Canadian Public Accountability Board censures Mississauga accounting firm Clearhouse LLP

TORONTO, July 20, 2025 – After easing restrictions on three accounting firms, the Canadian Public Accountability Board has censured its first accounting firm of the year. CPAB has publicly censured Clearhouse LLP, an accounting firm based in Mississauga, Ontario, and restricted the firm’s access to new audit clients, according to the CPAB enforcement action. 

Clearhouse is “prohibited from accepting new high and moderate risk reporting issuers including those resulting from initial public offerings, reverse takeovers or other transactions. An existing private company audit client seeking to become a reporting issuer through initial public offering, reverse takeover or other transaction is considered a new reporting issuer for the purposes of this restriction.” 

While Clearhouse is the first firm to publicly censured this year, CPAB has modified restrictions against three previously censured accounting firms: Smythe LLP, which is based in Vancouver; Dale Matheson Carr-Hilton LaBonte LLP, which has four offices in British Columbia; and PKF Antares Professional Corporation, Chartered Professional Accountants, which is based in Calgary, Alberta. 

In early 2023, CPAB began publishing on its website the names of firms that are subject to significant enforcement actions, imposed as a consequence of an inspection. The public can access documentation identifying all firms currently under some type of restriction on the type of audits it may conduct. 

As reported by Canadian Accountant, after years of industry consultation, government relations and media coverage, CPAB will publish individual, “firm-specific” public inspection reports, commencing with 2025 inspections, with publication beginning in the first quarter of 2026. As the Globe and Mail wrote succinctly, “The country’s top audit regulator is going to start naming names.” 

CPAB remedial actions are now in effect at Clearhouse

Clearhouse, which was founded in 2013, has experienced rapid growth in recent years while maintaining a commitment to employee engagement. According to Business View, the firm began as a “two-man project” in 2013, prior to beginning its growth phase. In 2020, the firm formed as Clearhouse through the merger of SDVC LLP, Huron Partners LLP, and Pinnacle Valuation Group. Today, at its current location in Mississauga, the firm has four partners and more than 50 employees. 

In 2020, as reported by Canadian Accountant, Clearhouse came in second place among regional and local accounting firms for the number of new public company clients it added. According to Audit Analytics, Clearhouse gained 11 new engagements, without any departures, and the total market capitalization of its new engagements and new audit fees was good for 16th and 12th place respectively among Canadian accounting firms. 

The firm was selected as one of Canada’s Top Growing Companies by the Globe and Mail’s annual Report on Business ranking in both 2023 and 2024. Earlier this month, Discover Estevan, an online news website in Estevan, Saskatchewan, reported that Clearhouse made a presentation to local councillors involving a property tax valuation error of one of their clients, a hotel owner and operator. 

CPAB, in its 2025 enforcement action, states that the firm is required to “implement a variety of measures aimed at improving audit quality,” including the appointment of an external “engagement quality reviewer,” professional education and training, in-depth review of portfolio allocations, and a review of the firm’s system of quality management. 

“Each enforcement action imposed on the Firm shall continue until CPAB has carried out a follow-up inspection and the Firm has, to CPAB’s satisfaction, implemented each of the enforcement actions imposed and has demonstrated a sustained improvement in audit quality.” 

Colin Ellis is a contributing editor to Canadian Accountant.