Advancing Sustainability Reporting: Canadian Standards Aligned with Global Framework

On March 13, the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) released its first proposed Canadian Sustainability Disclosure Standards (CSDS). This is recognized as a significant step towards making progress on sustainability reporting in Canada. The primary objective is to align with the global baseline standards developed by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), while also incorporating adjustments tailored to address Canadian-specific reporting needs. This ensures that Canadian disclosures maintain a level of consistency and comparability with their international counterparts. The Standards aim to ensure that organizations are not merely or solely communicating their sustainability performance but also to encourage more meaningful sustainable action.

Some of these changes include the following:

· changes to application dates.

· inclusion of transition relief periods for several requirements, such as those on climate-resiliency assessment and scope 3 GHG emissions. These transitional measures are intended to accommodate the relative novelty of scenario-analysis methodologies among Canadian reporting entities and to address the existing measurement uncertainties surrounding scope 3 GHG emissions.

The CSSB is inviting comments and feedback from all interested parties as part of a public consultation process, with submissions due by June 10, 2024.