The short read

  • Canadian continuous disclosure lives on SEDAR+, the CSA's filing system, which replaced SEDAR on July 25, 2023; annual statements, MD&A, the annual information form and material change reports all arrive there on deadlines set by National Instrument 51-102.
  • For a cross-listed company, EDGAR carries the same documents as a Form 40-F and a stream of 6-Ks under the multijurisdictional disclosure system, which the SEC has run for eligible Canadian issuers since July 1, 1991.
  • Two instruments govern the numbers that matter most to a resource investor: NI 43-101 for mineral resources and reserves, using the CIM definitions, and NI 51-101 for oil and gas reserves, using the COGE Handbook. Insider trades are on SEDI; 10% holders announce themselves under the early warning rules.

Start on SEDAR+, then check EDGAR

A Canadian public company files its documents with the provincial securities regulators, who act together as the Canadian Securities Administrators, and the regulators keep those documents in one searchable place.

The practical point for an American reader is that the Canadian company's "annual report" is three documents, not one. The audited statements carry the numbers. The MD&A carries management's explanation of them and the non-IFRS measures it prefers. The annual information form, the AIF, carries the business description, the risk factors, the material contracts and, for a miner, the summary of each property's technical report. A U.S. 10-K combines all three; a Canadian filer separates them, and the AIF is the one newcomers forget to open.

The 40-F and the 6-K are wrappers

If the company is also listed in the United States, the same documents appear on EDGAR, which is the system most of our readers already know.

A worked example: CAE Inc.'s annual MD&A for the year ended March 31, 2026 reached EDGAR on May 21, 2026, the day of its results release, as an exhibit to a Form 6-K; the Form 40-F, wrapping the annual report and the proxy circular, was filed on June 22, 2026 [5][12]. The MD&A labels its backlog and margin measures as non-IFRS or supplementary measures and reconciles them in a numbered section near the end [5]. That is the pattern to expect. The 40-F is a cover sheet and a set of exhibits; the substance is in the Canadian documents inside it, written under Canadian rules and, as in CAE's case, under IFRS rather than U.S. GAAP [5].

NI 43-101: a resource is not a reserve

The disclosure rule that U.S. investors most often misread is the one for mineral projects.

NI 51-101: oil and gas reserves have their own rulebook

An oil and gas company on the TSX does not report under SEC Regulation S-X; it reports under National Instrument 51-101.

The headline figure in Canadian oil and gas is usually "proved plus probable," written 2P. A U.S. reader used to proved-only figures should not compare the two without adjustment, and should look for the evaluator's name and the price deck in the F1.

SEDI and early warning: who is buying

Two more places tell you what the people closest to the company are doing with its shares.

Insider filings are facts about transactions, not statements of intent. We read them for pattern: steady buying by directors after a results release means more than a single option exercise, and an early warning report that names a lender as the holder of a pledge is a different signal from one that names an industrial buyer.

What is not in any of these places

Price targets, "fair value" ranges, and most of what a promotional website says about a company are not filings and are not supervised by anyone named above. If a figure cannot be found in the statements, the MD&A, the AIF, a technical report or a reserves report, we treat it as unverified and leave it blank. The next change to this map will come from the regulators themselves: the CSA publishes proposed and final rule changes on its site, and a reader who wants to stay current should check there before trusting a secondary summary, including this one.

The other side of the thesis

What could break it

  • A document on EDGAR is a copy of a Canadian filing, not a U.S.-style filing; a reader who expects a 10-K's item structure will miss the annual information form, which is where Canadian issuers put the business description and risk factors.
  • A mineral resource estimate carries no demonstrated economic viability; a company can report large inferred tonnes for years without ever converting them, and the rules prohibit economic analysis on inferred resources except with cautionary language.
  • Oil and gas reserves under NI 51-101 are evaluated by an independent evaluator against the COGE Handbook, not under SEC rules; the categories and price assumptions differ from a U.S. 10-K and the two should not be added together.
  • Insider filings on SEDI and early warning reports describe what was bought, not why; a 10% holder's news release can be a prelude to a bid, a passive position or a lender's pledge, and the report has to be read in full.
  • Filing deadlines are maxima; a company that files on the last permitted day is compliant and still telling you something.

Read the original documents

Sources

  1. 1
    About SEDAR+ Canadian Securities Administrators (SEDAR+ resources) · Living help page

    'SEDAR+ is the new, secure web-based system used by all market participants to file, disclose and search for information in Canada's capital markets.' On July 25, 2023 it 'consolidated and replaced SEDAR, the national Cease Trade Order (CTO) database, the Disciplined List (DL) database and certain filings currently made in paper or in the British Columbia Securities Commission's eServices system and the Ontario Securities Commission's electronic filing portal'; built and operated by the CSA; publicly searchable.

  2. 2
    National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations (consolidation) Canadian Securities Administrators, hosted on SEDI · Consolidated to December 21, 2007

    s. 4.2: annual financial statements on or before the earlier of the 90th day after year end (non-venture) or the 120th day (venture); s. 4.4: interim financial statements within 45 days (non-venture) or 60 days (venture); s. 5.1: MD&A filed with annual and interim statements; s. 6.1: a reporting issuer that is not a venture issuer must file an AIF; s. 6.2: AIF within 90 days of year end; s. 7.1: material change — immediately issue and file a news release and file a report within 10 days on Form 51-102F3; s. 1.1 venture issuer definition (not listed on the TSX, a U.S. marketplace or specified foreign exchanges). An older consolidation; deadlines unchanged in our reading of later versions, which the editor may wish to confirm against the OSC's current consolidation.

  3. 3
    Financial Reporting Manual, Topic 16: Multijurisdictional Disclosure System U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Corporation Finance · Living staff manual

    'Effective July 1, 1991, the SEC adopted a multijurisdictional disclosure system ("MJDS") for Canadian issuers'; 'documents prepared largely in accordance with Canadian requirements'; eligibility: incorporated or organized in Canada, a foreign private issuer, public float of at least (CN) $75 million for most forms; 16210.1: 'Information to be filed on Form 40-F includes the issuer's annual information form and audited annual financial statements' with MD&A; Form 6-K for information made public in the home jurisdiction, filed with a stock exchange or distributed to shareholders; Form F-10 for registered offerings; reconciliation language.

  4. 4
    EDGAR company search U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · Living search page

    'Find registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms by typing the name or ticker symbol of a company'; free public access to EDGAR; CIK lookup.

  5. 5
    Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended March 31, 2026 (Form 6-K exhibit 99.3) CAE Inc. via SEC EDGAR · May 21, 2026

    Used as the worked example of a Canadian annual MD&A reaching EDGAR as a 6-K exhibit on the same day as the results release; the document labels adjusted backlog and related measures as non-IFRS or supplementary measures and reconciles them in a numbered section; Defense and Security backlog table (obligated, joint venture, unfunded backlog and options).

  6. 6
    National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects Canadian Securities Administrators, hosted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum · June 24, 2011 version

    Qualified person: an engineer or geoscientist with a university degree or equivalent, at least five years of relevant experience and membership in a professional association; technical report defined as a report prepared and filed in accordance with the Instrument and Form 43-101F1; s. 1.2: resource and reserve terms have the meanings ascribed by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum; s. 2.3: an issuer must not disclose the results of an economic analysis that includes or is based on inferred mineral resources, except as permitted with cautionary statements; s. 4.2 triggers: first-time disclosure of mineral resources or reserves, a preliminary economic assessment, a change of 100% or more; filing not later than the supporting document, or within 45 days for certain disclosures.

  7. 7
    CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources & Mineral Reserves Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum · Adopted by CIM Council, May 2014

    Mineral Resource: 'reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction'; Inferred: 'estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling ... must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve'; Indicated: 'sufficient confidence to allow the application of Modifying Factors in sufficient detail to support mine planning and evaluation'; Measured: 'confidence sufficient to allow the application of Modifying Factors to support detailed mine planning'; Mineral Reserve: 'the economically mineable part of a measured and/or Indicated Mineral Resource'; Probable and Proven Mineral Reserve; Modifying Factors.

  8. 8
    National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities (consolidation effective June 9, 2023) Alberta Securities Commission · Effective June 9, 2023

    s. 2.1: annual filing of a statement of reserves data in Form 51-101F1, a report of an independent qualified reserves evaluator or auditor in Form 51-101F2 covering at least 75% of the future net revenue of proved plus probable reserves, and a report of management and directors in Form 51-101F3, by the deadline for audited financial statements; s. 1.1: 'COGE Handbook' means the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook maintained by the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (Calgary Chapter); 'reserves' means proved, probable or possible reserves; qualified reserves evaluator must be a member in good standing of a professional organization; s. 5.9 restricts disclosure of resources other than reserves.

  9. 9
    Beginner's Guide to National Instrument 51-101 Alberta Securities Commission · March 9, 2023

    Form 51-101F1 Statement of Reserves Data and Other Oil and Gas Information; Form 51-101F2 report by independent qualified reserves evaluator or auditor; Form 51-101F3 Report of Management and Directors; filed 'no later than the date required to file audited financial statements for the most recent financial year'; contingent and prospective resources data defined; COGE Handbook oversight by the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (Calgary Chapter).

  10. 10
    SEDI insider information Canadian Securities Administrators · Living page

    'mandatory disclosure system for trading activities by insiders'; insider accounts for 'directors, key shareholders or management'; reports give the type of security, opening balance, transaction date and number or value of securities acquired or disposed; 'the electronically filed reports will be available on-line and can be accessed by the general public'.

  11. 11
    Early warning system and alternative monthly reporting system Ontario Securities Commission · Living page

    Disclosure when a person or company acquires 10% or more of a class of voting or equity securities: a news release before the opening of trading on the next business day and an early warning report within two business days; further reports for every increase or decrease of 2% or more; no further acquisitions until one business day after filing (except holders of 20% or more); alternative monthly reporting for eligible institutional investors; NI 62-104 and NI 62-103.

  12. 12
    EDGAR filing index for CAE Inc. (CIK 1173382) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · Living filing index

    6-K filed May 21, 2026 (accession 0001173382-26-000012) with the results release, annual financial statements and MD&A as exhibits; Form 40-F filed June 22, 2026 (accession 0001173382-26-000023) with the annual report and proxy circular.