Canada - CSA Staff Notice 52-324 on IFRS changeover

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has issued CSA Staff Notice 52-324 which addresses issues regarding the changeover to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The notice is an update on: use of IFRS by a domestic issuer for periods beginning prior to January 1, 2011; requirements for interim financial statements in the year of IFRS adoption; and reference to IFRS and Canadian GAAP. (Read the CSA Notice 52-324.)

KPMG - Canadian Audit Committee Update 2009

KPMG has published Canadian Audit Committee Update 2009. Two feature articles discuss current issues. The first article, Current Issues Dominating the Audit Committee Agenda, highlights critical areas — managing through the current economic challenges, the nature of oversight today, overseeing risk and the changing governance landscape. The second article, Audit Committee Evolving Issues focuses on the intersection of two complex processes for management — maintaining effective disclosure controls and procedures, and internal control over financial reporting, while successfully managing the changeover to IFRS. This publication also provides an overview of recent accounting and regulatory changes, enabling audit committee members to identify changes that may affect a company’s financial reporting and to prepare to ask management about their impact.

Canada - Transition to International Financial Reporting Standards

Regarding the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Canada's Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) has reviewed the comments received at the roundtable that took place on April 20, 2009 in Montreal. After considering the input received about the challenges of adopting IFRS, the AcSB concluded that there were no compelling arguments that would require delaying the changeover date. It reconfirmed that Canadian GAAP for publicly accountable enterprises will be IFRS for interim and annual financial statements relating to fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2011. (Read the Accounting Standards Board Decision Summary - April 29, 2009.)

2009 Financial Reporting in Canada Under IFRS

The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) has recently published 2009 Financial Reporting in Canada Under IFRS. This publication (1,248 pages) aims to help preparers of financial statements, as well practitioners and students, obtain a better understanding of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). It looks at IFRS from a Canadian perspective by examining and explaining IFRS requirements. It illustrates their application using extracts from financial statements of companies that have already adopted IFRS and discussing how those requirements differ under Canadian GAAP.