Rita joined Ward & Uptigrove in 2000 as a co-op student and became a full time employee in 2002 upon obtaining her Business Administration-Accounting (Co-op) diploma from Conestoga College. 

Rita continued to work full time while taking courses for her Bachelor of Accounting Sciences degree, which she obtained from the University of Calgary in 2003, and her CPA, CGA designation, which she obtained in 2006. Rita became a Principal at the beginning of 2020. 

Rita works primarily with veterinary professionals with a focus on compliance work including financial statements, corporate and personal tax returns, government filings, cash flow projections, industry benchmarking and practice buys and sells. 

Rita was raised on a dairy farm in the Drayton area and now lives on a farm in Moorefield area with her family.