OSC streamlines document submission process making electronic filing mandatory effective February 19, 2014

The OSC announced that as of February 19, 2014, all market participants will be required to electronically file a number of documents that have traditionally been filed in paper format with the OSC. While Rule 11-501 – Electronic Delivery of Documents to the Ontario Securities Commission officially takes effect on this date, these electronic services are currently available for participants that wish to start filing these documents electronically.

Electronic filing is a convenience to filers allowing for the efficient collection and use of information by the OSC. The Rule helps streamline the submission process and regulatory burden for market participants in Ontario, improve data analysis, compliance and enforcement capabilities, and reduce the effort and time required to process and analyze the documents. This allows the Commission to focus resources on more substantive matters.

Generally, the new requirements include documents associated with forms, notices and other materials required under Ontario's securities rules that are not covered already by the System for Electronic Documents Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR), the System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI) and the National Registration Database (NRD), the CSA national electronic filing systems including:

• Form 45-106F1 and Form 45-501F1 – Reports of Exempt Distributions
• Applications for exemptive relief and notice filings
• Pre-files or waiver applications (for prospectuses or applications)
• Forms, notices and other materials required under Ontario's securities rules that are not filed through SEDAR, SEDI and NRD.

A complete list of these documents can be found in Appendix A to 11-501.

Documents that are required to be filed through, SEDAR, SEDI and NRD must continue to be filed through these systems.

In addition, applicable fees payable in connection with the filing of documents to the OSC can now be paid electronically using credit or debit card.

For more information, please refer to 11-501 and the OSC’s electronic filing portal page.

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