Under Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 52-108, public accounting firms that audit Canadian reporting issuers (RIs) must participate in CPAB's oversight program.

To register:

  1. Submit an Intent to Participate form and Quality Control Report online and remit the required Intent  to  Participate fee. See CPAB Rule 802 for details.
  2. Submit two signed hard copies of the CPAB Participation Agreement, along with certification that you have obtained the required consent and release forms from all necessary parties and staff.
  3. Submit the Annual Participation fee to CPAB. This fee is assessed annually as a percentage of audit fees charged by auditors to reporting issuer clients using information reported to CPAB by the firms in an annual filing. See fee notice for details.
Click here to register

 

 

FAQs

Yes. All prospective participants must register online by completing the Intent to Participate form. We do not accept hard-copy application documents.
Any audit firm that wishes to audit Canadian reporting issuers may apply to participate in our oversight program.
Yes. All firms that audit a Canadian reporting issuer must be registered with CPAB.

If your firm is a single national partnership that carries out its auditing practice using different names in different markets, you will register as a single firm.

If your firm is a national or international association of firms with more than one partnership in Canada that audits the financial statements of Canadian reporting issuers, you should register each partnership auditing reporting issuers separately with CPAB.

Firms using more than one legal name should register each name under which they are licensed to sign audit reports for Canadian reporting issuer clients.

Any individual who is authorized to sign the audit report of a Canadian reporting issuer.
The term "reporting issuer" is defined in provincial securities legislation. The definitions may differ slightly by province. In general, a reporting issuer is an entity that must file annual audited financial statements with a securities commission. This includes mutual funds. Several securities commissions publish a list of reporting issuers on their websites. If you are in doubt about whether a particular client is a reporting issuer, you may wish to contact the relevant securities commission.
Yes. You will be subject to our fees at the minimum level, and you could be subject to quality inspections by or on behalf of CPAB.
Only the firm that issues an auditor's report on financial statements of a Canadian reporting issuer filed with a securities commission must register.
We review your Intent to Participate form and Quality Control Report within 30 days of receipt. Within the same time, CPAB will advise you whether additional information or explanations are required. While we are reviewing your application, you will be able to prepare your Initial Registration form, but you will not be able to submit it until CPAB has all the information it requires with respect to the Intent to Participate form and Quality Control Report.

The information submitted as part of the registration process will be reviewed. If any information is inaccurate or incomplete, we will delay registration until the firm rectifies the deficiencies.

If we decline registration, we provide the applicant firm with written reason(s), as well as an opportunity to participate in a hearing to present its case.

The fee remitted with the Intent to Participate form is a fixed fee, determined by the number of reporting issuer clients the firm reports it has. The fee structure is set out in CPAB Rule 802 and in the Fee Notice.
We post information about Participating Audit Firms provided in the Intent to Participate form and the Initial Registration form on our website. This does not include fee information either in aggregate or for any individual reporting issuer audit client.
No. A Quality Control Report prepared for other regulators does not meet our requirements.
This information should not be older than 90 days prior to the date of submission. Foreign firms are only required to provide details about offices and partners responsible for the audits of entities that are reporting issuers in Canada.
  1. Because a merger is a material change per Rule 216 (a), the Participating Audit Firms should notify CPAB within 15 days of the merger.
  2. For our registration purposes, the continuing firm is considered to be the Participating Audit Firm. The firms not continuing are considered to be predecessor firms.
  3. If the firm name changes, a new Participation Agreement should be submitted. PCAOB registrants should also submit a completed Consent and Agreement – Section 7 form.
  4. The continuing firm should update the firm information on CPAB’s website.
  5. If the continuing firm is already a Participating Audit Firm and the firm name is unchanged, the procedures outlined below only apply to predecessor firms.
  6. Reporting issuer clients and individuals authorized to sign audit reports that were previously associated with predecessor firms should be added to the continuing firm's information on CPAB’s website.
  7. Predecessor firms should complete an online Notice of Withdrawal form and submit the written notification in accordance with Rule 250.
  8. Former partners/officers or designated professionals of predecessor firms who are involved in the audit of a Canadian reporting issuer should sign the Rule 213 – Consent & Agreement form and the Rule 214 – Agreement & Release form on behalf of the continuing firm.
  9. The continuing firm should submit a letter certifying compliance with Rules 213 & 214.
  1. Update the firm's information on CPAB's website to reflect the new firm name and the former name in brackets.
  2. Submit two new Participation Agreements under the new firm name.
  3. Submit a new certificate of compliance with Rules 213 and 214 under new firm name.
  4. PCAOB registrants should submit a Consent and Agreement – Section 7 form.
If your firm has recently applied, the firm profile will remain locked while we review it. If you have forgotten your password or Firm ID, please visit Forgot Your Password? or Forgot Your Firm ID? For further assistance, please contact the Registration Administrator.

*The information in the firm profiles is prepared and maintained by, and is the sole responsibility of, the Participating Audit Firm to which it relates. Any questions pertaining to this information should be addressed to the Participating Audit Firm. CPAB makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of this information, and accepts no responsibility for any loss or damages suffered as a result of decisions made or actions taken based on the information therein.