
This course is designed to provide students with exposure to key topics in financial reporting with an emphasis on complex issues and integration with other topic areas. Decision-making skills are developed and refined with cases and simulations used throughout the course. Content coverage may vary to reflect evolving industry practices and CPA competency requirements to ensure students are well-prepared for careers as accounting professionals.
This seminar-based course provides students with advanced exposure to key topics in management accounting, with an emphasis on designing and implementing management control systems to help managers make better decisions, evaluate performance, manage costs, and improve probability. Content areas may vary to reflect evolving industry practices and CPA competency requirements, ensuring students are well-prepared for professional designation pathways.
This course is a capstone case course stressing the competencies required for future professional accountants. More specifically, this course will provide students with the opportunity to integrate the technical and practical knowledge obtained in other accounting courses. This course includes a survey of the topics included in the CPA Competency Map and an introducation to case writing techniques for use in responding to integrated accounting cases on professional accounting examinations.
This course builds on the foundational auditing course and examines advanced audit and assurance topics through case-based learning. Students apply standards across varying assurance levels, explore assurance engagements for financial and non-financial information, and consider regulatory influences on audit practice. Emphasis is placed on developing professional judgement, ethical decision-making, and communication skills aligned with CPA competency requirements.
This advanced seminar expands on the compliance-based aspects of personal and corporate taxation and introduces key concepts around tax planning. Cases will be used to apply fact patterns to technical tax knowledge. Content areas may vary to reflect evolving tax legislation and CPA competency requirements, ensuring students are well-prepared for professional designation pathways.
We're here to help you explore your options and find the right program for your goals. Sign up to receive program information, resources and key dates to help you plan your next steps.
“The Graduate Diploma in Accounting at the Lazaridis School is your pathway to advancing your accounting career. With small class sizes and experienced professors, we provide the skills and knowledge you need to excel on the Professional Final Exam and build a strong foundation for long-term success.”
Carolyn MacTavish
Take the first step in your graduate education and apply to one of our graduate programs. Follow our three-step admission process — we’ll walk you through how to apply and prepare for your first day as a graduate student.
Important Note: Submitting your application by the early deadline does not increase your chances of admission. However, it may provide earlier access to course registration schedules, allowing for more flexibility in course selection.
Admission to the Graduate Diploma in Accounting is open to both graduates of undergraduate programs in the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics as well as qualified external applicants who hold a Canadian undergraduate degree in business or economics, or a business-related field (or are in the final stages of completion). Students are also required to have the below list of prerequisite courses with the most recent course completed no more than three years prior to the start of the program.
Applicants must meet the following minimum admission requirements:
After you have submitted your OUAC application, paid the non-refundable application fee, and Laurier has received your application, you'll receive an email from gradadmissions@wlu.ca advising you to upload the additional required documentation to Laurier’s Online Registration and Information System (LORIS).
An application for admission to our Graduate Diploma in Accounting program must include:
Visit our Graduate Admissions Toolkit for more information about applying.
Questions? Email LazaridisRecruiters@wlu.ca.
Regardless of the type of graduate degree program you intend to pursue, financial planning is important. At Laurier, we want to provide you with as much information as possible about a variety of scholarship and funding opportunities and equip you with the skills to manage your finances effectively in the years to come.
Students with offers of employment should inquire with their employer about potential tuition subsidies.
|
Student |
Per Course |
Total |
|---|---|---|
|
Graduate Diploma in Accounting (Domestic and International) |
$2,185 (per course) |
$10,925 |
*Tuition fees are reviewed each spring and are subject to change. Wilfrid Laurier University may revise tuition and program details without notice.
The Graduate Diploma in Accounting prepares students for careers as Chartered Professional Accountants (CPAs) working with CPA firms, public and private companies and government through development of excellent accounting, audit and tax related skills.
ASPIRE is Laurier's professional skills development training program for graduate students. The program helps you craft an individualized, extracurricular learning plan tailored to your professional journey and entry to the workplace.
Connect with our graduate program recruiters: Brenda Burns and Victoria MacKenzie: LazaridisRecruiters@wlu.ca
For applications in progress and enrolled students only: LazaridisGradPrograms@wlu.ca
Darren Henderson, PhD
Academic Director, Graduate Diploma in Accounting
View a complete list of all faculty and staff in the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics.
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