The TSX Venture Exchange is a in Canada. It is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta and has offices in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. All trading through the Exchange is done electronically, so the Exchange does not have a "trading floor". It was previously known as the Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX), but in 2001 the TSX Group (now known as the TMX Group) purchased it and renamed it.
The TMX Group also owns the (TSX). The is the senior equity market, while the TSX Venture Exchange is a public venture capital marketplace for emerging companies.
As of November 2010, the TSX Venture Exchange had 2,364 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of $60,811,203,235.
The Canadian Venture Exchange was created in Canada on November 29, 1999 as a result of an agreement among the Vancouver, Alberta, Toronto and Montreal exchanges to restructure the Canadian capital markets along the lines of market specialization.
The CDNX was created by the merger of the (VSE) and the (ASE). The focus of the CDNX was junior companies, i.e., those whose assets, business and market capitalization were too small to be listed on the (TSX). Often, these were resource exploration companies, but also came to include new high technology ventures. The exchange had its corporate headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, and its Operations headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, with additional offices in Toronto and Montreal.
The Winnipeg Stock Exchange and the small-cap portion of the equities market of the Bourse de Montréal (MSE) were also later merged into the CDNX.