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AASB

Exposure Draft, CSSA 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements

Summary

Consistency in assurance standards on sustainability reporting is a matter of global importance. Today, an entity’s reporting and operational boundaries often span international borders. Therefore, globally comparable and consistent sustainability information reporting and globally consistent assurance standards are required to enhance users’ confidence in the sustainability information produced.

In light of the current sustainability reporting and assurance landscape, input from interested and affected parties is vital to ensure that the proposed Canadian Standard on Sustainability Assurance (CSSA) 5000 is responsive to the key public interest considerations to develop an overarching standard for assurance on sustainability reporting, that is:

  • Responsive to the public interest need for a timely standard that supports the consistent performance of quality sustainability assurance engagements;
  • Suitable across all sustainability topics, information disclosed about those topics, and reporting frameworks; and
  • Implementable by all assurance practitioners.

Staff Contact(s)

Karen DeGiobbi, CPA, CA Director, Auditing and Assurance Standards Board

Phone number  +1 416 204 3337
Email address  [email protected]

Background

In September 2022, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) approved a project proposal to develop a new overarching standard for sustainability assurance engagements, the proposed International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements.

In January 2023, the AASB approved a project proposal to concurrently adopt the proposed ISSA 5000 as an Other Canadian Standard under a new Canadian Standard on Sustainability Assurance (CSSA) series of standards.

In June 2023, the IAASB approved the Exposure Draft of proposed ISSA 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements (ED-5000), for consultation.

Following the IAASB’s timelines, in August 2023 the AASB approved Exposure Draft CSSA 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements (ED-CSSA 5000) for consultation.

Current Canadian standards used to provide assurance over extended external reporting, including sustainability information (i.e., Canadian Standard on Assurance Engagements (CSAE) 3000, Attestation Engagements Other Than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information) were adopted from international standards. Not adopting ISSA 5000 would create divergence in an area that is currently aligned.