The Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) has completed its consultation on the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) Exposure Draft, “Proposed amendments to the SASB Standards and IFRS S2 Industry-related Guidance.”
We engaged over 130 interested and affected parties across Canada to gather feedback. Based on this input, the CSSB has submitted its response letter to the ISSB ahead of the July 24, 2026, deadline. We thank all respondents for their contributions to advancing sustainability standards in Canada.
At a glance
In March 2026, the ISSB released an Exposure Draft proposing amendments to the following three SASB Standards:
- Electric Utilities and Power Generators
- Agricultural Products
- Meat, Poultry and Dairy
Some of the proposed amendments include
Electric Utilities & Power Generators
- Updating the industry scope to explicitly include electricity retail and trading activities to reflect global market liberalization.
- Renaming Coal Ash Management disclosure topic to Hazardous Waste Management to incorporate emerging waste streams like nuclear waste and spent batteries.
- Introducing new disclosure topics for Ecological Impacts and Community Relations and Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
- Requiring disaggregated workforce safety and turnover data for both direct employees and non-employee workers (contractors).
- Refining system reliability indices
Agricultural Products
- Expanding the industry boundary to include direct crop production (farming) for vertically integrated entities and those in emerging markets.
- Adding a Land Use and Ecological Impacts disclosure topic to track spatial footprints and deforestation-free production.
- Introducing a Food Loss and Food Waste disclosure topic to measure operational loss and diversion strategies at the primary production level.
- Establishing a dedicated Labour Conditions disclosure topic for direct farming operations.
- Restructuring supply chain management into separate environmental and social disclosure topics.
Meat, Poultry and Dairy
- Requiring entities to disclose the specific percentage of gross Scope 1 emissions derived specifically from methane.
- Broadening the Animal Care disclosure topic to Animal Health and Welfare
- Introducing a Product Innovation disclosure topic to capture diversification into sustainable alternative proteins.
- Replacing regional conservation metrics with global indicators for spatial footprint and deforestation-free production.
- Updating the industry description to include animal feed production and expanded end markets, such as livestock and pet feed consumers.
What are the SASB Standards and why do they matter?
The SASB Standards are a set of 77 industry-specific disclosure guidelines that help entities identify and disclose financially material sustainability information. They are an important source of guidance within the ISSB Standards, enabling companies to determine sustainability-related risks and opportunities most relevant to their prospects.
Under IFRS S1, the SASB Standards serve as a source of guidance for sustainability-related disclosures beyond climate. Entities are expected to refer to and consider SASB Standards when identifying sustainability-related risks and opportunities and determining what information to disclose. IFRS S2 sets out general requirements for climate-related disclosures but does not prescribe detailed industry-specific metrics. SASB Standards fill this gap by providing industry-based topics and metrics, enabling more relevant, comparable, and decision-useful climate reporting.
To support high-quality implementation of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, the ISSB started a phased enhancement project focused on improving international applicability, enhancing interoperability, and aligning language and concepts with IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards.
Given the close alignment between Canadian Sustainability Disclosure Standards (CSDS) 1, General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information, CSDS 2, Climate-related Disclosures, and IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, the proposed amendments will impact Canadian reporting entities.
Furthermore, more than 290 Canadian entities report their sustainability metrics using SASB Standards.
Summary of phase 1, part 1
In July 2025, the ISSB issued two Exposure Drafts:
The proposals included:
- a comprehensive review of nine priority industries (primarily in extractives, minerals processing, and processed foods); and
- alignment of specific metrics across 41 additional industries, covering greenhouse gas emissions, energy management, water management, labour practices, and workforce health and safety.
The CSSB engaged with more than 160 interested and affected parties in Canada and submitted its response letters to the ISSB in November 2025. Read CSSB’s response letters:
The ISSB is currently deliberating feedback on these Exposure Drafts.
What’s next
The CSSB will continue to monitor ISSB’s deliberations and provide updates as new developments occur. The ISSB has signalled that it will enhance the six SASB standards in the Technology & Communications Sustainable Industries Classification System (SICS) sector for Phase 2.
Questions
Please contact Omolola Fashesin, Principal, Sustainability Standards, at [email protected].