Joining the XBRL Voluntary Filing Program

About the voluntary program

Issuers may voluntarily file their XBRL financial statements on SEDAR. XBRL financial statements are not a substitute for financial statements required to be filed under Canadian securities legislation. Issuers must continue to file their financial statements in PDF format as required by the legislation.

This voluntary program has been established to help the Canadian marketplace gain practical knowledge about preparing, filing and using XBRL information, and to help the CSA test and assess the usefulness of XBRL as it considers whether to make filing in XBRL format a requirement. As a result, there is no set period for the voluntary program. The CSA may modify or discontinue the voluntary program at any time.

Participating in the voluntary program

You can participate in the voluntary program by filing your XBRL financial statements on SEDAR according to the requirements and instructions set out below and by providing your contact information to one of the CSA staff working on the voluntary program. We may seek your feedback on your experiences with XBRL.

You do not have to file XBRL financial statements and you can stop participating in the voluntary program at any time.

Preparing XBRL financial statements

XBRL financial statements must include:

  • a statement of financial position
  • a statement of comprehensive income
  • a statement of changes in equity (if applicable)
  • a statement of cash flows  

Audit reports, notes accompanying the financial statements and supporting schedules are optional and may be excluded.

The information which appears in the XBRL financial statements must accurately reflect the underlying information in the corresponding PDF financial statements. Do not delete, change or summarize any of this information when preparing the XBRL financial statements.

If you present your PDF financial statements in Canadian GAAP, you must use the Canadian GAAP taxonomy to prepare your XBRL financial statements. This XBRL taxonomy is available at XBRL Canada’s website.

If you present your PDF financial statements in U.S. GAAP, you must use one of the appropriate U.S. GAAP taxonomies to prepare your XBRL financial statements. 

If you present your PDF financial statements in IFRS, you must use the IFRS taxonomy to prepare your XBRL financial statements.

Format of XBRL submissions

Each XBRL submission must include an XBRL data file and be accompanied by a cover letter as described below.

If you use extensions to create your XBRL financial statements, the XBRL submission must also include the following files: