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Using the Canada Audit Opinions database
Who is this article for?
Users who want to learn about the Canada Audit Opinions database.
No special access or permissions are required.
The Audit Analytics Canada Audit Opinion database covers all auditor reports on financial statements of Canadian public companies, enabling you to search opinions, track going concerns, understand auditor relationships, and identify tenure patterns.
1. Understanding common uses
The Canada Audit Opinions database supports several key use cases:
- Search opinions by auditor and going concern modification
- Track going concerns year-over-year
- Understand trends in auditor relationships
- Benchmark the number of clients per engagement partner
- Identify long auditor and client tenure relationships
The database is available online, through WRDS, and through data feeds (Feed62 – SEDAR Audit Opinions) with the relevant subscription. Saved Search Alert functionality is available, but Daily Summary Email is not supported.
2. Understanding collection methodology
The database collects data from auditor reports on financial statements as required by Section 4.1 of National Instrument 51-102: Comparative Annual Financial Statements and Auditor's Report. From each opinion, the system extracts the audit firm, city, partner names, and opinion signature date.
Currencies are converted from the reporting currency using the exchange rate as of the corresponding event date (Market Cap Rate, Revenue Date, Assets Date, or fiscal year end, as applicable).
Data is sourced from the following form types: annual report, interim financial statements/report, MD&A, MD&A (amended), audited annual financial statements, audited annual financial statements (amended), management information circular, filing statement, revised annual report on Form 10-K, annual report on Form 20-F, annual information form, final long form prospectus – English, and preliminary long form prospectus – English.
Note: In August 2024, several fields were modified due to a change in source data. Industry Key and Industry Description were deprecated, whilst Business Phone, Business Fax, and Contact Fax were replaced by two new fields: Phone and Fax.
3. Searching the database
The Canada Audit Opinion search page offers multiple filters to refine your search criteria and locate specific audit opinions.
| Name | Description | Data Dictionary Field(s) | Sort By? |
| Filter by Auditor | Filter by opinions for a specific auditor or group of auditors | Auditor Name Auditor Key | Yes |
| Search by Issuer Numbers or Tickers | Filter results to a specific population | Issuer Number CIK Code Ticker | Yes |
| Additional Opinion | Filters for records where there are additional opinions for the same period by the same auditor | N/A | No |
| Search Opinion Text | Search for text containing keyword | N/A | No |
| Market Index | Filter by SEDAR Market Indices | Current TSX Issuer Current TSXV Issuer | No |
| Fiscal Year | Filter by fiscal year end of opinion | Opinion Fiscal Year | Yes |
| Currency | Filter by representing currency | N/A | No |
| Market Cap (CAD) | Filter by a range of companies’ market caps | CAD Market Cap | Yes |
| Revenue (CAD) | Filter by a range of companies’ revenue | CAD Total Revenue (MRFY) | Yes |
| Assets (CAD) | Filter by total assets as of asset date | CAD Total Assets | Yes |
| Audit Fees (CAD) | Filter by a range of companies’ reported audit fees | CAD Audit Fees | Np |
| Filter by Industry | Filter by companies’ industry(s) | NAICS Code | No |
| Company Location | Filter by current business address location(s) | Bus City Bus State Bus Country Bus Code | No |
| Auditor Location | Filter by auditor location | Auditor City Auditor State Auditor State Name | No |
| Fiscal Year Ended | Filter by a range of opinions to return on fiscal year ended date | Month Ended (Ideal) Year Ended (Ideal) | No |
| Signature Date | Filter by a range of opinions to return on auditor signature dates | Signature Date | No |
| File Date | Filter by a range of dates on which source filing was submitted to SEDAR | Filing date | Yes |
| Going Concern | Indicates whether there is a going concern in opinion or not | Going Concern | No |
| KAMs Disclosed | Filter by range of Key Audit Matters disclosed in opinion | N/A | No |
4. Viewing and exporting results
Results appear at the bottom of the search page. You can access the following through the respective hyperlinks:
- Canada Audit Opinions Data Dictionary download
- CSV file downloads of the results
- Overview of individual companies' profile
- Auditor profiles
All fields available in the CSV exports are defined in the Data Dictionary.