CPABC Business Case Competition 2026

Photo credit: George Mohan Photography

This year, CPABC held its 13^th Annual Business Case Competition that challenges post-secondary students across British Columbia to apply their financial skills and critical thinking to real-world business case analyses.

Between January 30 and February 1, 2026, 62 teams submitted video entries for the first round of the competition. For this virtual round, teams had 48 hours to review a business case and demonstrate their knowledge of managerial accounting concepts, including analyses, projections, and planning.

After the first round, eight teams from seven post-secondary institutions—British Columbia Institute of Technology, Capilano University, Langara College, Okanagan College, Simone Fraser University, University of British Columbia, and Vancouver Island University —advanced to the second (final) round, which was held in person at the Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Airport Hotel in Richmond, BC.

Teams were given three hours to review and analyze a business case written by the advisory practice Treewalk before presenting their recommendations to a judging panel comprised of volunteers: Rob An, CPA; June Lee, CPA, CMA; Diksha Singhal, CPA; and Joyce Zhu. The judges assessed competitors on their presentation style, case knowledge, strategic implementation, creativity, and handling of rapid-fire questions.

Participants from the first round then joined the final eight teams at the Westin Wall Centre for a celebratory evening reception, where prizes were awarded to the top three teams:

First place: “Team Strategem” from UBC (Gavin Fung, Carter Jaquette and Samantha Ng).
Second place: “Team HACK Consulting” from BCIT, (Kurt Mack, Cole Shefford, Aryan Singh, and Hugo Spence).
Third place: “Team Compass Consulting” from SFU (Isaac Asselstine, Nika Saeedi, Ava Tancre, and Alexandre Yuste).

Thanks to our generous sponsors, more than 100 students had the chance to network with potential future employers and CPAs at the in-person event.

CPABC congratulates the winning teams and thanks to the judges, the sponsors, and everyone who participated in making this year’s competition such a success! Special thanks to our sponsors:

Case Partner: Treewalk
Exhibiting Partners: KPMG and RHN CPA
Networking Partners: Cowe MacKay, Deloitte, Doane Grant Thornton, EY, LLT LLP, PwC, and Smythe

Check out the photos from the evening reception and the first place team’s case presentatio.

First Place Team Testimonials

Gavin Fung

Participating in the CPABC Annual Business Case Competition was an incredibly rewarding experience that pushed me beyond the classroom. This competition allowed me to collaborate with my team under tight timelines and strengthened my problem-solving, communication, and strategic thinking skills. The opportunity to present to industry professionals and receive real-time feedback was invaluable, and the peers and colleagues I've met along the way made the experience even more meaningful. Thank you to CPABC for giving us this opportunity, judges for the valuable insights, and fellow competitors for the laughter and memories!

Carter Jaquette

Thank you so much to CPABC for hosting such a challenging yet rewarding event. It was a fantastic way to practice my financial analysis, strategic thinking, and deck-building skills while also testing my collaboration and presentation skills under tight time pressure. It was fantastic practice for a real-world scenario, and I highly recommend the competition to anyone looking to bring classroom learning into practice.

Samantha Ng

I had such a great time at the CPABC Case Competition. It honestly felt really special to be around so many talented and driven people. The case gave me a chance to actually use my skills, pushed me to think differently, and helped me see problems in a whole new way. I really appreciated all the feedback; it meant a lot and helped me grow. Overall, I learned so much, met some amazing people, and left feeling super grateful for the experience!