Cease Trade Orders

Your current subscription for Cease Trade Order email alerts ends on July 25. You must subscribe to the new SEDAR+ email alerts when it goes live to stay informed of new cease trade orders. Click here for more information.

SEDAR+ is the new, secure web-based platform that will be used by all market participants to file, disclose and search for information in Canada’s capital markets.

SEDAR+ consolidated multiple legacy systems into a single platform, including the Cease-Trade Order Database.

A cease trade order (CTO) is a decision issued by a provincial or territorial securities regulatory authority or similar regulatory body against a company or an individual. CTOs are issued for reasons such as failing to meet disclosure requirements or as a result of an enforcement action that involves an investigation of potential wrongdoing.

The purpose of the National CTO Database (CTO Database) is twofold: provide stakeholders with a publicly searchable database containing all CTOs issued by participating CSA members, regardless of whether their effect is temporary or indefinite, and disseminate such CTOs to its subscribers. 

There are two categories of CTOs:  

  • CTOs that ban trading in securities of a reporting issuer or a non-reporting issuer, regardless of whether the CTO resulted from a continuous disclosure default, an enforcement action or other, and;
  • CTOs that ban trading by certain individuals and/or companies, regardless of whether the CTO resulted from a continuous disclosure default of the company (such as a management cease trade order), an enforcement action or other. 

Some CTOs may fall under both categories, in which circumstance, they will appear in both categories.

This categorization is intended as a tool to simplify the classification of CTOs and enhance search results. However, it remains the obligation of users to conduct the necessary due diligence before trading to determine whether or not a specific trade can be executed. As such, we cannot overstate the importance of reading all decisions to fully understand their scope.

Who issues CTOs and why?

Securities regulatory authorities have sole authority to issue CTOs. The securities regulatory authorities oversee securities regulation in their respective provinces or territories and require publicly traded companies to disclose material information to the public within delays set by regulation. For example, publicly traded companies must file copies of quarterly and annual financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis with provincial and territorial securities regulatory authorities, and must also send this information to shareholders, on request. Companies must also disclose material events or developments – such as takeover bids and merger and acquisitions, which may affect the value of the company’s shares. When a company fails to do so, a CTO banning trading in the securities of the company or banning certain individuals and/or companies from trading in securities of the company may be issued.

Securities regulatory authorities are also tasked with enforcing the securities legislation in their province or territory. For instance, during the course of an investigation into potential wrongdoing, the securities regulators may issue or ask a tribunal to issue a temporary order banning trading by individuals or companies, or banning the trading in the securities of a company.

Securities regulators can also impose or ask a tribunal to impose sanctions following the conclusion of a proceeding against respondents, which includes orders that ban trading by individuals or companies, or orders that ban trading in the securities of a company, either permanently or for a defined period of time.

How do I find cease trade orders?

You can find information about CTOs by searching SEDAR+. For details on how to search for CTOs and navigate the results, please see ‘Search and View Regulatory Actions’ on the SEDAR+ Help Centre.

How will I know the status of a CTO?

A CTO’s status will be listed as either ‘Issued’, ‘Amended’, ‘Expired’ or ‘Revoked’: 

Issued: means that an order to ban trading has been rendered.
Amended: means that the original order has been modified.
Expired: means that the order has lapsed.
Revoked
: means that the order has been lifted.

As a result of the implementation of statutory amendments in Alberta, Nova Scotia, Québec, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador certain orders issued in other provinces or territories automatically take effect in Alberta, Nova Scotia, Québec, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador. For more information click here.

With the adoption of MI 11-103, certain CTOs issued by securities regulatory authorities automatically take effect in other jurisdictions. For more information, click here.

It remains the obligation of users to conduct the necessary due diligence before trading to determine whether or not a specific trade can be executed. As such, we cannot overstate the importance of understanding the applicable securities legislation and reading all decisions to fully understand their scope.

How do I determine where a CTO has effect?

For information to determine where a CTO has effect, click here.

How long does a CTO last?

A CTO may be issued with a specific expiry date (temporary CTO) or for an indefinite period of time (“None” will be indicated under expiry date). When a CTO is issued, it will remain in effect until either its expiry date is reached or, if there is no expiry date, until the decision is revoked by the regulator, when and if the company or individual corrects the deficiencies or meets certain conditions, which caused the CTO to be issued. The deficiencies that need to be remedied or conditions to be met are explained in the CTO.

It is the company’s or individual’s responsibility to comply with securities law. Once a CTO is issued, it is up to the company or individual, and not Securities Regulators, to correct the deficiencies or fulfill certain conditions, and apply to the regulator to have the CTO revoked.

What do I do if I own shares in a company that has a cease trade order (CTO) issued against it?

You may want to contact the company directly to find out how it is addressing the CTO. In the CTO, follow the link to the company profile to view the company contact information.

If you are unable to reach the company, you may contact the Securities Regulator who issued the CTO for more information. If multiple CTOs are issued against the same company, contact the company’s Principal Regulator. This information is also available under the company’s profile on SEDAR+. Follow this link to access the contact information for all Securities Regulators in Canada.

If there are no exceptions applicable to your situation, you have two options:

  1. Hold onto your shares in case the CTO is revoked; or
  2. Consider claiming a capital loss on your income taxes.

We suggest you contact the Canada Revenue Agency for more information on this second option.

Subscription Information

From the SEDAR+ home page, you can subscribe to receive automatic email alerts when securities regulators add new content to SEDAR+.

For details on how to create and manage you subscription, please see ‘Create or Modify Your DL/CTO Email Subscription’ on the SEDAR+ Help Centre.

Your current subscription for Cease Trade Order email alerts ends on July 25. You must subscribe to the new SEDAR+ email alerts when it goes live to stay informed of new cease trade orders.

We want to remind you that SEDAR+ will be launching next week. On July 25, 2023, the legacy systems you have used over the past decades will be retired and replaced with the new, secure web-based SEDAR+ system.

SEDAR+ improves access to user information by consolidating multiple systems and databases, including the Cease Trade Order (CTO) Database, the Disciplined List (DL) and SEDAR into one, publicly searchable site.

Cease trade orders are on SEDAR+ starting July 25, 2023  

To accommodate the transfer of system data from legacy systems to SEDAR+, there will be a ‘cutover period’ from 11 p.m. ET on July 20, 2023 to approximately 7 a.m. ET on July 25, 2023. The Cease Trade Order (CTO) database and your corresponding email alerts will continue during this cutover period. However, the Disciplinary List (DL) will be offline and no email alerts provided during cutover.

Helping you transition to your email alert subscription

You will need to create a new CTO email alert subscription and set up your alert preferences on the SEDAR+ website home page once SEDAR+ is live. To help you through this transition, from July 25 to 28, 2023, alerts will be sent through both this email and the SEDAR+ system. This mitigates the immediate risk of you missing an alert that comes out before you’ve subscribed in SEDAR+

If you’d like more general information about SEDAR+, please visit the SEDAR+ section of the CSA website and subscribe to our SEDAR+ Connection newsletter for further information and updates.

General Information

Please contact SEDAR+ Support or your local securities regulatory authority if you have any questions or to report errors and omissions. Although we try to ensure the information in the Cease Trade Order Database is complete, accurate and current, this may not always be the case.