A Brief History of the Evolution of Accounting and Auditing Standards in Canada

Prior to 1951, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) was known as the Dominion Association of Chartered Accountants (DACA). It established an Accounting and Auditing Research Committee in 1946, which began issuing a series of bulletins setting out recommended standards of practice on accounting and auditing.


In 1968, it replaced the series of bulletins with a loose-leaf, subject-indexed Handbook that was periodically updated with inserts as the CICA’s committee issued new recommendations. Although the bulletins set out what the committee “considers to be the best accepted practice or its suggested treatment of new elements in accounting statements arising as a result of changes in social or economic conditions,” the recommendations contained in the Handbook were intended to possess greater force. Section 1500.06 in the Handbook, issued in November 1969, stated that any departures from the Handbook recommendations “should be explained in notes to the financial statements with an indication of the reason why the recommendation concerned was not followed.”

In 1975, the Canada Business Corporations Act added a degree of quasi-legislative authority to the Handbook, when Regulations 44 and 45 of the Act proclaimed:

44) The financial statements referred to in paragraph 149(1) of the Act shall, except as otherwise provided by this Part, be prepared in accordance with the standards, as they exist from time to time, of the CICA set out in the Handbook.

45) The auditor’s report referred to in Section 163 of the Act shall, except as otherwise provided by this Part, be prepared in accordance with the standards of the CICA set out in the Handbook.

In 1963, the CICA began publishing research studies on contemporary accounting and auditing topics. Since 1980, it has published a number of research studies on accounting and financial reporting, on auditing and assurance, and on environmental and performance reporting. Most are available as PDF downloads free-of-charge.

In 1991, the CICA replaced the Accounting Standards Committee and the Auditing Standards Committee with the Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) and the Auditing Standards Board. Later in that decade, the CICA Task Force on Standard Setting released its final report in May 1998, and among its recommendations was the establishment of an “independent standard setting organization for Canada.”

In addition, the CICA established the Accounting Standards Oversight Council (AcSOC) to support the setting of accounting standards domestically and to contribute to the development of internationally accepted standards. AcSOC’s mandate also includes providing opportunities for the public to comment on all aspects of accounting standard setting, and reporting to the public annually.

In 2005, a firm commitment was made to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), effective January 1, 2011. IFRS have now been incorporated into the CICA Handbook, along with International Auditing Standards (IAS).

History of the CICA Corporate Reporting Awards

The CICA Corporate Reporting Awards (CRA) began in the early 1950s. Originally, they were based on hardcopy annual reports (from 1951-1992). Today, the awards have expanded beyond the annual reports to include sustainable development awards (introduced in 1993), MD&A (introduced in 1995), corporate governance awards (introduced in 1996), electronic financial reporting (introduced in 2001) and scorecards (introduced in the late 1990s). Now, the major federal crown corporations are also included (introduced in 2007). For a brief history of the Corporate Reporting Awards, refer to the March 2010 research paper “Corporate Reporting Awards and Financial Reporting Quality” by Tim Bauer (tdbauer@uwaterloo.ca) and J. Efrim Boritz (jeboritz@uwaterloo.ca) – pages 6-12 and Appendix B).

CICA Chronology of Sustainability Initiatives

The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) has been addressing environmental accounting and reporting issues for almost 20 years. It was a founding member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), whose guidelines for reporting on the social, environmental and economic aspects of a company’s operations are used today around the world. The CICA has also been addressing climate change issues for more than 10 years. It recognized early on the business, accounting and tax implications of climate change impacts and greenhouse gas reduction efforts. It was the first accounting body in the world to publish guidance regarding disclosures about climate change. The CICA Chronology of Sustainability Initiatives provides hyperlink access to PDF documents of selected research and guidance publications issued between 1992 and 2009.