Canada Sustainability Reporting Regulation
Canadian regulators are paying more attention to businesses’ sustainability reporting. The Canadian Securities Administrator (CSA) issued their proposed draft climate-related disclosure (NI 51-107) rule in October 2021. And the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) issued its final Guideline B-15, Climate Risk Management in March 2023.
The good news for Canadian companies is the current and proposed sustainability reporting requirements are built on the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) foundation, which forms the basis for many voluntary reports, as can be seen in the illustration below.
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Who’s impacted?
CSA NI 51-107: Venture and non-venture issuers
OSFI Guideline B-15: All federally regulated financial institutions, except foreign bank branches
What’s the latest?
On December 18, 2024, the CSA provided an update on the climate-related disclosure project following the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board’s (CSSB) publication of its final Canadian Sustainability Disclosure Standard (CSDS) 1 and CSDS 2. The CSA confirmed its intention to publish a revised rule for public comment that will consider the CSSB Standards and may include modifications considered appropriate for the Canadian capital markets.
On March 7, 2025, OSFI updated its Guideline B-15 on climate-related disclosures. Key revisions to Chapter 2, Annex 2-2 include the implementation date for disclosing Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions to align with the CSSB standards, now set for fiscal year 2028. In addition, OSFI announced it will hold a consultation later in the year on the disclosure expectations of greenhouse gas emissions from off-balance sheet assets under management.
What do Canadian CPAs need to know?
While neither the IFRS Sustainability Standards or the CSDS are mandatory in Canada right now, the signals from the CSA are that they intend to adopt certain provisions from the standards to support climate-related disclosure.
OSFI’s climate-related regulation, B-15 is already in force and is requiring certain federally regulated financial institutions to report beginning in 2024.
It is not just companies that are regulated by the CSA or OSFI that will be impacted. These regulations may require certain disclosures pertaining to the regulated entity’s value chain, which means companies that sit within the value chain of a regulated entity may be asked to provide information to the regulated entity. Refer to our article, Why Businesses Can’t Ignore Sustainability for more information.
Where can I learn more?
For more information, please refer to our At a Glance: Sustainability Reporting Standards and Regulations and related FAQs.
You can also refer to:
CSA Announcement, March 13, 2024
CSA Announcement, December 18, 2024
OSFI’s Letter to Industry – We are Updating Guideline B-15 for the Final CSSB Standards