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A Canadian public company has to file audited annual financial statements within 90 days of its year end, or 120 days if it is a venture issuer. Interim statements follow within 45 days of each quarter, or 60 days for venture issuers. Those are the financial reporting deadlines in National Instrument 51-102, and the securities regulators in each province apply them.
What are the financial reporting deadlines?
The split that matters is between venture and non-venture issuers. Roughly speaking, a venture issuer is a smaller company not listed on the larger exchanges, but the legal definition sits in the instrument itself, so read it before you decide which side a company falls on.
| Filing | Non-venture issuer | Venture issuer |
|---|---|---|
| Annual financial statements (audited) | 90 days after year end | 120 days after year end |
| Interim financial reports | 45 days after the period | 60 days after the period |
| MD&A | Same deadline as the statements | Same deadline as the statements |
Filings go through SEDAR+. If a deadline lands on a weekend or statutory holiday, the BC Securities Commission says a filing is on time the next business day.
What do you file besides the statements?
The annual statements must be audited. That’s stated in section 4.1 of the instrument. The MD&A, or management’s discussion and analysis, is the narrative that explains the numbers in plain words, and it’s due when the statements are.
Non-venture issuers also file an annual information form, usually on the same 90 day clock. Regulator summaries say so, but check the instrument’s own section before you rely on it. Other rules cover certifications by officers, press releases, material change reports and proxy material. Those sit outside this page, and a list of them here would be padding.
What does the calendar look like for a December year end?
Take a non-venture company with a year ending 31 December 2026. Ninety days later is 31 March 2027. A venture company gets 120 days, which is 30 April 2027. These are our own date counts from the rules above, not dates published by a regulator.
The first quarter ends 31 March. Forty-five days later is 15 May, and sixty days is 30 May. If you keep the reporting calendar, put the next business day in brackets beside any date that falls on a weekend.
Do the annual and interim clocks overlap? Yes, and that’s the pinch. A venture issuer’s annual deadline of 30 April is only a month before its first interim report is due. Good planning means the audit team and the finance team aren’t the same three people working both at once.
Does a private company have to file this way?
No. These deadlines are for reporting issuers, meaning companies whose securities are held by the public. A family-owned corporation that never sold shares to outsiders doesn’t file with SEDAR+ at all. It prepares statements for its lenders and shareholders and files a T2 with the CRA, and that’s a very different clock.
If you’re unsure which side you’re on, ask one question: can a stranger buy a piece of this company on a market? If the answer is no, the securities calendar probably isn’t yours. If the answer is yes, or might be soon, talk to a securities lawyer before the first filing date arrives.
What if a company misses a deadline?
Penalties and cease trade orders are the usual worry, but the rules differ by province and by case, so don’t rely on a number from a blog. If you’re facing a missed date, call your securities lawyer before the regulator calls you. Most of the grief comes from waiting.
A practical habit helps long before any trouble: work backwards from each deadline. Pick the date the audit has to wrap up, then the date the books must close, and put both on the calendar in October rather than in February.
Where public company reporting goes wrong
Missed dates. That’s the bulk of it.
Another slip is mixing up the tax and securities calendars. A corporation’s tax return is due six months after year end. That doesn’t line up with the securities deadlines, and a company can be on time for one and late for the other. You can see how tax lands on profit with the corporate tax calculator.
The third is treating reporting as the same thing as tax filing. Securities filings go to regulators and investors. The T2 goes to the CRA. If you hold shares, the tax side for you is different again: see the dividend tax calculator for income and the capital gains tax calculator for sales. And if you just want to weigh a share purchase, the ROI calculator does the return arithmetic.
Where we got these figures
The deadlines and the audit requirement come from National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations, as published by the BC Securities Commission’s law site (sections 4.1, 4.2, 4.4 and 5.1), and from the BCSC reporting requirements FAQ. The tax filing date is from the CRA. Which accounting standards a public company must use, the annual information form section and any penalty are left out or hedged above. This is an independent guide and has no link to any regulator.
Frequently asked questions
When are annual financial statements due for a public company?
Within 90 days of year end for a non-venture issuer and within 120 days for a venture issuer, under National Instrument 51-102.
Do public companies have to file quarterly reports?
Yes. Interim financial reports are due within 45 days of the period end, or 60 days for venture issuers.
Do annual statements need an audit?
Yes. Section 4.1 of NI 51-102 says annual financial statements filed under it must be audited.
Where are the filings made?
On SEDAR+, the electronic filing system named by the BC Securities Commission.
What if the deadline falls on a weekend?
The BC Securities Commission says a filing is on time if made the next business day.
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