In Canada, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants establishes the accounting standards for the private and public sectors and also establishes auditing standards.
Up to now, and even now, there are what we call boards that do this standard-setting. About two to three years ago the Accounting Standards Board decided, for a number of reasons, that it would be appropriate to adopt international standards with some modification for Canadian reality, and the accounting standards were set by the International Accounting Standards Board, which has representatives from various countries around the world. It is a move to recognize the globalization and in capital markets the need, and to set uniform standards internationally. Canada obviously had to be part of that.
Also, I think realistically that it is very difficult and quite onerous to continue to set standards in Canada. So the international accounting standards are being adopted. Those will be adopted generally by all corporations in the private sector, though there will be some distinction made for the smaller owner-operated ones. But anything listed on the stock exchange, for example, will be adopting this IFRS, and all of the larger crown corporations are adopting IFRS.
As for auditing, it's the same thing. In Canada, the Canadian Auditing and Assurance Standards Board is adopting international auditing standards. So all auditors in Canada will be using, from the end of December 2010, international auditing standards. There's a movement across the country to go to these international standards.