Canadian Securities Administrators Provide Guidance on Environmental Disclosure

Copyright 2010, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Originally published in Blakes Bulletin on Securities Regulation/Environmental Law, November 2010

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) recently published Staff Notice 51-333 – Environmental Reporting Guidance to provide guidance with respect to environmental disclosure obligations in connection with issuers' continuous disclosure (CD) documents and the governance structures that can facilitate the preparation of effective disclosure. The Staff Notice clarifies existing disclosure requirements but does not create any new requirements or modify any existing ones.

Environmental Disclosure

CSA Staff noted that the determining factor for whether information is required to be disclosed is materiality and that only material environmental information needs to be included in CD documents. CSA Staff also noted that some issuers have found it challenging to determine materiality with respect to