Our Regulatory Reporting

Explore CPAB’s regulatory reporting and how it supports audit committees, plus find answers to common questions.

Commonly asked questions

CPAB's regulatory assessments approach

Which firms does CPAB inspect and how often? How does CPAB select audit areas to inspect?
Refer to risk-based approach and file inspections section of this webpage for more information.
How does CPAB conduct an inspection?
Refer to file inspections section of this webpage for more information.
What happens if CPAB inspectors believe there is an audit deficiency?
Refer to significant inspection findings section of this webpage for more information.
How does CPAB inspect audit firm quality controls?
Refer to system of quality management assessments section of this webpage for more information.
Which areas of a participating audit firm’s business are included in CPAB’s regulatory assessments?
CPAB oversees audits of Canadian reporting issuers performed by participating audit firms. Our Audit Quality Assessment program is a two-pronged approach that includes system of quality management assessments and file inspections. CPAB’s regulatory assessments do not include parts of participating audit firm’s businesses or practices outside of their audits of Canadian reporting issuers. This includes assessment of the quality of a firm’s audits of non-public entities (private companies, not for profit, etc.) or any other service lines (i.e. tax, advisory, etc.).

Public inspection reports

When will inspection reports be published and where can I find inspection reports for audit firms inspected by CPAB?
CPAB began publishing individual audit firm inspection reports for 2025 inspections in March 2026.

Moving forward, public inspection reports will be published as they are completed.

Inspection reports are available on CPAB’s website.
Why can’t I find an inspection report for a specific audit firm?
There are a few reasons a public inspection report may not be available.

CPAB began publishing reports for audit firms inspected starting with the results of our 2025 inspections that began after CPAB’s rule changes came into effect on March 24, 2025. If a firm has not been inspected since then, a report will not be available.
In some cases, where CPAB cannot ensure the confidentiality of reporting issuer information (for example, where a firm has only one reporting issuer audit engagement), a report will not be published for that audit firm.
CPAB has not performed or completed an inspection of that audit firm in the given year.

Are firms allowed to share copies or make reference to their inspection reports in firm communications?
Under CPAB Rule 413(b), a participating audit firm may not publish or extract portions of any of CPAB’s inspection reports without CPAB’s consent. If you have any questions, please contact info@cpab-ccrc.ca.
What are firms permitted to include in their firm response to CPAB’s public inspection report?
It is up to each firm to determine how they would like to respond to the report. Firms should be mindful of safeguarding the identity of reporting issuers in accordance with CPAB Rule 413(b) when preparing their responses.

Enforcement

Where can I find public reports with respect to audit firms subject to enforcement actions?
Public reports with respect to audit firms who are subject to enforcement actions imposed as a result of investigations can be found here.

Public reporting of significant enforcement actions imposed as a result of inspections commenced in January of 2023 and can be found here.
What enforcement-related information will CPAB publish about an audit firm on its website?
CPAB publishes significant enforcement actions that arise from inspection results. Significant enforcement actions include:

Restrictions imposed on a participating audit firm (including the termination of an audit engagement);
Prohibition of a participating audit firm from assigning one or more designated professionals to audits of financial statements of reporting issuers;
Sanctions imposed for breaching an existing requirement, restriction, or sanction; or
Termination of a participating audit firm.

Where enforcement actions are imposed as a consequence of serious misconduct uncovered during an investigation, these matters are published regardless of the type of enforcement actions imposed.

Other topics and questions

What information do audit committees get about CPAB inspections?
Refer to CPAB Protocol section of this webpage for more information.
A firm was inspected by another audit regulator. Why are those inspection results different than the results of CPAB’s inspection?
A Canadian audit firm may be subject to regulatory assessments from more than one audit regulator depending on the jurisdictions of their audit clients. Inspection results can vary between different audit regulators for several reasons:

Each regulator independently selects which reporting issuer audit files they will inspect. This means that the underlying population that the report is based on will differ.
Audit regulators around the world have distinct and different mandates.
The overall number of audits under oversight varies by jurisdiction.

CPAB’s inspections also do not look at every aspect of every file. Results should not be extrapolated across a firm’s entire audit portfolio but instead viewed as an indication of how firms address their most challenging audit situations.

Are CPAB’s disclosures consistent across Canada?
Yes, CPAB’s new disclosures will be applied consistently across Canada
What happens if audit firms do not implement CPAB’s inspection report recommendations?
Refer to inspection reporting section of this webpage for more information.

What CPAB’s public audit firm inspection reports look like

Each of CPAB’s public audit firm inspection reports will follow a standard format and contain comparable information in each report. The reports are intended to provide factual information on the results of CPAB’s inspection of an individual audit firm without identifying any specific reporting issuer information.

Read below for more information on the different sections of the public audit firm inspection reports:

Note: Sections are listed in the order in which they appear in the public report.

Overview: Summary of CPAB’s mandate and audit quality assessment program, an introduction to CPAB’s inspection of the firm as well as a description of what a significant finding is.
About Firm X: Information about the audit firm’s reporting issuer population that is within CPAB’s scope and how often the audit firm is inspected by CPAB.
Inspection Findings: Firm X: Table showing number of files inspected and number of files with significant findings for the two most recent years the firm was inspected. (Note: For the first year of inspection reporting, only one year of information will be provided based on timing of when the rules came into effect).
Audit areas inspected: Firm X: Table showing audit areas reviewed by CPAB for this specific audit firm, the number of times each audit area was inspected, and the number of significant findings for each audit area for the two most recent years the audit firm was inspected. (Note: For the first year of inspection reporting only one year of information will be provided based on timing of when the rules came into effect).
Appendix: Explanatory information covering how CPAB chooses files and audit areas to review, how to interpret inspection results, how audit firms respond to CPAB findings and information related to how CPAB assesses an audit firm’s system of quality management.
Firm response: The audit firm’s response to the public inspection report.

Supporting audit committees in their audit oversight

Information available to audit committees

Audit committees can access a number of CPAB publications to assist with their oversight of audit quality:

Significant inspection findings: If CPAB inspects a reporting issuer's audit file that year, through the CPAB Protocol, the audit firm must provide that reporting issuer's audit committee with significant findings, if any, specific to a reporting issuer's audit file inspection as reported by CPAB per CPAB’s Engagement Findings Report (EFR).
CPAB’s annual regulatory oversight report: Through the CPAB Protocol audit firms are also required to provide audit committees of all their reporting issuers with CPAB’s annual regulatory oversight report. Copies of CPAB’s interim and annual reports can also be found in our Resource Centre.
Public inspection reports: Public inspection reports: Audit committees will also be able to access an audit firm’s individual public inspection report. These reports can be found here.

To get up to date information on CPAB’s latest news, including CPAB’s annual report and individual audit firm inspection reports, subscribe here.

Discussing the results of CPAB’s regulatory assessments

Audit Committee discussions

Each of the publications listed above provide insight into CPAB’s regulatory assessments, allowing audit committees to better understand inspection results at specific audit firms as well as audit quality trends and emerging issues.

CPAB encourages audit committees to discuss all three publications with your auditor. Potential questions to ask are provided below.

Questions related to inspection findings

CPAB’s annual report identifies key themes that are consistently identified in inspection findings (to access CPAB’s most recent annual report, refer to the Resource Centre). How has the audit team and firm assessed their efforts in these areas and what changes will be made moving forward?
What does the audit team/firm plan to do differently in the future in response to the significant findings identified by CPAB? What did the firm’s root cause analysis identify?
What specific actions are being taken in response to the inspection findings? What is the timeline for implementing these changes?
How do the inspection findings relate to the topics that the auditor disclosed as a key audit matter? If they are different topics, should those topics have been identified as key audit matters?
Did any of the inspection findings highlight any weaknesses in the company’s system of internal controls? If so, what were they?

General questions

What challenging, subjective or complex auditor judgement did the auditor apply during the audit?
Beyond what auditors are required to communicate to the audit committee, are there any aspects of the company’s internal control over financial reporting that management could enhance or strengthen?
Are there areas of the audit where additional discussion or support from the audit committee or management might be beneficial?
What emerging issues or trends are audit teams monitoring and preparing for?
How does the audit firm ensure audits are appropriately staffed and managed?

Discussions with CPAB

CPAB meets with audit committees and audit committee chairs to discuss CPAB’s inspection process and results as well as emerging audit quality trends. There are generally two types of meetings held:

CPAB, together with the respective audit firm, will meet with the audit committee chair and/or audit committee of reporting issuers to discuss current and emerging trends and recent inspection results.
CPAB regularly meets with audit committee chairs/corporate directors to discuss current and emerging trends as well as other information relevant to CPAB’s activities, though not specific reporting issuer inspection findings (note that these meetings may also include the audit partner and/or financial management from the reporting issuer).

If you are interested in meeting with CPAB, please contact stakeholderengagement@cpab-ccrc.ca.

Protecting the investing public

Charged with overseeing audits performed by registered public accounting firms, CPAB contributes to public confidence in the integrity of financial reporting and is committed to protecting Canada’s investing public.

With these new changes to the information we disclose, investors will now be equipped with even more information. Below are answers to some commonly asked questions about how our new disclosures can be used by investors.

What information will the new public inspection reports give investors?
The new public inspection reports will provide greater insight into how audit firms address their most challenging audit situations.

Will the public inspection reports make it easier for investors to evaluate audit quality risks in their portfolios?
When read alongside our other publications, the public inspection reports will provide visibility into recurring areas of significant audit deficiencies, enabling investors to better understand risks surrounding complex areas of the financial statements.
Will investors be able to identify which reporting issuers the inspection results relate to?
In accordance with CPAB Rule 413, CPAB will not directly identify reporting issuers and will make best efforts to avoid indirectly identifying a reporting issuer. While investors will not be able to identify which reporting issuer audits the inspection results relate to, the public inspection reports will provide valuable information on the quality of audits inspected at firms in a given year.