Court proceedings

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has the authority to lay quasi-criminal charges under section 122 of Ontario’s Securities Act against individuals or companies for alleged violations of the Act. These proceedings are prosecuted by OSC staff under Ontario’s Provincial Offences Act in the Ontario Court of Justice.

Quasi-criminal means that a jail term is a possible sanction if a defendant is convicted of a violation of Ontario's Securities Act. The court can impose:

• a jail term of not more than five years less a day
• a fine of not more than $5 million for each conviction
• both of the above sanctions

For insider trading convictions, the maximum fine is the greater of either $5 million or triple the profit made or loss avoided.

Court proceedings are also held for freeze orders, and for the purposes of appointing a receiver. A receiver can be a person or company given temporary authority by the court, under section 129 of the Act, to wind up or manage the business and affairs of another person or company.

Appeals are another matter that are handled in court, as are orders under section 128 of the Act for non-compliance with Ontario securities law.

For quasi-criminal proceedings, section 116 of Ontario’s Provincial Offences Act provides that OSC staff or a defendant can appeal a decision by the Ontario Court of Justice to the Superior Court of Justice. 

A respondent of an OSC decision may appeal to Divisional Court.

The OSC can also be involved in other forms of appeals, such as when a respondent brings forward a judicial review application to have an OSC decision reviewed by the Court.

Appeal decisions are available free of charge on the Canadian Legal Information Institute website (CanLII).

Information about OSC court proceedings and from the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) is published in news releases and posted on our website. Please subscribe to receive news releases automatically.