Skip to content

Yellowknife resident earns top grade

When John Wark’s bosses called him to meet for coffee a few weeks ago, the senior staff accountant at Crowe Mackay had an inkling they wanted to talk about something big.

Yellowknife resident John Wark earned the highest standing in Canada out of 5,578 students who passed an exam this September to become chartered professional accountants. Wark is being honoured with the Governor General's Gold Medal Award for his achievement and a gold medal for the highest standing in Western Canada. Kirsten Fenn/NNSL photo

“For the rest of the day I was so nervous,” said Wark, who was awaiting the results of the exams he wrote to become a chartered professional accountant. “I was like, ‘What’s this about?’… but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”

What he didn’t expect was to hear he’d scored the highest standing in Canada on what’s known as the common final examination.

A total of 5,578 students from across the country passed the test this September – eight from the NWT and Nunavut region, according to a news release.

“It was complete shock and relief,” said Wark, who has earned the Governor General’s Gold Medal award for the highest standing in Canada, as well as a second gold medal for the highest standing in Western Canada.

And he’s still coming off a big weekend of celebration.

“Friday in the morning we got our results and then a limo came to get us with champagne,” said Wark. “They drove us around and then to the Explorer Hotel.”

The afternoon was filled with food, drinks, games and speeches, as well as visits that week from loved ones and even a mentor of Wark’s who flew in from Toronto to congratulate him.

“This is the first time I believe we’ve ever had someone from the territories or Nunavut actually place nationally,” said Matthew Bannister, a member of the transitional steering committee of Chartered Professional Accountants Northwest Territories/Nunavut. “We’ve had honour role in the past, but never a national gold medalist.”

Wark, who majored in accounting at McGill University, joined Crowe MacKay nearly three years ago as a junior staff member working in areas such as audits and tax.

As part of the CPA program, he was required to complete six eight-week modules that included weekly assignments and exams, before writing a final three-day common final examination this year, he said.

“You have to pass each day in order to pass the exam,” said Bannister of the final test. “Not only did John pass each day of the exam, he excelled and scored the highest standing of anyone in the country, across the board … it’s just an exceptional achievement, really.”

But Wark said he couldn’t have done it without the help of Crowe MacKay.

“And that’s true,” he said, explaining the company helped him financially through the CPA program and afforded him time off to study for the final exam.

“That was pretty impressive that they were willing to do all that,” said Wark. “But they didn’t even hesitate.”

Wark is expected to receive his awards, as well as a CPA Foundation scholarship, at a celebratory event on Jan. 20, according to a news release.