The Canadian Public Accountability Board Says It Will Focus on the Controls Audit Firms Integrate Into Their Use of Emerging Technologies, and Does Not Certify the Technology

The Canadian Public Accountability Board, CPAB, describes itself as "a leading audit regulator that reinforces public confidence in Canada's capital markets." Its 2025 Annual Report is dated March 2026 on its cover. Parts of it follow, not the whole.

A Human-Led Approach

The report says that in 2025 the largest audit networks accelerated their adoption of sophisticated technological resources, "including the development of AI-enabled tools and agentic AI systems." These innovations, it says, "present opportunities to enhance audit quality and efficiency."

CPAB's oversight activities, the report says, "underscore the importance of maintaining a human-led approach." That approach, in its words, emphasizes the exercise of professional skepticism, supported by robust training, enhanced supervision and review procedures, and comprehensive firm-wide oversight programs "to monitor and respond to these emerging risks."

What CPAB Will Focus On

Looking ahead, the report says CPAB will continue to focus on the controls and processes that audit firms integrate into their use of emerging technologies. As agentic AI systems become more prevalent, it emphasizes the need for strong governance frameworks "that prioritize transparency, explainability and accountability."

"While CPAB's oversight does not include certification or detailed assessment of the underlying technology, CPAB will share observations through ongoing inspections and external outreach," the report says. It encourages firms to maintain open dialogue and promote transparency.

Elsewhere in the Report

Among the year's highlights, CPAB says it further analyzed how audit firms are adapting their approach to the development or acquisition of technology tools that use AI. It also says it led the development of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators' March 2025 technology paper, which included a focus on monitoring the impact of technology on audit quality, building appropriate governance and oversight mechanisms into the use of AI, and "communicating our expectation that the audit firm retains responsibility for judgments made in the audit."

On the firms' systems of quality management, the report says that, as the auditing profession increases its use of AI-enabled tools, CPAB encourages each firm "to assess whether they have evolved their system of quality management to effectively manage firm-level and engagement-level risks." It points to its December 2025 publication on the evolving use of technology in the audit. Firms, it says, "should consider whether they have implemented practices to support responsible and effective implementation of AI-enabled tools."

Among the same highlights, CPAB says it began using generative AI tools to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of some of its processes. In its chart of critical risks, under data security, its listed mitigations include that it "Implemented approved generative artificial intelligence tools with appropriate safeguards to protect the confidentiality of our information."

A leader of an audit firm might ask the next question. When an agentic system does part of the work, what will the firm's file show about it?