Securities regulation in Canada is a “patch-work” system with each of the provinces and territories of Canada having the jurisdiction to regulate securities within its province or territory. Specifically the trading in securities is regulated by securities laws enacted by each of the provinces and territories of Canada. The securities and exchange commissions of each province and territory are empowered by such provincial or territorial securities act to enforce the laws of its jurisdiction. For example, in Saskatchewan, the trading of securities is regulated by The Securities Act, 1988, which is administered by the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan.
Notwithstanding the fact that each of the provinces and territories of Canada have their own jurisdiction to regulate securities, each of the provincial and territorial securities commissions have enacted national instruments or multilateral instruments to try to harmonize the application of securities laws across the country (for example National Instrument – Continuous Disclosure Obligations).
In addition to provincial and territorial securities laws, stock exchanges and professional regulatory bodies regulate participants and trading in securities. In Canada, the Toronto Stock Exchange, the TSX Venture Exchange and the Canadian Securities Exchange each have rules and regulations in force with respect to the listing and trading of securities on their exchanges. The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada is the national self-regulatory organization which oversees all investment dealers and trading activity on debt and equity marketplaces in Canada.
