Standard & Poor’s and the Toronto Stock Exchange introduced the Global Industry Classification Standard in Canada today. This is the most recent step in the revision of the benchmark equity index, the S&P/TSE Composite Index, scheduled for launch on May 1.

The Global Industry Classification Standard, which was developed by S&P and Morgan Stanley Capital International, was created in response to the global financial community’s need for a single and consistent set of industry definitions. Thirteen GICS groups will replace the 14 familiar, if idiosyncratic, sectors of the TSE 300 composite index as the TSE 300 is supplanted by the S&P/TSE composite index as the market’s key measure on May 1.

GICS has rapidly gained worldwide acceptance and its use in the S&P/TSE Composite will allow investors to accurately compare the performance of Canadian indices with those around the world. The nine real-time GICS indices (Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Health Care, Industrials, Materials, Telecommunication Services, Utilities, Metals and Mining and Real Estate), in combination with the currently available four GICS Indices (Information Technology, Energy, Financials and Gold), will be available through selected market data vendors. These indices are based on a subset of the companies included in the TSE 300 Composite Index, and are capped at a maximum weight of 25% for any one company.

Day-end GICS sector and industry indices will be available through the TSE’s Market Data Services department. These indices will include every company in the TSE 300 Composite Index, which will soon be renamed the S&P/TSE Composite Index. Companies in these indices will not be capped, but rather will be represented by their full market weight.

Historical data for both the day-end and real-time indices will be available from the TSE starting on April 10.