The time has come for Canadian securities regulators and stock exchanges to revisit the application of securities laws and policies to the use of electronic communications for the disclosure of material information. Existing regulatory guidance concerning the ability of issuers to use their company web sites to disseminate material information is SRSLY dated and in need of modernization, as the use of social media, now such a large part of the dissemination of information globally, is largely unaddressed. Consideration should be given to providing specific guidance on the use of social media platforms for purposes of meeting (or at least not violating) public disclosure requirements.

ICYMI currently, the general principles governing the disclosure of material information, including through electronic communications, are described in National Policy 51-201 – Disclosure Standards (NP 51-201) and, for Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX)-listed companies, the TSX’s Electronic Communications Disclosure Guidelines (TSX Guidelines), both of which were first published over a decade ago and have only been updated with limited incremental changes since that time.