The Canadian Public Accountability Board (CPAB) published its 2025 regulatory report, marking the start of public, firm-specific inspection reporting and summarising audit inspection and enforcement outcomes. Across all firms, CPAB inspected 120 audit files and identified significant findings in 27 files, a 23% findings rate that was broadly unchanged from 2024. Inspection results varied by firm segment. The four largest firms recorded a higher aggregate findings rate of 16% (10 of 62 files), while other annually inspected firms improved to 13% (four of 31 files); non-annually inspected firms declined to 48% (13 of 27 files) but remained “unacceptably high”. CPAB also reported that first-year audits showed higher average significant findings rates than recurring audits (33% versus 20%), that four restatements were made since its 2024 annual report due to significant findings, and that it was denied access to one component auditor’s working papers in China. Alongside file reviews, CPAB assessed elements of firms’ systems of quality management against the Canadian Standard on Quality Management 1, highlighting recurring recommendations including risk assessment documentation, leadership key performance indicators, whistleblower frameworks, resourcing and monitoring and remediation. On transparency, CPAB began publishing individual public inspection reports for inspections commencing after a March 24, 2025 rule change, with the first firm-specific reports released in March 2026, and it mandated disclosure of issuer-specific significant findings to the reporting issuer’s audit committee effective March 2025. CPAB reported 20 firms were subject to enforcement actions in 2025 and indicated decisions will be made in 2026 on easing or escalating regulatory intervention and on modifying or terminating certain existing enforcement actions.
Canadian Public Accountability Board 2026-03-31
Canadian Public Accountability Board starts publishing firm-specific inspection results as 2025 significant audit file findings hold at 23%
The Canadian Public Accountability Board published its 2025 regulatory report, launching public firm-specific inspection reporting and summarising audit inspection and enforcement outcomes. CPAB reported significant findings in 27 of 120 audit files (23%), with particularly high rates at non-annually inspected firms and in first-year audits, four restatements since its 2024 report, and one denial of access to working papers in China. It also began mandating disclosure of issuer-specific significant findings to audit committees and reported 20 firms under enforcement actions, with decisions on future intervention expected in 2026.