Canada: Checking an adviser's credentials

The Canada Revenue Agency keeps a directory of tax preparers who are certified to file returns through its EFILE service. That is what an entry means: the preparer can file electronically for clients. The CRA page read for this page states no general licensing or registration requirement for people who prepare returns for a fee.1Source 1Canada Revenue Agency, Using a professional tax preparer (5 March 2026). In the CRA's own description, preparers fall into three groups: accountants who prepare returns for a fee and are regulated by a professional association or other governing body, businesses that offer preparation for a fee, and others who do.2Source 2Canada Revenue Agency, Evaluation: CRA programs used by tax preparers (24 March 2025), glossary. So an EFILE listing tells you that the firm can file for you; it does not tell you whether anyone is regulated, and it is not an endorsement.

Chartered professional accountants are regulated by the CPA body of their province, which sets rules for its members and firms and takes complaints about them. CPA Ontario, for example, says it protects the public interest by ensuring that its members, students and firms act in accordance with its rules and regulations.3Source 3CPA Ontario, Professional misconduct and complaints guide (April 2025); CPA Ontario, Member directory, read 13 October 2026. CPA Ontario's member directory is public. It lists members in good standing or subject to a membership suspension, and some contact details may be withheld.3Source 3CPA Ontario, Professional misconduct and complaints guide (April 2025); CPA Ontario, Member directory, read 13 October 2026. Ask the adviser which body each named person belongs to and in which province, and ask that body how to check membership. Engineers and scientists who write technical descriptions may belong to their own professional bodies; the same check applies.

Part 9 of Form T661 asks for claim preparer information: the name and business number of each preparer, the billing arrangement (a contingency fee based on a percentage of the credit is one of the listed arrangements), the billing rate and the total fee. A $1,000 penalty can be assessed for each claim with missing, incomplete or inaccurate preparer information, and the preparer is jointly and severally liable with the claimant for it.4Source 4Canada Revenue Agency, T4088, Guide to Form T661, Part 9 (18 February 2026), lines 935 to 975; Income Tax Act section 162(5.1) to (5.3). Ask who will be named in Part 9 for your claim and what arrangement will be recorded, and compare the answer with the proposal. The form records who prepared the claim and how they were paid; it is not a check on their competence.

A professional body listing tells you that the person is a member of that body and is bound by its code. An EFILE listing tells you that the firm can file electronically. Neither tells you whether the person has prepared SR&ED claims before, who will write your project descriptions, or whether help with a CRA review is in the price. Those come from the twenty questions and the engagement letter. A person who belongs to no body is not for that reason doing anything wrong, since the CRA pages read state no licensing requirement; it means that no body's code or complaints process stands behind the name.

• Who will be named in Part 9 of Form T661, and what billing arrangement and rate will be recorded?
• Which professional body does each named person belong to, and in which province?
• Who will write the project descriptions, and will they talk to the people who did the work? (Who will do the technical work?)
• Do you pay or receive referral fees for introductions, and will you tell us in writing? (Do you pay or receive referral fees?)

• What qualifications does the team have? and named people with qualifications you can check
• Your responsibility and complaints about an adviser in Canada
• Reference check guide

Sources

1. Canada Revenue Agency, Using a professional tax preparer (5 March 2026).  Back
2. Canada Revenue Agency, Evaluation: CRA programs used by tax preparers (24 March 2025), glossary.  Back
3. CPA Ontario, Professional misconduct and complaints guide (April 2025); CPA Ontario, Member directory, read 13 October 2026.   Back
4. Canada Revenue Agency, T4088, Guide to Form T661, Part 9 (18 February 2026), lines 935 to 975; Income Tax Act section 162(5.1) to (5.3).  Back