The Canadian Public Accountability Board (CPAB) announced that the rule and legislative amendments needed to expand disclosure of its regulatory assessment results have been approved. The changes mandate reporting of file-specific inspection results to audit committees and enable CPAB to publish individual firm inspection reports. Public firm inspection reports will apply from the 2025 inspection cycle, with the first firm-specific reports expected in Q1 2026. Under amended Rule 413, participating audit firms may not publish or extract portions of CPAB inspection reports without CPAB’s consent. The amendments also require disclosure of issuer-specific significant inspection findings to the issuer’s audit committee, a practice most CPAB-registered firms already follow voluntarily, and sit alongside CPAB disclosures already in effect since January 2023 on significant enforcement actions against firms and recommendations included in firm reports that were not addressed by the firm. CPAB expects publication of the first individual firm inspection reports in Q1 2026.
Canadian Public Accountability Board 2025-03-24
Canadian Public Accountability Board secures approvals to publish individual firm inspection reports and require issuer-specific findings disclosure to audit committees
The Canadian Public Accountability Board (CPAB) approved amendments to expand disclosure of its regulatory assessment results. Audit committees must receive file-specific inspection results, and CPAB can publish individual firm inspection reports starting in 2025. Amended Rule 413 prohibits audit firms from publishing CPAB report excerpts without consent, while significant findings must be disclosed to the issuer’s audit committee.