The Notice is an update on issues related to the changeover to IFRS in Canada, including:

• use of IFRS by a domestic issuer for periods beginning prior to 1 January 2011,
• requirements for interim financial statements in the year of IFRS adoption, and
• reference to IFRS and Canadian GAAP.

Regarding reference to IFRS in Canadian GAAP, the CSA proposes to allow two options for referring to accounting principles in a domestic issuer's financial statements and accompanying auditor's reports:

• refer only to IFRS in the notes to the financial statements and in the auditor's report, or
• refer to both IFRS and Canadian GAAP in the notes to the financial statements and in the auditor's report.

To implement those two options, CSA proposes the following requirements for domestic issuers for annual and interim financial statements relating to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2011:

• issuers must prepare their annual and interim financial statements in accordance with Canadian GAAP for publicly accountable enterprises,
• issuers must make an explicit and unreserved statement of compliance with IFRSs in the notes to their annual financial statements, and disclose compliance with International Accounting Standard 34 Interim Financial Reporting in their interim financial statements, and
• auditor's reports accompanying an issuer's financial statements must refer to IFRS and be in the form specified by Canadian generally accepted auditing standards for financial statements prepared in accordance with a fair presentation framework.

Click for CSA Staff Notice 52-324 Issues Relating to Changeover to IFRSs (PDF 48k).