Managing Director Bradley Heys, Director Robert Patton, and Consultant Jielei Mao have released their annual report reviewing securities class actions in Canada. “Trends in Canadian Securities Class Actions: 2022 Update” contains analysis based on NERA’s proprietary database of information on securities class actions in Canada. The report covers trends in the past year’s filings and considerations for 2023.

Highlights from the report include the following:

• Eight new securities class actions were filed in Canada during 2022, two fewer than the 10 cases filed in 2021 and barely half of the 15 new cases filed in each of 2019 and 2020.
• Three of the eight new filings in 2022 involve companies in the cryptocurrency sector.
• There have been no new filings involving cannabis-related issuers over the past two years after a spate of such cases in 2019 and 2020.
• Six of the eight new cases were filed in Ontario, and two cases were filed in British Columbia. No new cases were filed in Quebec for the first time in 20 years. 
• Only two of the eight Canadian filings had a parallel US action, while five other US securities class actions were filed against Canadian-domiciled defendants in 2022.
• Three Canadian securities class actions were settled during 2022, down from six settlements in 2021.
• The largest settlement in 2022 relates to the case involving Northland Resources S.A., which settled for €7.55 million nine years after it was filed in 2013.

Further analysis can be found in NERA’s full report. Interested readers looking for more information or who have specific questions are invited to contact the authors directly.