SUPPORTING STATEMENT: Like many other investors, we examine the ESG reports prepared by our Canadian banks in the hopes of finding accurate, reliable and
comprehensive information. Although some retain audit firms to give a limited assurance as to the quality of the information presented,
we feel it would be appropriate for the Bank to reconsider the assurance level of its report so as to avoid the increasingly common
criticism of greenwashing. According to a recent PwC report, 1 “[in] Canada, only 8% of companies in our analysis subject their sustainability reporting to the same
level of reasonable assurance as their financial statements.” The experts who drafted this report continue, “[l]imited assurance is a
good first step. But it’s only an interim measure in the eyes of regulators and investors. Our Global Investor Survey 2022 explored the
factors that increase confidence in assessing the accuracy of an organization’s sustainability reporting. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of
investors in Canadian companies say reasonable assurance helps. By contrast, only 46% feel the same way about limited assurance –
underscoring the importance of preparing for reasonable assurance and producing investor-grade ESG reporting.”
We believe that reasonable assurance every three years might help reassure all stakeholders as to the quality of the information
disclosed.
“A practitioner can provide two types of assurance engagements: a reasonable assurance engagement or a limited assurance
engagement.
The nature, timing and extent of procedures performed in a limited assurance engagement is limited compared with that necessary
in a reasonable assurance engagement, but is still planned to obtain a level of assurance that is, in the practitioner’s professional
judgment, meaningful.”