Pilot Well-Known Seasoned Issuer Program Announced

The Canadian Securities Administrators ("CSA") have announced a pilot program for well-known seasoned issuers ("WKSIs") permitting temporary exemptions from certain base shelf prospectus requirements. Most significantly, WKSIs are not required to file and obtain a receipt for a preliminary base shelf prospectus and are exempt from certain disclosure requirements (further discussed below).

The implementation of the WKSI program is part of the CSA initiative to reduce the regulatory burden on Canadian reporting issuers, and follows a recommendation of the Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce. It is based on the Well-Known Seasoned Issuer category of issuer adopted by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The WKSI will make it more efficient for qualifying issuers to raise capital in Canada.