Securities Regulation and the Constitutional Division of Powers

• Author: Anita Indira Anand
• Pages: 102-114

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Securities Regulation and the

Constitutional Division of Powers

The Cop(s) in the Street

One of the recurring themes of this book is the fragmentary nature

of securities regulation in Canada. As discussed in Chapter 3, secur-

ities regulation has historically fallen within the legislative purview

of provincial governments. This has meant that, unlike the United

States and virtually all other developed countries, Canada does not

have a national securities regulatory authority. Instead, it has thir-

teen separate securities regulators — one in every province and ter-

ritory. These bodies resemble each other, formulating policy and

adjudicating complaints, all in service of investor protection and

the integrity of the capital markets. They generally do the same

work, but each within the borders of its own provincial or territor-

ial jurisdiction.

The problem is that capital market activity does not lend itself

to neat divisions between provincial jurisdictions. Issuers of secur-

ities do not limit themselves to selling within select provinces, nor

do investors think along provincial lines when they decide how to

invest their money. There are many reasons why it is oen sug-

gested that Canadian investors would be better o under some sort

of national securities regulator. To begin, the current framework