Quiz: Name that famous Canadian accountant!

From helping others to winning awards, CPAs are often in the headlines (Getty Images/izusek)

Canada has always had its share of well-known accountants, including sports personalities and MPs. To celebrate Canada Day, take this quiz and test your knowledge of prominent CPAs across the country.

1) Which CPA is the author of a financial capability workbook for female Indigenous entrepreneurs?

a) Terry Goodtrack
b) Ernie Daniels
c) Helen Bobiwash
d) Keith Martell

2) This Canadian business leader and accountant has been called a “legend” of the automotive industry.

a) Peter Gilgan
b) Sergio Marchionne
c) Eric Sprott
d) Richard F. Haskayne

3) In 2019, Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children received its largest-ever single gift. Which CPA made the gift?

a) Ross Skinner
b) Patricia O’Malley
c) Guylaine Saucier
d) Peter Gilgan

4) Name the Canadian accounting academic known for their terminological and dictionary work.

a) Michael Gibbins
b) Irene Wiecek
c) Gerald Feltham
d) Louis Ménard

5) What year was FCPA Pamela Steer—CPA Canada’s new president and CEO—named Canada’s CFO of the Year?

a) 2021
b) 2020
c) 2019
d) 2018

6) Which award-winning Canadian actor formerly worked as an accountant at Deloitte?

a) Elliot Page
b) Simu Liu
c) Rachel McAdams
d) Ryan Reynolds

7) CPA Scott Foster played for an NHL team. Which one was it?

a) Detroit Red Wings
b) Chicago Blackhawks
c) Montreal Canadiens
d) Edmonton Oilers

8) Who was Canada’s first female cabinet minister?

a) Gertrude Mulcahy
b) Carlene Alexander
c) Ellen Fairclough
d) Sheila Fraser

9) Which Big Four CEO is also the firm’s chief inclusion and diversity officer?

a) Rob Davis
b) Nicolas Marcoux
c) Anthony Viel
d) Jad Shimaly

10) Which Canadian Olympian holds a CPA designation? 

a) Jack Crawford
b) Clara Hughes
c) Cindy Klassen
d) Alexandre Bilodeau

ANSWERS

Question 1: c

Helen Bobiwash has been working directly with Indigenous not-for-profit organizations for more than 25 years. A member of the Thessalon First Nation, she is the author of a workbook that provides research-based information for female entrepreneurs on topics like personal budgeting, as well as navigating credit and banking services.

Question 2: b

Both an accountant and lawyer by training, Sergio Marchionne is widely known for his turnarounds of Fiat and Chrysler. In 2014, Fiat and Chrysler merged into a new holding company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, now the world’s seventh-largest automobile manufacturer. After Marchionne’s death in 2018, CNBC called him a legend of the auto industry and Britain’s Financial Times said he was “one of the boldest business leaders of his generation.”

Question 3: d

With his $100 million gift to Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, FCPA and Mattamy Homes CEO Peter Gilgan became Canada’s largest benefactor to Canadian hospitals. His 2019 gift came on top of a $40 million donation he made in 2012, as well as the many other philanthropic commitments he has made over the years. In 2013, Gilgan was honoured with a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Question 4: d

FCPA Louis Ménard made a long-lasting mark on both the academic and business world as principal author of the Dictionnaire de la comptabilité et de la gestion financière, a French-English dictionary of accounting and financial terms published by CICA/CPA Canada in collaboration with authoritative bodies in France and Belgium. A recent inductee into the Canadian Accounting Hall of Fame, Ménard also assumed the co-direction and drafting of Dictionary of derivatives and other financial instruments (published by the Quebec CPA Order). 

Question 5: c

Steer was with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board when she garnered the 2019 CFO award. Recently named president and CEO of CPA Canada in April 2022, Steer is also a founding member of the Canadian Chapter of the Accounting for Sustainability CFO Leadership Network and of the advisory board for the Institute for Sustainable Finance.

Question 6: b

While known for his role as Shang-Chi in the 2021 film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Liu also starred in the award-winning series Kim’s Convenience. Born in China and raised in Mississauga, Ont., he worked as an accountant until he was laid off from his Big Firm job in 2012. His memoir, We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story, was released in May 2022.

Question 7: b

Sure, it was only for one game, but Scott Foster did play for the Chicago Blackhawks. The Sarnia, Ont.-born CPA was called on near the end of the 2017–18 season to fill in as an emergency goaltender for the team following injuries to its starting and backup goaltenders. During his 14 minutes of play, he saved seven shots out of seven, helping to preserve the team’s 6-2 win.

Question 8: c

Not only was Ellen Fairclough one of the first women to earn a professional accounting designation (in 1935) but, in 1957, she became Canada’s first female cabinet minister. During her time as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration she introduced new regulations that eliminated racial discrimination in immigration policy. In 2022, she was inducted into the Canadian Accounting Hall of Fame.

Question 9: a

In 2020, FCPA Rob Davis was appointed as chief inclusion and diversity (I&D) officer at KPMG Canada as well as chair of its board of directors. For Davis, who moved with his family to Canada from Jamaica in 1975, the appointment sent a powerful message to the business community: “I will be there as a constant reminder to make sure we’ve got I&D strategies and goals top of mind,” he said, shortly after taking on his new roles. 

Question 10: d

Retired freestyle skier Alex Bilodeau made history when he won gold in the men’s moguls at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, becoming the first Canadian Olympian to accomplish such a feat on home soil. Bilodeau was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. Now a CPA, he is currently a senior investment associate at Walter Capital Partners.