The Award Committee is pleased to announce that Professor Irene Wiecek has been selected as the 2022 recipient of the George Baxter Award for Outstanding Contributions to the CAAA.

Professor Wiecek’s contributions to committees and dedication to the CAAA’s mission spans over two decades. In 2002, she served on the CAAA Liaison/Membership Committee and continued in this role for five years. She also chaired the CAAA CICA Exposure Draft Response Committee from 2002-2010, served on the CAAA Special Education Research Grant Committee in 2018, and since 2016 has been serving on the editorial board of Accounting Perspective. She has contributed to the CAAA’s annual conference numerous times in a variety of ways, from chairing sessions, participating as a discussant or panel member, and through conference presentations. She has discussed a wide range of critically important and emerging issues concerning the accounting profession, including IFRS adoption, Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies, Big Data and Data Analytics, Professional Judgment and Ethics in a Changing Environment, CPA Competency Map 2.0, continuous learning, standard changes – and the list goes on. The amount of time and efforts she devoted to addressing so many critically important and emerging issues concerning the Canadian accounting educators over two decades is a distinct testament of her dedication to the mission of the CAAA. She has clearly demonstrated a long commitment and service to the CAAA.

Another way to appreciate how Professor Wiecek has helped the CAAA to accomplish its mission is through her long service to CPA Canada, a key constituent and supporter of the CAAA. Professor Wiecek has played many key roles in the development of the accounting profession in Canada, including serving in the CICA Financial Reporting and Governance Committee, as Director of the CICA IFRS Immersion Program, in the CPA Canada Data Governance Committee, and as Acting Chair of the CPA Canada Competency Map Task Force. She is also an internationally recognized expert on the IFRS adoption. Professor Wiecek co-authored two influential publications: the Guide to IFRS in Canada, and 2013 Financial Reporting in Canada under IFRSs. Her most recent efforts focus on assisting CPA Canada in revising the CPA Competency Map to reflect the technological innovations and social trend toward sustainability. She now serves as a core member of the CPA Competency Map Task Force, leading the development of the Competency Map 2.0. As a CAAA member, her numerous contributions to CPA Canada and to the accounting profession in Canada are truly exemplary and inspiring to everyone.

The Award Committee unanimously determined that Professor Irene Wiecek more than meets the criteria of exemplary contributions to the CAAA over a sustained period of time to deserve the 2022 George Baxter Award.

The CAAA L.S. Rosen Outstanding Educator Award committee is very pleased to name Dr. François Brouard of Carleton University as the recipient of its 2022 award.

The committee recognizes Dr. Brouard’s excellence in teaching, his mentorship of students, his prolific publishing record, and his involvement in the accounting profession and his community.

Dr. Brouard is an innovative and visionary educator. Students find his teaching approach rigorous, disciplined, and fun. He has taught a broad range of disciplines from taxation and financial and managerial accounting to research methodology and entrepreneurship. He has taught in both French and English at the Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral levels. In recognition of his teaching excellence, Dr. Brouard has won several awards, including the Sprott Faculty Teaching Award, an award from the Ordre des Comptables Agréés du Québec, and a case-writing award from the Canadian Academic Accounting Association.

Dr. Brouard’s office hours are long, and he welcomes students’ questions, not only about coursework and their professional examinations, but also about their future professional careers. Through his work on the Final Uniform Examination courses and programs over the years, Dr. Brouard has contributed to the success of hundreds of students.

Dr. Brouard has also been very active in curriculum development for both university and non-university courses. He led a committee charged with developing a new entrepreneurship program at Carleton—under his leadership, this committee launched a unique, high-quality program that continues to have a significant, positive impact on the development of entrepreneurs.

Dr. Brouard has written hundreds of cases, teaching notes, and other materials to support his teaching activities. He has published several books, book chapters, and theses in addition to scholarly articles in refereed journals. He successfully holds several grant funds from SSCHRC and other sources.

Dr. Brouard also finds the time to be very active in the community. He has established tax clinics for non-profit organizations staffed by student volunteers. His community involvement and his interest in entrepreneurship led to the establishment of a research centre at Carleton—the Sprott Centre for Social Enterprise—with a mission is to foster teaching and research for the development of social enterprises.

As an accounting academic, Dr. Brouard has had an enormous impact. He was appointed project manager at the Ordre des Comptables Agréés du Québec to contribute to developing a professional education program better adapted to the changing “reality” of the accounting profession. He built a set of competencies expected from newly graduated accounting students. The program has had a significant impact on accounting education in Quebec—all universities have adapted or developed new programs in accordance with these new requirements.

Dr. Brouard has always been an ambassador of the accounting profession. His contributions have been recognized by the Ordre des CPA du Québec, which named him a Fellow CPA. Frequent presentations at top accounting conferences and at many universities speak to the esteem in which he is held within the profession.

In recognition of Dr. Brouard’s exceptional contributions to Canadian accounting education, and to our profession, we are honoured to present him with the CAAA L.S. Rosen Outstanding Educator Award.

Anna Czegledi, Conestoga College, (Chair)
Antonello Callimaci, University du Québec à Montréal
Osama El-Temtamy, Mount Royal University

This submission is a unique, innovative approach to teaching ethics in accounting. The challenge in teaching ethics has always been to bring ethical situations to life, emulating the complexity of the ethical dilemma and the emotions and consequences faced by professional accountants and various stakeholders. This simulation overcomes this obstacle by creating a rich, multi-dimensional activity in which students can become fully immersed in a variety of different roles. Innovative and professional video recordings, simulated emails, and voice messages add to the realism of the scenarios. The simulation creates a protected space where students can feel safe to make their own decisions and take responsibility for them. Through engagement, collaboration, and application, the simulation creates a deep, long-lasting learning experience.

Financial statement analysis is a foundational concept, often covered in a variety of introductory finance and accounting courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. The challenge for educators is achieving a balance between the mechanics of the analysis and its application, deepening the students' understanding of the overall financial health of an organization. This unique and innovative tool resolves this dilemma in an engaging way, teaching the mechanics using detailed explanations, animations, and diagrams in an interactive module that students can complete before class and at their own pace while receiving real-time feedback on their progress. In this way, class time can be freed up for activities in which these concepts are applied to help assess an organization’s financial position.