4
Report of independent registered public accounting firm
To
the Shareholders and Board of Directors of Cameco Corporation
Opinion on the consolidated financial statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of financial position of Cameco Corporation (the “Company”) as
of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of earnings, comprehensive income, changes in equity
and cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively, the
“consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and its financial performance and its cash
flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with International Financial
Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States)
(“PCAOB”), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022,
based on criteria established in
Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (COSO), and our report dated February 8, 2023 expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the
Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
Basis for opinion
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express
an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the
PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws
and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform
the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material
misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material
misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond
to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the
consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates
made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that
our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical audit matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial
statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit and finance committee and that: (1) relates to
accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging,
subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of a critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the
consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below,
providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Assessment of recoverability of deferred tax assets
As discussed in note 22 to the consolidated financial statements, as of December 31, 2022 the Company has recorded a
deferred tax asset of $984,071,000. The realization of this deferred tax asset is dependent on the generation of future taxable
income in certain jurisdictions during the periods in which the Company’s deferred tax assets are available. Based on
projections of future taxable income over the periods in which the deferred tax assets are available, realization of these
deferred tax assets is probable. As discussed in note 5D, the calculation of income taxes requires the use of judgment and
estimates. The determination of the recoverability of deferred tax assets is dependent on assumptions and judgments
regarding future market conditions and production rates, which can materially impact estimated future taxable income.