Browser not supportedToday in Montréal, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, joined by the Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, the Honourable Pascale St-Onge, announced the inauguration of the Montréal office of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), an initiative of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation.
The IFRS Foundation’s selection of Montréal is an opportunity for Canada to be at the forefront of global sustainability governance, and is a testament to Canada’s strong sustainable finance ecosystem and successful track record of hosting multilateral institutions.
Through this new Montréal office, the ISSB will focus on climate-reporting as its initial priority, and develop new global sustainability standards to improve the global financial services sector and to help accelerate the leveraging of private capital that will be required to support the green transition here in Canada and around the world.
As announced in Budget 2022, the Government of Canada is investing $8 million over three years to support the creation of the ISSB’s Montréal office through Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions. This support will include the costs of operating the ISSB Montréal office for a period of three years, as well as the first year’s installation costs.
This investment to establish the ISSB’s Montréal office builds on the significant industry and public sector funding from across Canada that helped to bring the ISSB to Canada. A coalition of more than 55 Canadian public and private institutions have pledged tens of millions of dollars, including the federal government’s contribution, toward the project.
Quotes
“We are thrilled to be launching the ISSB’s new office in Montréal – one that was made possible by the hard work and funding from dozens of Canadian public and private institutions. This new office will advance Canada’s role as a leader in sustainable finance, and help ensure Canada is at the centre of the ongoing global transition to net-zero.”
“Our government and Montréal International have been working hand in hand for many years now. This organization’s contribution to promoting Greater Montréal on the international scene and propelling the economic recovery forward is essential. We are delighted to see the International Sustainability Standards Board open a centre in Montréal. Businesses and organizations in the metropolis will now be able to report on opportunities and risks related to the environment and sustainable development. This project is a key component of our government’s ambitious environmental goals in response to the climate change crisis.”
Quick Facts
- The IFRS Foundation is a not-for-profit, public interest organization established to develop a single set of high-quality, understandable, enforceable, and globally accepted financial accounting and sustainability standards that bring transparency to financial information and enable investors and other market participants to make informed economic decisions. IFRS financial accounting standards are currently required in more than 140 jurisdictions and permitted in many more.
- In September 2020, the IFRS Foundation announced its intent to create a new sustainability standards board in its Consultation Paper on Sustainability Reporting.
- Since then, the Government of Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Champions for Global Sustainability Standards coalition, advocated for the selection of Canada as the location of the new ISSB initiative.
- On July 23, 2021, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance formalized Canada’s request to host the ISSB in a letter to the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the IFRS Foundation on behalf of the Government of Canada and a coalition of more than 55 Canadian public and private institutions.
- In November 2021, following an announcement at COP26 in Glasgow, the federal government welcomed the IFRS Foundation’s selection of Montréal to host one of the two centres of the new International Sustainability Standards Board announced at that time.