Canadian Securities Administrators implement coordinated blanket orders easing IPO disclosure and expanding post-IPO and offering memorandum exemptions

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have implemented a package of coordinated blanket orders to reduce prospectus and disclosure burden for initial public offerings (IPOs) and other transactions and to widen certain capital-raising options for issuers. The measures are positioned as support for companies choosing to go public in Canada or maintain a listing amid global market uncertainty. The prospectus and disclosure blanket order expands to all companies the existing relief from providing audited financial statements for the third most recently completed financial year in connection with IPOs and other transactions. A second blanket order introduces a prospectus exemption for issuers that will be going, or have recently gone, public in Canada through an underwritten IPO, allowing additional capital raising after the IPO subject to conditions. In Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Québec and Saskatchewan, a third blanket order increases the investment limit under the offering memorandum exemption for certain eligible investors to enable reinvestment of proceeds within a 12-month period, subject to terms and conditions, while other CSA jurisdictions do not have such a limit. The blanket orders are effective April 17, 2025, and market participants are directed to the instruments for any applicable expiry dates. The CSA also invited feedback via principal regulators and indicated it is exploring further measures.