Canadian Securities Administrators Finalize New WKSI Rules

On August 28, 2025, the Canadian Securities Administrators (the CSA) published amendments to National Instrument 44-102 Shelf Distributions and other securities law instruments implementing a permanent expedited shelf prospectus regime (the WKSI Rules) for "well-known seasoned issuers" (WKSIs). The WKSI Rules will come into force on November 28, 2025, subject to receiving expected regulatory approvals. The WKSI Rules build upon the current WKSI pilot program (the Pilot Program) launched on January 4, 2022, that has been broadly adopted by eligible issuers since its introduction. There are a number of important differences between the WKSI Rules and the Pilot Program, which are described in this Update.