Canada Gets Go-Ahead For A National Securities Regulator

The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has now unanimously ruled on two reference questions from the Government of Québec, holding that the federal government's second attempt to create a national securities regulator is constitutional.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. The proposed cooperative pan-Canadian system does not unduly fetter provincial legislative discretion to regulate securities in the province.
2. The proposed cooperative pan-Canadian system is not an impermissible delegation of provincial legislative authority.
3. The proposed federal Capital Markets Stability Act is constitutional because its pith and substance is to regulate systemic risk across Canada's capital markets, falling within Parliament's general trade and commerce powers under section 91(2) of the Constitution Act, 1867.