Financial Statement Effects of Adopting IFRS: The Canadian Experience

Abstract

This study investigates whether mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Canada resulted in capital market benefits from enhanced financial reporting quality. We examine the effects of implementing IFRS for financial statements of the largest Canadian firms (S&P/TSX 60) listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). We compare accounting numbers reported under pre-changeover Canadian GAAP (CGAAP) with those under IFRS for the same period, and document how IFRS adoption changes key accounting measures and financial ratios. Significant accounting standard differences between two accounting frameworks having direct impact on financial measures in transition to IFRS are analyzed. Our analysis was also separately performed for companies representing Basic Materials and Energy and the Financial Services sectors because of the large concentration of companies engaged in these industries in our sample, finding that significant effects of adopting IFRS are associated with industry practices. The empirical results show that the adoption of IFRS in Canada improved the relevancy of financial reporting as gauged by the association between book value of equity and net income with the market value of company shares in the post-adoption periods. The study should be of interest to U.S. regulators considering IFRS adoption by U.S. publicly traded companies as well as to regulators, standard setters and listed companies in all countries worldwide that are in transition to IFRS.

Keywords: IFRS Adoption, Canadian Companies, Financial Statement Effects, Value Relevance