WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/WPDR/W/13
16 March 2001
(01-1306)
Working Party on Domestic Regulation Original:  English
COMMUNICATION FROM CANADA
Disciplines on Domestic Regulation for Professional Services
Results of Consultations with Professional Sectors
The following communication has been received from the delegation of Canada with the
request that it be circulated to the Members of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation.
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I. INTRODUCTION
1. This paper outlines the results of consultations held to date with Canadian national
professional organizations regarding the relevance and applicability of the Disciplines on Domestic
Regulation in the Accountancy Sector.  The organizations consulted represent the engineering,
architecture, real estate appraisal, urban planning, legal and land surveying professions. Consultationswith the latter two groups are stil l on-going and results will be reported at a later date. A short
description of the organizations involved in the cons ultations is included as an annex to this report.
II. METHODOLOGY
2. Consultations were conducted on the basis of a questionnaire which took into account the
elements of the accountancy disciplines (general obligations, transparency, licensing requirements,
licensing procedures, qualification requirements, qua lification procedures and technical standards). As
well, some additional elements related to consultation and prior notification in the regulatory
development process were included. Follow-up interviews with some professions were conducted to
clarify and obtain additional information on the results received.
3. The organizations were asked to assess the relevance and applicability of each of the
disciplines; whether the requirements are currently applied; whether they could be adopted if notcurrently applied; and, to explain the reasons why they were not deemed relevant or applicable.
III. SUMMARY
4. As reported orally in the past two WPDR meet ings, the four professional groups were of the
view that the accountancy disciplines were relevant and generally applicable to their respective
profession. They noted that changes and additions may be required to reflect the specificcharacteristics of their profession. In regard to possible provisions related to consultation and prior
notification requirements, the engineering, architectural and real estate professions reported that
mechanisms were currently in place, either intern ally within the provincial regulatory bodies (web
sites, publications, professional journals) or as part of their respective provincial legislative process
(Gazette notices) to allow interested parties/individuals to provide input. The urban planners reportedS/WPDR/W/13
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an interest to facilitate the possibility to allow interested parties to provide comment on new/proposed
changes.
IV. FINDINGS
5. No specific elements of the accountancy disciplines were found to be irrelevant to their
current practices or non-applicable in general to their respective profession. A number of  points wereraised for clarification purposes and others for possible consideration for the development of
disciplines for these professions. These include:
- consumer protection and the integrity of the profession must be recognized as
paramount considerations in regulating the profession;
- less trade restrictive means can be employed as alternatives to residency requirements
such as collaboration requirements with local practitioners and the development oftemporary or project specific licensing regimes;
- mechanisms to deal with professional misconduct in the cross-border context should
be considered in the development of disciplines or included as part of mutual
recognition agreements;
- account should be taken of the work of relevant international professional
organizations. As regards the architectural profession in particular, L’ Union
Internationale des Architectes’ (UIA ) Accord on Recommended International
Standards of Professionalism in Architectural Practice should be examined by the
WPDR since the Accord addresses issues beyond those included in the accountancy
disciplines;
- reliance on international services standards, where they currently exist, may not be
adequate as domestic requirements may be higher; and
- one profession noted concerns in accepting authenticated copies over originals due to
the proliferation of fraudulent documents.S/WPDR/W/13
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ANNEX
Canadian Professional Organizations
Committee of Canadian Architectural Councils
The Committee of Canadian Architectural Councils (CCAC) is comprised of representatives from
each of the ten autonomous provincial associations of architects. The CCAC facilitates and
coordinates the development of national policies and standards for admission to the profession along
with provincial licensing authorities. The Committee also represents the profession on regulatory
matters in the international arena.
For more information refer to:  http://www.raic.org
Canadian Council of Professional Engineers
The Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE) is the national organization of the 12
provincial and territorial associations/ordre that regulate the practice of engineering in Canada andlicense the country’s 157,000 professional engineers. CCPE serves the associations/ordre, which are
its constituent and sole members, by delivering national programs that ensure the highest standards of
engineering education, professional qualifications and ethical conduct.
For more information refer to:  http://www.ccpe.ca/ccpe.cfm
The Appraisal Institute of Canada
The Appraisal Institute of Canada is the national society of professional real estate appraisers. The
Institute is dedicated to serving the public interest  through continually advancing high standards for
the appraisal profession by granting use of the CRA (Canadian Residential Appraiser) and AACI
(Accredited Appraiser Canadian Institute) designations.
The Institute has more than 4,500 members across Canada. Designated members provide reasoned
valuations, widely respected by the courts, real estate corporations, chartered banks, trust companies,
mortgage lending institutions, all levels of government and private individuals.
For more information refer to: http://www.aicanada.org/
Canadian Council of Land Surveyors
The Canadian Council of Land Surveyors (CCLS) is a federation of nine provincial associations
and one federal association representing the disciplines of cadastral, geodetic, hydrographic,photogrammetric surveying and geographic inform ation management. The object of CCLS is to
promote and advance the science and art of land surveying and the knowledge of land surveyors in
connection with the practice of the profession. CCLS is a project-oriented organization taking on
initiatives of interest to surveyors and surveying which are national and international in scope.
For more information refer to: http://www.ccls-ccag.ca/
Federation of Law Societies of Canada
The Federation of Law Societies of Canada is the umbrella organization of  thirteen governing bodies
of the legal profession in Canada, each of which is completely independent. Historically, theFederation was a vehicle through which the governing bodies exchanged information. In more recent
years, the governing bodies have agreed that there are areas where the Federation can, and should,
take a leading role in matters that have national a nd international scope. As a result of that, the work
of the Federation has increased substantially in recent years. The Federation continually addresses aS/WPDR/W/13
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number of issues associated with the legal profes sion in Canada including multi-disciplinary practice,
GATS and the WTO, copyright of legal materials, national continuing legal education programs, legal
aid, mobility and regulation of lawyers in Canada and internationally.
For more information refer to: http://www.flsc.ca/
Canadian Bar Association
The Canadian Bar Association is a professional, voluntary organization which represents some 36,000
lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada. Approximately
two-thirds of all practising lawyers in Canada belong to the CBA. The CBA is the essential ally and
advocate of all members of the legal profession; it is the voice of and for all members of theprofession and its primary purpose is to serve its members; it is the   premier provider of personal and
professional development and support to all members of the legal profession; it promotes fair justice
systems, facilitates effective law reform, promotes equality in the legal profession and is devoted to
the elimination of discrimination; the CBA is a le ading edge organization committed to enhancing the
professional and commercial interests of a diverse membership and to protecting the independence ofthe judiciary and the Bar.
For more information refer to: http://cba.org/
Canadian Institute of Planners
The Canadian Institute of Planners represents and supports professional planners in Canada and is the
national advocate for the growth of healthy, sustainable and liveable communities created through
effective planning. Since its inception, the Canadian Institute of Planners has gained awareness and
credibility as the national voice for planners and planning. The organization has been instrumental inpointing out the importance and relevancy of planni ng. CIP Councils, over the years, have succeeded
in pulling together a diverse group of professionals by providing a federated approach over issues that
transcend national, provincial, regional and local boundaries. The Institute's values are reflected by its
actions including the initiatives, welcoming change , maintaining professional ethics, believing in
process and lending perseverance to a cause.
For more information refer to: http://www.cip-icu.ca/
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