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AcSB

AcSB Annual Report 2021-2022

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Chair Message

Photo of Linda Mezon

The financial reporting landscape is shifting rapidly as the reporting needs of stakeholders continue to evolve. There is a strong demand for more information, particularly from users, to support a better understanding of performance beyond what is currently reported in traditional financial statements.

This year, Canada’s standard-setting oversight councils commissioned an independent review of the current governance and structure for establishing Canadian accounting and assurance standards. This review also will consider and prepare for what might be needed in the future – including sustainability standards.

We recognize that our environment will be permeated with change for the years to come – but through it all – we will continue our standard-setting work with a focus on continuing to enhance the relevance of financial reporting. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago and its unexpected continuation taught us how things can change quickly. We learned to be nimble, pivot and adapt as needed. That said, we kept our focus on staying connected with our stakeholders to ensure we respond appropriately. From this experience, we are better equipped than ever before to be responsive during a time of change.

Fiscal 2021-2022 continued to test our ability in prioritizing our work to respond to issues of importance to our stakeholders, both from a domestic and international perspective. The ongoing pandemic necessitated a quick extension of the optional relief we provided last year on the accounting for COVID-19 related rent concessions. We also expedited the development and finalization of amendments in response to the interest rate benchmark reform. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued many documents for comment this year and we had to prioritize topics of importance to Canadians in conducting outreach and influencing discussions.

As we move into the next year, we are consulting on two key domestic projects that we just issued Exposure Drafts for – Pension Plans and Cloud Computing Arrangements. We strive to develop technical, yet pragmatic proposals, and we are keen to hear from our stakeholders on whether we found the right balance.

As I reflect back on this year, and in fact the last six years of operating under our current Strategic Plan, I am proud of our Board, volunteers, and staff accomplishments. We recognize that financial reporting must continuously evolve to deliver relevant information in a changing world. I am confident that we built the right foundation for the coming years under our 2022-2027 Strategic Plan – with a reaffirmed vision to enhance the relevance of financial information and support the improvement of non-financial information reported to stakeholders.

Linda Mezon-Hutter, FCPA, FCA
Chair, AcSB

Readying for the New Future

Making headway on key domestic projects

Domestic projects iconWe received a lot of informative feedback on our Contributions Consultation Paper that we issued last year and made substantial progress in deliberating stakeholders’ comments. We also completed the development of Exposure Drafts on Pension Plans and Cloud Computing Arrangements. The Board’s advisory committees were instrumental in helping us develop the proposals. We look forward to hearing our stakeholders’ feedback on both Exposure Drafts. 

Influencing the global discussions

Global discussions iconThis has been a very active year as the IASB consulted on over 10 of its projects. We held panel events, roundtables, and targeted meetings, and we invited IASB members and staff to take part to ensure Canadian views were heard on an international level. We also continued building relationships and exchanging views on topics of mutual interest with national standard setters in Australia, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S.

Building the foundation for the future

Foundation iconWe listened to our stakeholders’ feedback on our proposed strategies and issued our 2022-2027 Strategic Plan. This Strategic Plan serves as a compass for us as we navigate the changing times. Sustainability reporting needs are evolving, and we continue to stay actively engaged in the dialogue internationally and in Canada. The IFRS Foundation created the International Sustainability Standards Board this year, and in Canada, the Independent Review Committee on Standard Setting in Canada thinks there is a need for a Canadian sustainability standards board. Our three core strategies call for us to continue to work with and learn from other Canadian and international standard setters to provide our stakeholders with high-quality and relevant standards that serve the public interest.

By the Numbers

Read about the AcSB’s communications and outreach activities this year, including key statistics.

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Strategies for each reporting entity category

Publicly Accountable Enterprises

Publicly Accountable Enterprises iconWith the high volume of documents that the IASB issued this year, conducting public outreach was a significant part of our work. This outreach was successful despite only being able to interact in a virtual setting with our stakeholders. We used various tools to generate discussions, like panel events, online surveys, and polling. We interacted with more stakeholders compared to last year and held joint sessions with our colleagues at the Public Sector Accounting Standards Board to engage with interested public sector stakeholders. We solicited Canadians’ views on IASB projects such as the Agenda Consultation, Post-implementation Review of IFRS 9, Rate-regulated Activities, Standards-level Review of Disclosures, and much more. We endorsed several IASB amendments, including an important amendment to Insurance Contracts aimed at improving comparative information as the industry moves into its final year of implementation. 

Private Enterprises

Private Enterprises iconWe extended the relief on accounting for lease modifications due to the ongoing pandemic and provided relief to debt modification and hedge accounting in light of the interest rate benchmark reform occurring in Canada and globally. These final amendments were released in December 2021 and February 2022, respectively. Our research activities provided us with further knowledge on the Related Party Combinations project and will allow us to continue to progress work on this project in 2022-2023. We are also keen to hear stakeholders’ feedback on our pragmatic proposals in the Cloud Computing Arrangements Exposure Draft, which was released in March 2022. 

Not-for-profit Organizations

Not-for-profit Organizations iconWe focused primarily on deliberating stakeholder feedback on the Contributions Consultation Paper this year. This project continues to be a high priority for the AcSB, and we will be developing proposals in the upcoming fiscal year with input from our Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee. The work we’ve conducted this year on Cloud Computing Arrangements is also relevant for NFPOs.

Pension Plans

Pension Plans iconWe developed proposals to improve the information provided to users in consultation with our Pension Plan Working Group. We issued an Exposure Draft that proposes amendments to Part IV, Section 4600, Pension Plans to address some issues in the standard and reduce diversity in practice. We are excited to hear from our stakeholders as these proposals are a first step toward bettering Section 4600. In 2022-2023, we will continue our research on other issues in Section 4600 to determine what we can address in subsequent proposals. 

Taking knowledge into the future

This year marks the end of our current Strategic Plan. In 2016, we set out strategies for the major categories of reporting entities in Canada and we delivered on all fronts. While we pivoted from our aspiration to establish a formal research program in light of changing demands, we carried out research to support evidence-based standard-setting on topics of importance to Canadians – particularly our work on the Framework for Reporting Performance Measures

Delivering on our 2016-2022 strategies

Strategy icons Due Process: Carried out our three key principles – transparency, consultation and accountability – in setting financial reporting standards in Canada. Research: Advanced understanding on topics of importance to Canadians and contributed our findings globally to support evidence-based standard setting. Publicly Accountable Enterprises: Supported the application in Canada of IFRS Standards by helping with implementation of new major standards, influencing global discussions and working with others to encourage a common global adoption date. Private Enterprises and Not-for-Profit Organizations: Retained and improved the set of standards in Parts II-III by advancing and completing key domestic projects and addressing emerging issues. Pensions Plans: Retained the set of standards in Part IV by advancing our understanding on new types of pension plans and making targeted improvements.

Looking ahead to the next five years

We are entering into a new era of reporting. In our 2022-2027 Strategic Plan, our vision of enhancing the relevance of financial information and supporting the improvement of non-financial information will guide us toward meeting the evolving needs of our stakeholders.

Keep up to date on all our projects and activities throughout the year as we make progress on our Annual Plan.

Members and Staff

Screenshot of Zoom meeting with members and staff of the AcSB

First row L-R: Marc Joyal (member), Jesse McLinton (Administrative Assistant), Katherine Knowlton (Associate Director), Armand Capisciolto (Vice-Chair), Steve Fortin (member)
Second row L-R: Nancy Anderson (member), Linda Mezon-Hutter (Chair), Lawrence Smith (member), Chris Kovalchuk (member), Katharine Christopoulos (Director)
Third row L-R: Jamie Goodman (Principal), Matthew Bishop (Principal), Michael Graham (member), Howard Leung (member), Charles Henaire (member)
Fourth row L-R: Carol Rowe (member), Michel Charbonneau (member), Davina Tam (Principal), Mohamed Hassanali (Associate Director), Marta Kolodziejski (Administrative Assistant)
Fifth row L-R: Sean Wang (Principal), Amanda Winter (Principal), Shalini Gupta (Principal), Grace Flis (Principal), Jayshal Daya (Principal)
Sixth row L-R: Andrew White (Associate Director), Mark Squire (Principal), Danielle MacLeod (Principal)
Absent: Guy Jones (member)