This summary of decisions of the Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB) has been prepared for information purposes only. Decisions reported are tentative and reflect only the current status of discussions on projects, which might change after further deliberations by PSAB. Decisions to publish exposure draft and Handbook material are final only after a formal ballot process.
Standards for Public Sector Entities
Employment Benefits
PSAB reviewed and approved the revised project plan prepared for the Employment Benefits project to develop a new standard. The Board will use principles from International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) 39, Employment Benefits, as a starting point. The Board can modify the IPSAS 39 principles where needed to better fit Canadian circumstances. The Board can also customize guidance where needed. In making its international strategy decision, the Board emphasized that all existing projects underway were grandfathered, which includes the Employment Benefits project. The decision to use IPSAS 39 principles as the starting point represents the Board’s view of the best approach for the project to provide value to stakeholders in a timely manner. PSAB will also employ a multi-release strategy for the project whereby accounting standard functionality is delivered over multiple releases. This means that the first release of the standard will provide the base accounting guidance to be used by PSAB stakeholders with later releases building on those principles to further address current and emerging issues.
Other Matters
Government Not-for-Profit Strategy
PSAB received an update on the Government Not-for-Profit (GNFP) project including an overview of the responses to the May 2019 “Government Not-for-Profit Consultation Paper” and of the Government Not-for-Profit Strategy Committee’s activities.
PSAB also reviewed a draft second consultation paper and provided feedback to the Committee for consideration. The Board will receive the second consultation paper for approval at its September 2020 meeting.