Tax confusion and political uncertainty weigh on Canadian accounting sector
Canada’s accounting profession is facing a period of significant strain, marked by increasingly complex regulations, tax uncertainty, and political instability. For firms across the country these conditions are driving up compliance costs and making strategic planning more difficult in an already high-tax economy.
A few weeks ago, (prior to Trump's recent global tariff changes), Frank Fazzari, managing partner at Fazzari + Partners LLP in the Greater Toronto Area, joined the IAB’s conversation about recent developments in the Canadian accounting industry. Here we provide a few of the highlights.
Fragmentation adds compliance burden
One of the most disruptive developments has been the split of CPA Ontario and CPA Quebec from CPA Canada late last year, which added a layer of regulatory duplication and cost. Franks says:
“As a firm, we are considering terminating memberships with CPA Canada for most CPA staff. It is more economical to have a few members maintain CPA Canada memberships in order to take advantage of whatever resources are provided.”
This fragmentation reflects broader interprovincial restrictions that continue to hinder professional mobility and economic efficiency.
Tax complexity stifling growth
Canada’s tax system is increasingly seen as overly complicated, contributing to unintentional non-compliance and investor hesitation. Amid an ever-changing tax code, firms and their clients are struggling to keep up. Frank sees a difficult path ahead:
“A change in Prime Minister and possible change in governing political party could impact tax rules and a variety of other things. This creates a lot of uncertainty around planning.”
Proposed increases to the capital gains inclusion rate are also raising concerns about Canada’s ability to attract foreign direct investment and support entrepreneurial activity.
High demand, flat fees, tight capacity
Despite these challenges, demand for accounting services remains strong. Like their peers in other markets, Canadian firms are balancing rising client needs with persistent staffing shortages and cost pressures. Frank notes that fee levels remain stagnant, even as service demand continues to climb—particularly in areas such as domestic tax planning, succession, and business advisory work.
To read the full article in the March edition of the IAB, members can click HERE (login to the MGI Worldwide member portal will be required).
Positive rankings
Ending on a positive note, we were delighted to see our member firms ranking highly against the other top accounting networks in Canada and the USA in the recently published IAB rankings!
In Canada we ranked an impressive 10th for fee income, and 13th for staff data.
Over the border, in the USA, our member firms ranked 13th for both fee income and for staff data.
MGI Worldwide would like to congratulate all our member firms in North America who were responsible for helping achieve these fantastic results.
For more information
Visit the Fazzari & Partners LLP website or firm profile page.
MGI Worldwide is a top 20 ranked global accounting network and association with over 8,800 professionals, accountants and tax experts in some 440 locations in almost 100 countries around the world.