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Independence Standing Committee consultations

The Independence Standing Committee (ISC) assists the Public Trust Committee (PTC) by recommending high-quality independence standards for proposed adoption by the provincial bodies in their own codes of ethics for use by all Canadian CPAs.

New Exposure Draft open for comment

The Public Trust Committee is inviting feedback on the ISC’s Exposure Draft, Proposed Revisions Relating to Definitions of Public Interest Entity and Listed Entity in Canadian Independence Standards, which suggests revisions to the harmonized Canadian Independence Standards (Rule 204).

Share your views with the CPA profession’s Public Trust Committee (PTC) on the ISC’s Exposure Draft, Proposed Revisions Relating to Definitions of Public Interest Entity and Listed Entity in Canadian Independence Standards.

Among the measures proposed, the ISC is recommending defining a public interest entity (PIE) for the purpose of the harmonized Canadian Independence Standards (Rule 204) to align with the definition in International Independence Standards in the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) Code and to ensure that the scope of the additional independence requirements or “prohibitions” in Rule 204 is appropriate.

Interested and affected stakeholders can send their feedback to [email protected] by September 30, 2024.

Comments will be published on the ISC’s webpage and considered by the ISC and PTC in making final revisions to the harmonized Canadian Independence Standards (Rule 204) for proposed adoption by the provincial bodies in their own codes of ethics for use by all Canadian CPAs.

SUBMIT COMMENTS

About the Independence Standing Committee (ISC)

The ISC's responsibilities include:

  • recommending for PTC approval and proposed adoption by the provincial bodies, future changes to maintain and renew the independence standards such that they are no less stringent than the requirements included in the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants' (IESBA) International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (the IESBA Code) unless in respect of a particular provision it is prohibited by law or regulation or it is determined not to be in the public interest
  • exposing for public comment in Canada the proposed changes to the Independence requirements of the IESBA Code, to invite comments on the technical content and whether there may be Canadian specific circumstances that would require a change to the IESBA Code proposal

Exposing proposed changes to the IESBA Code

The ISC exposes proposed changes to the IESBA Code to invite comments from Canadian stakeholders on:

  • The technical merit of proposed changes to the Independence requirements in the IESBA Code, for consideration by the profession's PTC in preparing its response to IESBA on behalf of the Canadian CPA profession
  • Canadian-specific circumstances of a legal, regulatory, or public interest nature that should be considered with respect to the IESBA proposals, to assist the ISC in recommending changes to maintain and renew Rule 204, Independence, such that it is no less stringent than the IESBA Code