Overview

On September 8, 2014, the Canadian federal government, British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan, announced that they had signed a Memorandum of Agreement (the Agreement) formalizing the terms and conditions of a proposed new Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System in Canada. 

The Agreement reflects the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2011 decision that the federal government's previously proposed legislation establishing a national securities regulator was unconstitutional, as falling outside federal jurisdiction. For this reason, the Agreement provides that each jurisdiction is acting within its constitutional jurisdiction and is not surrendering its own jurisdiction over the matters in the Agreement. The Agreement contemplates that one single regulator would administer provincial and federal legislation under authority delegated by each participating jurisdiction.

Also on September 8, 2014, consultation drafts of the uniform provincial capital markets legislation (provincial/territorial Capital Markets Act) and complementary federal legislation (Capital Markets Stability Act) that are proposed for enactment were also released for public comment. The completion of the consultation draft of the uniform provincial legislation represents a significant achievement in the harmonization of current provincial capital markets legislation. The consultation draft of the complementary federal legislation, addressing systemic risk in national capital markets, national data collection, and criminal law matters, is responsive to and consistent with the direction provided by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The im­ple­men­ta­tion of the Co­op­er­a­tive Cap­i­tal Mar­kets Reg­u­la­tory Sys­tem is ex­pected to oc­cur in sev­eral phases and the par­tic­i­pat­ing ju­ris­dic­tions agreed to use their best ef­forts to achieve im­ple­men­ta­tion mile­stones on the fol­low­ing re­vised time­line: (i) par­tic­i­pat­ing ju­ris­dic­tions will use their re­spec­tive best ef­forts to en­act the uni­form provin­cial-ter­ri­to­r­ial Cap­i­tal Mar­kets Act and the com­ple­men­tary fed­eral Cap­i­tal Mar­kets Sta­bil­ity Act by June 30, 2018; (ii)  the Au­thor­ity is hoped to be op­er­a­tional in 2018. 

On October 9, 2014, the Council of Ministers of the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System (CCMR) announced that they were pleased to welcome Prince Edward Island to the CCMR.

On April 16, 2015 the Council of Ministers of the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System (CCMR) announced that they were pleased to welcome Yukon to the CCMR.

The Quebec government referred this proposal to the Quebec Court of Appeal, which ruled it unconstitutional on May 10, 2017. The Attorney General of Canada then appealed the Quebec Court of Appeal’s opinion to the Supreme Court of Canada.

On November 9, 2018, in a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada endorsed the legislation creating a unified, pan-Canadian securities regulator of consenting provinces. The Court found that “the Cooperative System does not improperly fetter the legislatures’ sovereignty, nor does it entail an impermissible delegation of law-making authority.”   Re­view the ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada for further details.

On April 10, 2019, the Council of Ministers of the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System (CCMR) announced that they were pleased to welcome Nova Scotia to the CCMR with its signing of the Memorandum of Agreement.

On November 29, 2019, the CCMR published the Memorandum of Agreement for the CCRM among the Federal government and the seven participating provinces/territories of Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the Yukon.

For fur­ther de­tails, re­fer to the web­site for the Co­op­er­a­tive Cap­i­tal Mar­kets Reg­u­la­tory Sys­tem.

In April 2021, The Capital Markets Authority Implementation Organization (CMAIO), which was established in July 2015 to guide the launch of an independent capital markets regulatory authority (CMRA), has put its operations on pause, and is laying off its staff. According to commentators, “the effort to craft a de facto national regulator through a new model of federal-provincial co-operation is now all but dead, as the organization charged with steering implementation of the new regulator is being shuttered”.

Re­cent ac­tiv­i­ties

April 2021

In April 2021, The Capital Markets Authority Implementation Organization (CMAIO), which was established in July 2015 to guide the launch of an independent capital markets regulatory authority (CMRA), has put its operations on pause, and is laying off its staff.

November 2019

On November 29, 2019, the CCMR published the Memorandum of Agreement for the CCRM among the Federal government and the seven participating provinces/territories of Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the Yukon.

April 2019

On April 10, 2019, the Council of Ministers of the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System (CCMR) announced that they were pleased to welcome Nova Scotia to the CCMR with its signing of the Memorandum of Agreement.

November 2018

On November 9, 2018, in a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada endorsed the legislation creating a unified, pan-Canadian securities regulator of consenting provinces. The Court found that “the Cooperative System does not improperly fetter the legislatures’ sovereignty, nor does it entail an impermissible delegation of law-making authority. 

May 2017

On May 10, 2017, the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled the proposed Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System to be unconstitutional. The Attorney General of Canada then appealed the Quebec Court of Appeal’s opinion to the Supreme Court of Canada.

July 2016

On July 22, 2016, the Ministers responsible for capital markets regulation in British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Yukon, and the Minister of Finance of Canada, announced that they have chosen the Capital Markets Regulatory Authority's initial board of directors and set new timelines for implementing the Authority. The Ministers have amended the implementation milestones set out in the Memorandum of Agreement Regarding the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System related to passing legislation and launching the Authority. Participating jurisdictions will use their respective best efforts to enact the uniform provincial-territorial Capital Markets Act and the complementary federal Capital Markets Stability Act by June 30, 2018, with the Authority expected to be operational in 2018. Refer to the press release for further details.

Au­gust 2015

On August 25, 2015, British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan Yukon announced the publication for comment of a revised consultation draft of the uniform provincial/territorial Capital Markets Act (CMA), draft initial regulations and related materials. The CMA and the regulations would together constitute the single set of provincial/territorial laws under the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System. The comment period for the revised consultation draft legislation and draft initial regulations runs until December 23, 2015.

April 2015

In April 2015, the Yukon Territory announced that it has signed the Memorandum of Agreement.

October 2014

On October 9, 2014, Prince Edward Island announced that it has signed the Memorandum of Agreement.

September 2014

On September 8, 2014, the Canadian federal government, Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Agreement formalizing the terms and conditions of a proposed new Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System. Consultation drafts of the uniform provincial capital markets legislation (Provincial Capital Markets) and complementary federal legislation (Capital Markets Stability Act) that are proposed for enactment were also released for public comment by November 7, 2014.