At the Accounting Standards Oversight Council (AcSOC) meeting on October 25-26, 2018, Ms. Mezon, the AcSB Chair, noted that the AcSB remains committed to help Canadians adopt the new IFRS 17, Insurance Contracts. The Board is currently performing additional outreach activities during the European Union’s IFRS 17 endorsement process. The aim is to understand potential concerns and explain the Board’s activities to support the new standard’s implementation. The Board encourages the early identification and resolution of implementation issues. It does so through its Insurance Transition Resource Group and by supporting the Canadian member on the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) Transition Resource Group. The Board is highly engaged with the IASB and standard setters around the world to encourage a common global adoption date of January 1, 2021.

Also, of note at this meeting, an AcSOC member, who is also a member of the Canadian Actuarial Standards Oversight Council, noted that the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) issued a related Exposure Draft in May 2018, The document incorporates changes to relevant actuarial standards required by the Canadian adoption of the new insurance contracts standard. The Exposure Draft’s comment period has been extended to October 31, 2018. The ASB is preparing education guidance on IFRS 17 for actuaries. It is focused on having actuaries ready to cope with the standard’s January 1, 2021, adoption date.

Review the meeting summary on the AcSOC's Web site.