She made the CPA Common Final Examination (CFE) Honour Roll. Soon, she’ll be a Telfer MSc student. She’s changing our ideas about leadership. And she’s doing it all with a focus on calmness, clarity and community.
Five years into her career as a public auditor, Emily Duval (BCom ’20, Graduate Diploma in Chartered Professional Accountancy ’20) is an expert. She pays close attention to details, data and her judgment. As a young professional, she has already honed an exceptional ability to handle technical details and share meaningful insights.
You might not know her name yet. However, people who have worked with her at the Telfer School of Management, PwC and the Office of the Auditor General of Canada all describe her in the same way. They say she’s steady, sharp and collaborative. She’s the kind of person who doesn’t chase the spotlight but ends up earning respect from everyone in of the room.
This might explain how, at just 26, she made it onto the CFE Honour Roll. This distinction goes to the top scorers in Canada on the chartered professional accountant certification exam.
She makes it sound simple. “I always felt drawn to the world of business,” she says with a smile. “Even in high school, I took every business elective I could. Accounting was just the subject where everything clicked.”
But behind that calm explanation is a fierce commitment to growth. Emily has a hunger to keep learning, pushing and opening doors. This fall, she’ll return to Telfer once again, this time to pursue her MSc in management with a concentration in accounting. It’s not a pivot — it’s a deepening of her expansive accounting knowledge. “There’s so much more to accounting than numbers,” Emily says. “It’s about judgment, ethics and context. And that’s where I want to go next.”
Auditing. Full of grey areas!
Not everyone grows up wanting to pursue a career in accounting. For Emily, it was personal.
Her mother was a successful CPA at the Canada Revenue Agency. This offered her a living blueprint for what a grounded, high-impact career could look like.
But even then, Emily knew she would choose her own path. She respected her mom’s work in tax. However, she felt more drawn to the uncertainty of auditing. “In tax, there’s usually a right and wrong answer,” she explains. In auditing, you have to apply judgment. You must be okay with grey areas.”
Her comfort with complexity helped her a lot. This was true at PwC, where she completed all four of her co-op terms while studying accounting at the Telfer School of Management. It was especially useful in her move to public auditing. In her job at the Office of the Auditor General, she applies her financial skills to national public issues.
She values the technical skills she gained from her BCom and graduate diploma. However, it’s the human aspect — teaching, collaboration and mentorship — that has shaped her the most.
Telfer as her launchpad
Emily has chosen Telfer three times: first for her undergrad, then for her CPA graduate diploma and now for her MSc. That’s not just loyalty — it was intentional.
“I learned at Telfer that building relationships is important, and I built real relationships at Telfer,” she says. “Professors like Sylvain Durocher and Sheldon Weatherstone pushed me, supported me and made the learning personal.”
During her CPA training, she excelled in the small, intense classes at Telfer. These classes focused on case writing, peer discussion and working together instead of studying alone. That paid off, not just in her CPA exam success but in her gaining the confidence to lead, to speak up and, eventually, to give back.
Since graduating, Emily has come back to Telfer as a teaching assistant, and she also coaches CFE candidates at her job. “I don’t think that would’ve happened without the support I got at Telfer,” she says. “They helped me find my voice.”
A quiet kind of leadership
In an age where loud voices often dominate professional spaces, Emily’s approach to leadership is refreshingly different. She doesn’t self-promote. She builds trust. She listens. She teaches.
“Leadership to me is about clarity,” she says, “and making space for people to learn.”
Her time at Telfer gave her greater clarity. This was especially true in the CPA program, which focused on ethical reasoning and case discussions. “You’re constantly asked to explain your thought process,” she explains, “not just what decision you made, but why. That’s what makes you ready for real professional responsibility.”
Even during the peak of the pandemic, when her graduate diploma program went online, she found connection and purpose in her work. “It was hard, but it still mattered,” she says. “The learning didn’t stop.”
Looking ahead and thinking bigger
With her MSc on the horizon, Emily is stepping into the next chapter of her career with quiet conviction. She’s not chasing another title — she’s chasing a better version of herself. Her upcoming research will likely look at accounting areas that connect with policy, ethics and decision-making. These are fields where her calm, analytical mind will surely excel.
What’s clear is that Emily isn’t just preparing for the future of accounting. She’s helping shape it. “I think a lot about how we train new accountants,” she says. “I want to be part of that conversation — maybe even teach someday.”
For now, she’ll keep doing what she’s always done: showing up, learning deeply and making space for others to thrive alongside her.
Advice for the next generation of accountants
When asked what she would say to a Telfer BCom student thinking about the Telfer CPA path, she gives a thoughtful answer: “Know how you learn best. Telfer’s CPA program is fast-paced, intense and incredibly supportive. If you value collaboration and structure, it’s a great fit. But it’s not one-size-fits-all. Talk to people who’ve done it. Ask questions. And trust your gut.”
That’s the thing about Emily: she’s not just offering advice. She models it with every case she writes. She supports every class and takes steps forward in her profession while quietly helping to change it.
Interested in learning more about Telfer’s CPA pathway? Explore the Graduate Diploma in Chartered Professional Accountancy program to discover how it equips future leaders like Emily with the skills, ethics and confidence to thrive.
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