The provincial and territorial ministers on Friday agreed to pursue a “passport” system of securities regulation.

The imagined “passport” will ensure that issuers and registrants can access markets all across Canada, by complying with the legislation in their primary jurisdiction.

In a statement, the ministers said that a large majority of stakeholders they’ve consulted favoured the passport system, “and encouraged the ministers to take quick action along these lines”.

At a meeting in Montreal, the various ministers agreed to move ahead with a passport system. In the coming weeks, they will consider what aspects of such a system can be implemented in the immediate future while setting the stage for further harmonizing and streamlining of regulation.

The ministers, including Yves Séguin, Quebec’s Minister of Finance, said that they are committed to this reform and maintain their objective of releasing their action plan in October.

The provinces have firmly rejected a plan for a national securities commission, Seguin said.

The decision came after the ministers of Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario, PEI, Quebec and the Yukon met with representatives from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan to consider the results of the consultation held on the proposal to introduce a passport mechanism.

Alberta’s minister of revenue and chairman of the Steering Committee of Ministers, Greg Melchin said, “The briefs dealt in particular with the need to promote the harmonization of regulatory rules between the provinces and the territories while simplifying them, for the benefit of investors, issuers and registrants.”

http://communiques.gouv.qc.ca/gouvqc/communiques/GPQE/Juillet2003/17/c3318.html