Are IFRSs in Canada's future? New developments

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28 Feb 2005

In our News Story of 9 September 2004 titled Are IFRSs in Canada's future?, we reported on an invitation to comment that was issued by the Accounting Standards Board of Canada (AcSB) as part of the AcSB's development of a five-year standard-setting plan.

Possible outcomes of that plan, set out in the invitation to comment, are to maintain separate Canadian GAAP or to adopt either US GAAP or IFRSs for use in Canada. Canadian companies publicly traded in the United States are already permitted to use US GAAP for Canadian reporting purposes. On 10 February 2005, the AcSB made a presentation to its oversight body, the Accounting Standards Oversight Council, outlining its vision of the future of accounting standards in Canada. Broadly described, AcSB's proposal – which must be considered by the AcSB's constituents and by Canadian regulators – would involve adopting IFRSs in full as Canadian GAAP while allowing those entities that want to do so to use US GAAP. The transition to IFRSs would be made over a five-year period. The AcSB proposals would be set out in a new invitation to comment that is expected to be published by 31 March 2005.

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