Singing The Passport Blues: Perfect Harmony Eludes Provincial Securities Harmonization Efforts

Edited by D'Arcy Doherty, Paul Fornazzari, Brett Kagetsu, Pierre Lissoir and J. Jason McCormick

Overview

In 2003 provincial and territorial Ministers responsible for securities regulation across Canada acknowledged the need to streamline access to Canada's capital markets.¹ A policy level solution was proposed: establish a European-type "passport system" where an issuer would only have to comply with the rules of its home jurisdiction in order to gain access to investors across the country.² Five years later the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have released rules and policies that implement this concept on March 17, 2008, in all provinces and territories except Ontario.