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Postal Strike

Our securities rules contain requirements on delivery of documents to the shareholders of public companies and on the filing of documents with the BC Securities Commission (BCSC). The following is our position relating to these requirements given the disruption of postal service.

Relief from requirement to deliver financial statements and related disclosure
Under BC Instrument 51-514, a company is exempt from the requirement to deliver financial

statements and MD&A to its shareholders, provided that the company:

  • complies with its filing requirements
  • issues a news release notifying shareholders that the disclosure is available on-line and will be sent to shareholders who request copies
  • sends the documents to shareholders once postal service resumes

For investment funds, BC Instrument 81-517 contains a similar exemption from the requirement to deliver financial statements and management reports of fund performance to securityholders.

Affected companies and investment funds should refer to these instruments and review the conditions carefully to determine if they are eligible for the relief.

There is no change in filing requirements. Public companies and investment funds file these documents through our electronic filing system, SEDAR+, and there is public access to these filings at SEDAR+.

Electronic delivery is a possible alternative to mail delivery. National Policy 11-201 Delivery of Documents by Electronic Means contains guidance on the use of electronic delivery of documents under securities laws.

Blanket relief for routine annual meetings
On December 4, 2024, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) issued CSA Coordinated Blanket Order 51-931 temporary blanket relief from requirements to deliver proxy-related materials for routine annual meetings where certain conditions are met. Affected companies should carefully review the order and the conditions to determine if they are eligible for relief. At this time, the CSA has not provided a similar exemption for investment funds.

Applications for relief from requirement to deliver other documents
The BCSC will consider applications for relief from the requirements to deliver proxy-related materials for special meetings and bid circulars and in other circumstances where a company cannot meet the conditions of the blanket order. We will consider these applications on a case-by-case basis. In cases where relief is urgently needed, the BCSC will attempt to deal with such applications on an expedited basis. We encourage companies to consult with their service providers and legal advisers as to alternate delivery options for proxy-related materials and bid circulars. Where possible, we also encourage companies to consider changing their meeting date.

Filings with Corporate Finance
The BCSC requires most Corporate Finance filings to be made electronically. A disruption of postal service will not affect those filings required to be made through SEDAR+, eServices, or SEDI.

For Corporate Finance filings that are not required to be made electronically through SEDAR+, eServices, or SEDI, filings may be made to the attention of the Financial Reporting Team by email (finreport@bcsc.bc.ca) or by courier.

Registrant financial filings, client trade confirmations, and client account statements
Registrant financial filings include interim and annual financial statements, Form 31-103F1 - Calculation of Excess Working Capital, subordination agreements and repayment requests, changes to financial institution bonds, and Net Asset Value adjustments. You can send these filings to the attention of the Examination Team by email (examiners@bcsc.bc.ca) or by courier.

The BCSC will not grant extensions or waivers for registrant filings due to poor planning for the postal strike.

In addition, you must make reasonable efforts to send clients their trade confirmations, account statements, and other reporting in a timely way.

Questions
If you have any questions, please contact our Contact Centre by phone at 604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393 (toll free across Canada), or by email at inquiries@bcsc.bc.ca.