About

Leading the change to shape the future of business

A world of unprecedented change is a world of unparalleled potential. Technologies are disrupting businesses, industries and traditional accounting and finance (A&F) fields. Tomorrow’s financial professionals will play an important role in defining the financial reporting of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, identifying opportunities and turning them into reality.

SAF, like the University of Waterloo, was built by risk takers and innovators. SAF continues to redefine education for the next generation of A&F professionals. Our curriculum broadens our students’ skillset beyond accounting and finance to meet tomorrow’s demand for professionals who are fluent in the language of business, analytics, technology, and the environment. Our graduates think like entrepreneurs to identify opportunities and trends to anticipate future complex problems.

See why we were rated Canada's top university for ...

World-class education

The School is never at a stand-still. We continually review and update our robust curriculum to prepare graduates to become A&F professionals with the breadth and adaptability to work and thrive within disruption. SAF’s flagship undergraduate program, Accounting and Financial Management (AFM) recently expanded its curriculum to provide students with flexibility to focus their studies in one of six specializations – public accounting, entrepreneurship, sustainability, financial leadership, financial markets, and business analytics.

Seizing the opportunity to innovate in the combined fields of environment, social impact, and financial management, SAF has partnered with the Faculty of Environment to launch a new undergraduate program, Sustainability and Financial Management (SFM). A first of its kind in Canada, the SFM program will train and equip professionals of tomorrow with the skills needed to navigate, analyze, interpret, and report on a company’s impact and governance specific to sustainability while providing a curriculum to lead towards professional designation in both the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designations.

Our experiential approach to education works - just look at the proof.

World-class research

The School has long been known as Canada’s top school for accounting and finance education and research. Ranked 15th in the world for accounting research, we are expanding and broadening our global reputation as thought-leaders through the research and symposia hosted by our research centres – Centre for Accounting Ethics, Waterloo Centre for Taxation in a Global Economy, UW Centre for Information Integrity and Information Systems Assurance (UWCISA), and CPA Ontario Centre for Sustainability Reporting and Performance Management (CSPM). And leveraging our deep connections with CPA Ontario, we’ve partnered with WatSPEED, a new unit at Waterloo, to provide professional education to bridge the skills and knowledge gaps for early career A&F professionals.

The 2021 Brigham Young University Global Accounting Research Survey ranked us ...

Our future

In 2017 the School began implementing a new strategic plan designed to prepare our students for an ever-changing world and to apply practice, policy and the professions with world-class research.

Our history is defined by ground-breaking ideas and pioneering research. We have a history of being first – come see what we do next.