IFRS concept paper from Canadian securities regulators
15 Feb 2008
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) – the consortium of the provincial securities regulators in Canada – has invited public comment on CSA Concept Paper 52-402. The Concept Paper discusses securities regulation issues relating to Canada's upcoming adoption of IFRSs.
The Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) of Canada proposes to that all Canadian publicly accountable enterprises must adopt Canadian IFRS equivalents by 1 January 2011. As CSA rules refer to Canadian generally accepted accounting principles established by the AcSB, the CSA is considering the need for amendments to those rules and is seeking feedback on three main issues:
- Use of IFRSs by domestic issuers before 1 January 2011. CSA members are leaning toward allowing the use of IFRSs starting in 2009, two years ahead of the AcSB's mandatory changeover.
- Use of US GAAP by domestic issuers. Currently, Canadian companies that are registered with the US SEC are allowed to use US GAAP rather than Canadian GAAP. The CSA members have tentatively concluded not to allow a domestic issuer to use US GAAP starting in 2009 except existing US GAAP users could continue doing so for up to five years (that is, through 2013).
- Reference to IFRSs instead of Canadian GAAP in CSA securities rules. The AcSB's current plan is to import IFRSs into Canadian GAAP and to continue using the term 'Canadian GAAP'. The CSA members do not agree with that terminology and believe that the auditor's report should refer to IFRSs as adopted by the IASB rather than to Canadian GAAP. CSA acknowledges that changes to some laws may be required.
- CSA Concept Paper (PDF 62k)
- CSA Press Release (PDF 131k)
