Regulatory Bodies in the Accounting Profession

The 20th century saw a proliferation of professions from the original three:
First, theology;
Second, medicine;
and third, the law.

Religion has recently lost out to ideology.

But law and medicine, and their new 20th century cousins (which are all really just occupations with a sense of entitlement) have lobbied successfully for regulations in order to protect the public interest and ensure ethical behavior.

Or at least that was the rationalization.

More cynically, libertarian economists like Milton Friedman maintain that professionalization almost inevitably becomes a tool in the hands of a special producer group to obtain a monopoly position at the expense of the rest of the public.

While many economists may often be at odds with Friedman,

I think he might be right here, particularly when it comes to my own occupation of accounting.

We’re starting to see more support generally, as Canadians deal with the threat of tariffs from the ‘free traders’ to the south.

In an opinion piece written on December 19th 2024, Canada’s Globe and Mail wrote the following:

“Every provincial regulation has a beneficiary lurking behind it, be it provincial coffers when it comes to liquor laws or industry and trade associations that jealously protect their unearned competitive advantages.”

In Canada, the accounting profession is highly regulated with 13 regulatory bodies across the country. And most CPA members are accountable to at least 2, their provincial body and CPA Canada.
However a change came about when CPA Ontario and CPA Quebec officially split from CPA Canada as of today, December 20th, 2024.
It’s beginning to look like the largest firms, in combination with our universities and the 13 regulatory bodies themselves, are the key beneficiaries of regulation.
It certainly is not the public at large, nor is it the majority of members themselves.