Canadian securities

Canadian securities regulation is managed through laws and agencies established by Canada's 13 provincial and territorial governments. Each province and territory has a securities commission or equivalent authority and its own piece of provincial or territorial legislation.

Unlike any other major federation, Canada does not have a securities regulatory authority at the federal government level. Provincial governments began to establish regulatory agencies in 1912 (in Manitoba), and the Privy Council decided in Lymburn and Mayland, [1932] A.C. 318 that such legislation is authorized under the provincial property and civil rights power.

Notwithstanding the lack of a federal regulator, the majority of provincial security commissions operate under a passport system, so that the approval of one commission essentially allows for registration in another province. However, concerns with the system remain. For example, Ontario, Canada’s largest capital market, does not participate in the Passport regime.

Concerns with the provincial system of securities regulation has led to repeated calls for a national securities system in Canada. Currently, the Government of Canada is working towards establishing a national securities regulatory system that it says will provide:

Each province has its own securities regulator, which is either a self-funded commission or an entity funded within a larger government department. The securities regulator administers the province’s securities act and, correspondingly, promulgates its own set of rules and regulations. The securities regulator relies on the work of two national self-regulatory organizations, the IIROC (Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada) and the MFDA (Mutual Fund Dealers Association) for most aspects of regulation of the organizations' member firms and their employees. Accountability for securities regulation extends from the securities regulator to the Minister responsible for securities regulation and, ultimately, the legislature, in each province.

The largest of the provincial regulators is the Ontario Securities Commission. Other significant provincial regulators are the British Columbia Securities Commission, the Alberta Securities Commission and the Autorité des marchés financiers (Québec).

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