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Headnote
NP 11-203 – decision exempting the Filer from the requirement in s. 3.1 of NI 52-107 that financial statements be prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP for so long as the Filer prepares its financial statements in accordance with IFRS-IASB – for financial periods beginning on or after January 1, 2010 –Filer must provide specified disclosure regarding change to IFRS-IASB – if the Filer files interim financial statements prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP in the year that the Filer adopts IFRS-IASB, those interim financial statements must be restated using IFRS-IASB - Filer wishes to change to IFRS-IASB to reduce the complexity of its financial statement preparation process
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## Applicable Legislative Provisions
National Instrument 52-107 Acceptable Accounting Principles, Auditing Standards and Reporting Currency, s. 3.1.
## Addendum
N/A.
May 15, 2009
**In the Matter of**
the Securities Legislation of
Ontario (the Jurisdiction)
**and**
**In the Matter of**
the Process for Exemptive Relief Applications in Multiple Jurisdictions
**and**
**In the Matter of**
Brookfield Renewable Power Inc. (the Filer)
---
# Decision
## Background
The principal regulator in the Jurisdiction has received an application from the Filer for a decision under the securities legislation of the Jurisdiction of the principal regulator (the Legislation) exempting the Filer from the requirement in section 3.1 of National Instrument 52-107 Acceptable Accounting Principles, Auditing Standards and Reporting Currency (NI 52-107) that financial statements be prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP, for financial periods beginning on or after January 1, 2010 (the Exemption Sought), for so long as the Filer prepares its financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IFRS-IASB).
Under the Process for Exemptive Relief Applications in Multiple Jurisdictions (for a passport application):
(a) the Ontario Securities Commission is the principal regulator for this application, and
(b) the Filer has provided notice that section 4.7(1) of Multilateral Instrument 11-102 Passport System (MI 11-102) is intended to be relied upon in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Yukon and the Nunavut Territory (the Passport Jurisdictions).
## Interpretation
Terms defined in National Instrument 14-101 Definitions and MI 11-102 have the same meaning if used in this decision, unless otherwise defined.
## Representations
This decision is based on the following facts represented by the Filer:
1. The Filer is a corporation amalgamated under the [Business Corporations Act](https://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/stat/rso-1990-c-b16/latest/rso-1990-c-b16.html) (Ontario) pursuant to articles of amalgamation dated March 31, 2008. The head office of the Filer is located at Brookfield Place, 181 Bay Street, Suite 300, P.O. Box 762, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2T3.
2. The Filer is a reporting issuer or equivalent in the Jurisdiction and each of the Passport Jurisdictions. The Filer is not, to its knowledge, in default of its reporting issuer obligations under the Legislation or the securities legislation of the Passport Jurisdictions.
3. The Filer has issued debt to the public, the holders of which are protected pursuant to the terms of a trust indenture under which the debt was issued.
4. The Filer develops and operates hydro-electric, wind and other power generating facilities in Canada, the United States and Brazil. The Filer has approximately $7 billion in assets.
5. The Filer is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM), which is a reporting issuer or equivalent in the Jurisdiction and each of the Passport Jurisdictions. BAM’s securities are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange and the Euronext Amsterdam Exchange. BAM is also a registrant with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and a foreign private issuer in the United States.
6. BAM has received an exemption from the requirement in section 3.1 of NI 52-107 that financial statements be prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP, for financial periods beginning on or after January 1, 2009, for so long as BAM prepares its financial statements in accordance with IFRS-IASB. BAM intends to begin preparing its financial statements in accordance with IFRS-IASB for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2010.
7. The Canadian Accounting Standards Board has confirmed that publicly accountable enterprises will be required to prepare their financial statements in accordance with IFRS-IASB for interim and annual financial statements relating to fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2011.
8. NI 52-107 sets out acceptable accounting principles for financial reporting under the Legislation by domestic issuers, foreign issuers, registrants and other market participants. Under NI 52-107, a domestic issuer must use Canadian GAAP with the exception that an SEC registrant may use US GAAP. Under NI 52-107, only foreign issuers may use IFRS-IASB.
9. In CSA Staff Notice 52-321 Early Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards, Use of US GAAP and Reference to IFRS-IASB, staff of the Canadian Securities Administrators recognized that some issuers may wish to prepare their financial statements in accordance with IFRS-IASB for periods beginning prior to January 1, 2011 and indicated that staff were prepared to recommend exemptive relief on a case by case basis to permit a domestic issuer to do so, despite Section 3.1 of NI 52-107.
10. Subject to obtaining the Exemption Sought, the Filer intends to adopt IFRS-IASB effective January 1, 2010 for its financial statements for periods beginning on and after January 1, 2010.
11. The Filer believes that the adoption of IFRS-IASB for financial periods beginning on or after January 1, 2010 would be in the best interests of the Filer and users of its financial information for a number of reasons, including the following:
(a) it will align the basis of accounting under which the Filer prepares its financial statements with the basis of accounting under which BAM intends to prepare its financial statements for financial periods beginning on or after January 1, 2010;
(b) it will result in financial information that will more accurately represent the Filer’s results of operations and financial position, in particular because IFRS-IASB’s greater use of fair value in conjunction with the Filer being an owner and operator of long-life assets that predominately appreciate over time rather than depreciate systematically will result in the carrying value of the Filer’s assets and its tax balances more closely aligning to their economic values;
(c) a number of global issuers in the power generation industry prepare financial statements in accordance with IFRS-IASB, which could increase the comparability of the Filer’s financial results to those issuers; and
(d) it will reduce the administrative burden and risk involved in preparing its consolidated financial statements and reporting to BAM if both reporting requirements are in accordance with IFRS-IASB.
12. The Filer is implementing a comprehensive IFRS-IASB conversion plan.
13. The Filer has carefully assessed the readiness of its staff, board of directors, audit committee, auditor, investors and other market participants to address the Filer’s adoption of IFRS-IASB for financial periods beginning on January 1, 2010 and has concluded that they will be adequately prepared to address the Filer’s adoption of IFRS-IASB for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2010.
minicounsel