Fall 2020 Standard-setting Update – Prioritizing, supporting, and maintaining community during COVID-19

COVID-19 continues to impact Canada and the world. We are each experiencing and navigating the challenges, and the standard-setting boards are no exception.

We are (re-)prioritizing. We are aware that there are certain things that need to progress at a different time or pace than originally planned in this new environment. For example, each Board made the decision to adjust their original timelines to develop their next Strategic Plans. The AcSB and PSAB extended their current Strategic Planning periods by one year, and the AASB held back the issuance of its next Strategic Plan for public comment until January 2021 to ensure that the impacts of COVID-19 were reflected appropriately.   

Resources continue to be available and developed to support your work. If you haven’t already, bookmark our COVID-19 resources page. This webpage is a one-stop-shop of news and helpful tools from each Board. Recent additions include:

• The AcSB’s webinar, IFRS® Standards COVID-19 reporting considerations 
• PSAB’s non-authoritative guidance, COVID-19 and Application of Public Sector Accounting Standards (PSAS)
• The AASB’s collaboration with CPA Canada, CPAB, and BDO on the webinar, COVID-19 Implications for Internal Controls 

We are adjusting even more by expanding our digital activities. While we were already living in a digital world before COVID-19, we still had the opportunity to speak with you in person from time to time, hosting roundtables across Canada to get your feedback or attending events to make connections with you. But now, we have further pivoted our operations to address public health measures and the impact of COVID-19 – which means entirely virtual operations for the foreseeable future. Our Board meetings and other events will continue to be held online, and we’ve also launched our new community platform, Connect.FRASCanada.ca (Connect). 

Connect is an easy-to-use way for you to give feedback when we are consulting on new or amended standards, conducting post-implementation reviews, or simply information gathering. You can spend as little as a minute responding to one of our quick polls or take some extra time to take part in an open forum. 

Each Board has a Connect project now live, so register today to take part in our current consultations and stay tuned for more. 

Finally, but most importantly, we are committed to ensuring that we continue to work in the public interest, and to be transparent and consistent in our communications with you during this time. 

Ken Charbonneau, FCPA, FCA, ICD.D Chair, AASB

Linda Mezon, FCPA, FCA, CPA (MI), CGMA Chair, AcSB

Clyde MacLellan, FCPA, FCA Chair, PSAB