Christine Sawchuk
Shaping Tomorrow’s Valuation Profession: CBV Institute on Standards, Skills, and Global Collaboration
A long-standing Sponsor of the IVSC, CBV Institute plays an important role in advancing high-quality, principles-based business valuation practice in Canada and globally. Led by Christine Sawchuk, President & CEO, the Institute oversees the CBV designation, delivers a rigorous programme of education and professional development, and engages widely with regulators, professional bodies, and valuation organisations around the world.
In this Q&A, Christine outlines the Institute’s strategic priorities, its work on standards and thought leadership, and its collaboration with other valuation professional organisations, including the IVSC. She also shares insights on emerging trends—from intangible assets and ESG to technology and talent development—and what these developments mean for the future of the valuation profession.
As President and CEO, you’ve led CBV Institute through a period of change and opportunity. What strategic priorities are shaping its direction today?
Our strategic priorities are really focused on positioning the CBV profession for the future of value. That means three things:
First, ensuring professional excellence by upholding rigorous education, standards, and practice oversight so that CBVs continue to be trusted experts. Second, driving relevance and visibility by raising awareness of the CBV designation and the business valuation profession as a whole, and expanding how and where business valuation expertise is applied, including in emerging areas like ESG, intangibles, and data-driven business models. And third, strengthening our global connections – working with other valuation professional organizations (VPOs) around the world and with the IVSC to align practice and professionalism standards and ensure CBVs remain an essential part of a cohesive, global business valuation community.
Our direction is about reinforcing credibility, expanding influence, and ensuring CBVs are equipped for the next generation of valuation challenges and opportunities. We actively monitor all emerging issues and ensure that our strategy and operations appropriately support our Members, Students, and other stakeholders in working through them. We continuously update our program of studies, our continuing professional development activities, and our standards to ensure that they are relevant and timely; and we are ensuring that relevant parties such as tax authorities, government, regulators, the legal profession, continue to recognize the vital role that business valuators have in supporting a stable market and economy.
”Our work is about reinforcing credibility, expanding influence, and ensuring CBVs are equipped for the next generation of valuation challenges.
CBV Institute recently launched a public consultation on new Intangible Asset Valuation Guidelines in partnership with several global valuation organisations. Why is this initiative significant, and how will it improve consistency and confidence in valuing intangibles worldwide?
Globally, 75–90% of enterprise value now comes from intangible assets such as IP, data, and technology, yet these are often valued inconsistently across jurisdictions. The Guidelines build on IVS 2025, offering supplementary best-practice guidance in nine areas, including risk assessment, royalty rate determination, and disclosure.
This initiative, jointly developed by CBV Institute, ASA, RICS, and IVAS, was shaped by input from investors, lenders, IP practitioners, and valuation professionals worldwide. By bringing greater structure and clarity to intangible asset valuation, the Guidelines aim to reduce subjectivity, foster transparency and credibility, and strengthen investor confidence, supporting licensing, financing, and transactions globally.
This summer, CBV Institute joined several other valuation professional organizations in releasing joint guidance to help valuers respond to ESG information requests. How will this support business valuation professionals in addressing ESG-related risks and opportunities?
With new regulatory and corporate reporting requirements such as IFRS S1 and S2, entities will soon disclose far more information on ESG factors, providing business valuation professionals with richer data to assess risk, opportunity, and value. By thoughtfully integrating ESG considerations into their analyses, valuators can produce more robust and relevant valuations that meet evolving stakeholder expectations.
The goal of the joint guidance was to expand on IVS 2025’s ESG-related requirements and help professionals efficiently identify and analyze ESG information within a harmonized, principles-based framework. This promotes consistency and transparency in how ESG factors influence business value ultimately strengthening decision-making and building confidence among investors, regulators, and the broader market.
Christine joins a Valuation Leaders’ panel at the IVSC AGM Advisory Forum in New Delhi.
How does CBV Institute ensure that its professional standards and the CBV designation continue to meet and exceed the evolving expectations of markets, and business public, regulators, and global best practices?
Our Professional Practice and Standards Committee (PPSC) is very active, meeting regularly to ensure that our practice standards, interpretation bulletins, and guidance strike the right balance of protecting the public interest and supporting Members in their work. We recently updated our domestic Valuation Practice Standards following extensive stakeholder consultation to ensure that they remain best in class. Like the IVS, our domestic standards are principles-based, allowing them to apply broadly and remain relevant over time.
CBV Institute maintains regular dialogue with securities regulators, accounting bodies, and other stakeholders to stay attuned to market needs and emerging issues. Many CBVs also serve on IVSC boards and working groups, helping shape global standards, share Canadian insights, and stay informed about international developments.
Importantly, CBV Institute is one of the only self-regulating valuation organizations to operate a proactive Practice Inspection Program, ensuring compliance and consistency in applying standards. The Institute also follows a robust disciplinary process to investigate complaints and uphold professional integrity.
”We fully support leveraging technology to improve efficiencies, but critical thought and professional judgment remain essential.
The CBV designation is recognised for its rigour and credibility. How is CBV Institute evolving its education and training to prepare the next generation of valuation professionals?
The goal of our Program of Studies is to ensure Registered Students develop the knowledge and skills needed to meet employer and market demands. The Institute continuously reviews and updates course content to keep it timely, relevant, and best in class, balancing strong theoretical foundations with practical case studies and assessments. Emerging topics such as AI, financial instruments, industry-specific issues, private credit, and ESG are integrated as they evolve, while maintaining focus on the core fundamentals of business valuation that underpin critical thought, sound analysis, and judgment.
In developing continuing professional development (CPD), we monitor the needs of business owners, investors, professionals, and regulators in Canada and globally to ensure relevance and impact. Course materials from our Program of Studies are also made available free to Members, providing a comprehensive library of valuation resources.
Across all educational offerings, we continually look for ways to make content more accessible and engaging, often partnering with external organizations to leverage their expertise and strengthen our programs.
Collaboration is a cornerstone of CBV Institute’s work, both nationally and internationally. How does CBV Institute engage with global organisations, including IVSC, to elevate the profession worldwide?
Collaboration is one of our corporate values! We are committed to working with other VPOs, professional bodies, regulators, and standards setters around the world so that the best minds are around the table debating and discussing technical and professional topics. We firmly believe that collaboration not only elevates each organization individually, but is extremely beneficial for the global business valuation profession as a whole.
In addition to collaborating and participating with other VPOs and the IVSC (CBVs sit on many of the IVSC’s boards) on initiatives and at events, CBV Institute also collaborates with regulators and other professional bodies. CBV Institute recently collaborated with the Canadian Public Accountability Board on a paper that investigates the role of valuation experts and other key individuals in the financial reporting ecosystem.
Technology and data analytics are reshaping valuation practice. How is CBV Institute helping its members harness these tools responsibly and effectively?
CBV Institute formed its AI Working Group in 2023 to gather input as to the technologies that valuation professionals are seeing and using in practice. In 2024, the Institute was the first business valuation organization to release guidance for Members on the appropriate use of AI in engagements. The guidance emphasized the importance of exercising informed professional judgment and critical thought in all work, regardless of the tools being used. In 2025, a companion piece was published, which provided additional information on the use of generative AI in business valuation. In addition, the Institute has provided regular updates to Members with practical tips and has had numerous CPD sessions that addressed the topic.
While we fully support leveraging technology to improve efficiencies, particularly at data gathering and analysis stages, we want to ensure that our Members and Students know that critical thought, professional judgement, and assessment of data inputs and outputs are essential regardless of the technologies used. As such, we are currently updating our Code of Ethics to address issues around the increasing use of data and AI in valuation work.
”Valuators must increasingly demonstrate their unique human strengths of judgment, context, and insight.
Looking ahead over the next 1-3 years, what do you see as the greatest opportunities, and the biggest challenges, for the business valuation profession?
Some of the biggest challenges facing the valuation profession are also its greatest opportunities.
The economy is increasingly driven by data and intangible assets, which are complex and difficult to measure using traditional valuation approaches. Business valuators must adapt approaches to capture the value of these assets, but this also positions them to lead in defining how intangibles are measured and integrated into decision-making, reinforcing their role as trusted advisors to boards, investors, and regulators.
Stakeholders are demanding greater transparency around assumptions, bias, and factors like ESG. This raises the bar for consistency, credibility, and communication, but ultimately builds greater trust in the profession.
AI and automation are transforming how data is gathered and analyzed. While they create efficiencies, they also challenge business valuators to increasingly demonstrate their unique human strengths of judgment, context, and insight. This will require changes in the way that students and young professionals are educated and trained – future practitioners must be not only technically strong but also data-literate and business-minded, enabling them to focus on higher-value analytical work.
Finally, valuation is becoming increasingly globalized. Capital markets and businesses operate internationally, requiring valuators to understand international markets, legal environments, and cultural differences. While this adds layers of complexity to a valuator’s work, it creates both opportunities and responsibilities to ensure that the work is credible, comparable, and relevant in a global marketplace. There is already collaboration among valuation professional bodies and the IVSC to harmonize standards and elevate consistency worldwide via the IVS, and there are initiatives ongoing to promote further consistencies in professionalism in the profession around the globe. This collaboration enhances the credibility, mobility, and influence of business valuation professionals around the world.