Polytech accounting students celebrate finishing second at Western Canada Accounting Case Competition

LETHBRIDGE, AB., April 17, 2026 – Five second year accounting students from the Lethbridge Polytechnic are celebrating a second-place finish at the third annual Western Canada Accounting Case Competition, which was held in late March at Bow Valley College.

The competition featured schools from across British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba and required the students to analyze and evaluate key issues a fictional company is facing. They then went through three rounds of presenting their recommendations and receive questioning from a panel of nine industry Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA).

James Reimer, chair of the School of Business at Lethbridge Polytechnic says one of the judges at the competition commented if the evaluation was for his business, they would have been hired on the spot.

“That’s a huge congratulations to them because that tells you they did a very, very good job in everything they did.”

He adds the success in the competition positively reflects the credibility of the program.

“We know the Lethbridge Polytechnic Business Administration-Accounting program is very highly regarded — it's considered one of the premier accounting programs,” says Reimer. “This just lends credibility to the claim, we’re proud of what our students do, but we’re proud of what we do in our program in preparing our students.”

The Polytechnic prides itself in the real world applications in many of its programs and for Grace Dejong, one of the group members, this competition gave her confidence that she can apply her knowledge in the workplace.

“I’ve only been here for a year and a half and we’ve already learned enough to respond to a real life business situation.”

Along with being able to showcase theory they have learned throughout the duration of the program, Heather Moysey says the competition also taught them teamwork and comradery.

“It really showed us how we can work together as a team, under a lot of pressure, to create a presentation and speech that goes with it.”

Yooshilen Anasamy says this competition was a great way to wrap up his time at Lethbridge Polytechnic, as he will be graduating at the end of the term.

“It certainly feels rewarding to finish on such a great ending for the school and making the school proud as well, that’s also very wholesome.”

Editor's Note: First place went to the student team from the Peters School of Business at Assiniboine College in Brandon, Manitoba. Third place went to the student team at Medicine Hat College School in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

Alexandra Noad is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with the Lethbridge Herald in Lethbridge, Alberta. Title image: Lethbridge Polytechic accounting students Heather Moysey, Rebeka Unger, Yooshilen Anasamy, Grace DeJong, and Sarah Silkin placed second and won $1,500 at the third annual Western Canada Accounting Case Competition at Bow Valley College last month (ALEXANDRA NOAD).