New CSA Access Model: Key Considerations for Reporting Issuers

Key Takeaways

• Beginning September 22, 2026, non-investment fund issuers may elect to provide electronic access to their annual financial statements and related management’s discussion and analysis (“MD&A”), interim financial reports and related MD&A or both (collectively, the “CD documents”) through the continuous disclosure access model (the “Access Model”) published by the Canadian Securities Administrators (the “CSA”) on June 25, 2026.
• The Access Model provides an alternative to traditional delivery by allowing issuers to satisfy applicable delivery obligations through electronic access on SEDAR+, subject to prescribed filing, news release and website posting requirements.
• Issuers intending to rely on the Access Model for the first time should consider the 25-day advance notice requirement prior to applicable filing deadlines.^[1]
• The Access Model is intended to reduce the burden and costs associated with printing and mailing while modernizing issuer communication and preserving investor access to disclosure through electronic means.

The Access Model provides an alternative to traditional delivery by allowing issuers to satisfy applicable delivery obligations through electronic access on SEDAR+.”

Overview

The Access Model introduces an alternative framework for providing CD documents of non-investment fund reporting issuers. Rather than delivering those documents directly to securityholders in accordance with existing delivery requirements, eligible issuers may satisfy those obligations by providing electronic access through SEDAR+, subject to prescribed conditions.

On June 25, 2026, the CSA published in final form amendments to National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations (“NI 51-102”), and National Instrument 54-101 Communication with Beneficial Owners of Securities of a Reporting Issuer (“NI 54-101”), along with related companion policy changes (collectively, the “Final Amendments”). Subject to all required ministerial approvals, the Final Amendments are scheduled to come into force on September 22, 2026.

The Final Amendments represent a significant step in the CSA’s ongoing efforts to modernize disclosure delivery requirements. Since first consulting on a potential access-based framework in 2020, the CSA has sought to balance modernization and efficiency with investor protection, ultimately concluding that electronic access can serve as an effective alternative to traditional delivery methods for core CD documents. The resulting framework reflects the CSA’s recognition that investors increasingly access and consume information electronically and that information technology can facilitate more efficient communication with investors.

Consistent with broader trends toward electronic disclosure delivery, the Access Model also shares similarities with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s longstanding “access equals delivery” framework, which is premised on the concept that electronic availability of disclosure documents can, in appropriate circumstances, satisfy delivery requirements. While the Canadian framework has been tailored to CD documents and includes additional investor-facing safeguards such as prescribed news releases, website posting requirements, document request rights and standing delivery instructions, it reflects the same broader shift toward digital-first disclosure delivery. During the CSA’s consultation process, commenters noted that the Access Model represents a positive step toward greater alignment with other global securities regulatory regimes and may better facilitate cross-border capital markets activity and access to information.

The Access Model

Under the Final Amendments, an issuer that elects to use the Access Model may satisfy applicable delivery requirements for CD documents through electronic access, provided the following prescribed conditions are met:

• the issuer has filed the document on SEDAR+;
• no later than one calendar day after the filing of the document, the issuer has issued and filed a news release on SEDAR+ announcing that:
  • the document is electronically accessible,
  • the SEDAR+ notification functionality is available,
  • electronic or paper copies may be obtained upon request and
  • any standing delivery instructions to receive the document in electronic or paper form will continue to be followed; and
• no later than two calendar days after the filing of the document, if the issuer maintains a website, the issuer has posted on its website the document or a hyperlink that leads directly to the document filed on SEDAR+.

A central feature of the framework is SEDAR+’s notification functionality, which allows investors and other market participants to subscribe to receive email notifications when an issuer files CD documents on SEDAR+.

The CSA has indicated that the Access Model is intended to enhance investors’ awareness of the availability of CD documents and facilitate electronic access to those documents.

Importantly, the Access Model does not impact an investor’s ability to obtain CD documents in paper or electronic form. Specifically, if an investor has provided standing instructions to an intermediary to receive the documents electronically or in paper form, the documents will continue to be sent based on those instructions even if the issuer has selected to provide electronic access to its documents in accordance with the Access Model.

The Access Model is entirely voluntary, and each issuer may determine whether it is appropriate in its particular circumstances. Issuers that do not rely on the Access Model will remain subject to the existing delivery requirements under NI 51-102.

Importantly, the Access Model does not impact an investor’s ability to obtain CD documents in paper or electronic form.”

Practical Considerations for Issuers

With the Final Amendments expected to come into force shortly, issuers considering use of the Access Model should assess whether they have satisfied the framework’s advance notice requirements and implemented the procedures necessary to rely on the new regime.

Advance Notice Requirements

If, during the previous financial period, an issuer was not providing electronic access to its financial statements and related MD&A under section 4.5.1 or 4.5.2 of NI 51-102, the issuer must issue and file an advance news release under subsection 4.5.1(2) or 4.5.2(2), as applicable, at least 25 calendar days before issuing and filing the news release required under subsection 4.5.1(3) or 4.5.2(3) in order to rely on the Access Model.

The advance notice requirement is intended to inform investors that future CD documents will be accessible electronically, that SEDAR+ notification functionality is available, how electronic or paper copies may be obtained, and that standing delivery instructions will continue to be available.

Implementation Considerations

Before first relying on the Access Model, issuers should consider whether:

• any required advance notice has been issued and filed;
• processes are in place to ensure compliance with the one-calendar-day news release deadline and the two-calendar-day website posting deadline;
• procedures are in place to respond to requests for paper or electronic copies of CD documents;
• website posting procedures are operational; and
• any delivery obligations arising under corporate law or other applicable requirements continue to apply notwithstanding compliance with the Access Model.

More broadly, the Access Model reflects the CSA’s effort to modernize disclosure delivery while preserving investors’ ability to access information through SEDAR+, issuer websites, document request rights, and standing instructions.

Issuers intending to rely on the Access Model for the first time should consider the 25-day advance notice requirement prior to applicable filing deadlines.”

Special Thanks to Summer Associate Veronique Knapp for contributing to this article.

[1] By way of illustrative example, a non-venture issuer with a September 30, 2026, quarter-end that intends to disseminate its interim financial statements and related MD&A for such period on November 16, 2026 and to rely on the Access Model for such documents, will be required to issue and file a news release with the prescribed disclosure no later than October 22, 2026.