ARTICLE · 27 NOVEMBER 2018

Canada On The Brink Of National Securities Regulation

EKB | Edwards, Kenny & Bray LLP

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Canada is the only industrialized country without a national securities regulator.

CanadaGovernment, Public Sector

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Canada is the only industrialized country without a national securities regulator. Historically, the provinces and territories have developed and implemented their own securities regimes. This may soon change as the new decision from the Supreme Court of Canada in Reference re: Pan-Canadian Securities Regulation lays the foundation for the establishment of Canada's first national securities regulator.

In 2011, the Federal Government tasked the Supreme Court of Canada with determining whether parliament could pass a federal law relating to securities regulation. In Reference re Securities Act, the Court answered in the negative but left the door open to what it called a "cooperative approach" between federal and provincial governments.

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