The Canadian Public Accountability Board (CPAB) was incorporated in 2003 under the Canada Corporations Act. Its mission is “To contribute to public confidence in the integrity of financial reporting of reporting issuers in Canada by effective regulation and promoting quality, independent auditing.”
CPAB is based in Toronto with operations in Montreal and Vancouver, and industry involvement nationally and internationally. It oversees auditors of Canadian reporting issuers, that is, companies that have raised funds from the Canadian investing public and who, for that reason, must file financial statements with one or more provincial securities commissions. Under the Canadian Securities Administrators Rule 52-108, accounting firms that audit reporting issuers must be participants in CPAB’s oversight program.
In 2008, CPAB delivered two presentations that offer a perspective on professional judgment. First was the May 30, 2008 Presentation to Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA) 2008 Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba by Keith Boocock. Titled "CPAB - Five Years On," it addressed the need for documentation of professional judgment (slide 25), the importance of developing research into professional judgment (slide 46), and a possible area for future study - how to assess and measure professional judgment (slide 49).
The second was the August 7, 2008 Presentation to CICA – SME (Professional Judgment) by Paul Lohnes. Titled "Professional Judgment - A CPAB Perspective," it explained what professional judgment is and referred to the proposed definition in ISA 200 "The application of relevant training, knowledge and experience, within the context provided by auditing, accounting and ethical standards, in making informed decisions about the courses of action that are appropriate in the circumstances of the audit engagement." The presentation also explained why professional judgment is important to CPAB, and then discussed how professional judgment is applied, the importance of consultation, and CPAB's expectations for professional judgments.
