News Release

Vancouver -- April is National Investor Education Month and Canada's securities regulators have launched countrywide campaigns to help Canadians -- in particular, youth and seniors -- become more careful investors.

"With accurate financial materials so much a concern these days, investors need information that they can trust, delivered in ways that they can easily relate to," said Doug Hyndman, Chair of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the umbrella organization representing the 13 provincial and territorial securities commissions.

"We have found that youth like financial information and issues delivered by their peers," said Hyndman, "while seniors appreciate concrete examples and tips on what to watch for in making their investment decisions."

The CSA has launched three major national initiatives for April:
1. It has joined forces with Scouts Canada to promote investor education to Scouts across the country. In this program, boys and girls can earn a crest by learning about various aspects of investing. Activities include interviewing a financial professional, creating a poster that outlines a specific investment, and choosing, researching and tracking a specific stock. 2. The CSA has renewed its partnership for a second year with the weekly television program Street Cents. The award-winning show, now in its 13th season on CBC-TV, features youth talking to youth about issues important to them. The CSA has collaborated with Street Cents producers on a segment warning kids and teenagers about online investment scams. The segment, scheduled to air on May 13, 2002, will be immediately followed by an online chat featuring securities investigators across Canada discussing the issue and answering viewers' questions. 3. The CSA has produced a comprehensive brochure, Protecting your finances: How to avoid investment frauds and scams, aimed at identifying and warning about investment scams that frequently target seniors. The full-colour publication gives examples of how fraudsters gain the trust of their victims and provides useful tips on how to avoid being scammed. It also tells people what they should do if they have a complaint about a financial investment they have made and some of the more popular investment scams such as affinity fraud, Ponzi schemes, viatical settlements and prime bank schemes.

In addition to the national campaign, securities regulators in each province and territory have organized investor education events and seminars for investors in their locale.

For investor information or details about National Investor Education Month activities, visit the CSA's website at www.csa-acvm.ca or the following commission websites or contact your local securities regulator.

Alberta Securities Commission Contact: Joni Delaurier 403-297-4481 www.albertasecurities.com	B.C. Securities Commission Contact: Andrew Poon 604-899-6880 1-800-373-6393 (B.C. & Alberta only) www.bcsc.bc.ca
Manitoba Securities Commission Contact: Ainsley Cunningham 204-945-4733 1-800-655-5244 (Manitoba only) www.msc.gov.mb.ca	N.B. Securities Administration Branch Contact: Christina Taylor 506-658-3060 1-866-933-2222 (N.B. only) securities.branch@gnb.ca
Ontario Securities Commission Contact: Terri Williams 416-593-2350 1-877-785-1555 (Toll-free Canada wide) www.osc.gov.on.ca	Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec Contact: Patrice Bourgoin 514-940-2199, ext. 4434 1-800-361-5072 (Quebec only) www.cvmq.com
Securities & Corporate Registries, Government of the Northwest Territories Contact: Tony Wong 867-873-7490 tony_wong@gov.nt.ca	Securities Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador Contact: Susan W. Powell 709-729-4875 www.gov.nf.ca/gsl/cca/s
Nova Scotia Securities Commission Contact: Nick Pittas 902-424-7768 www.gov.ns.ca/nssc