Management Information Circulars

The management information circular (MIC) is the term primarily used in Canada for what is considered the proxy statement in the United States. This document is also widely known as an information circular or MIC in Canada. It is considered a key asset for companies when providing shareholders with important voting information and can also be used by companies to promote and support shareholder engagement. For support and additional information, explore our Regulatory Disclosure Solutions and download the Toppan Merrill 2024 MIC Solution and Style Guide.

The System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR+) is Canada’s electronic filing system for disclosures by public companies and investment funds. This system allows regulated company and securities information to be consistently collected, shared and filed with the 13 provincial and territorial securities regulatory authorities — the Canadian Securities Administrators, or CSA — in the SEDAR+ filing system.

Public company and investment fund profiles are available to investors and others on the SEDAR+ website. Online SEDAR+ profiles include information that most public companies, investment funds and investment fund groups are required to make public in Canada, including addresses, contact information and stock exchange listing.

However, not all SEDAR+ filings are automatically made public. Some documents filed only with Canadian exchanges are not publicly available. When a prospectus is filed through SEDAR+, it’s reviewed by securities regulatory authorities who then make the appropriate documents available via the SEDAR+ Data Distribution Service.

Some documents don’t require review and are immediately distributed via the SEDAR+ Data Distribution Service, particularly continuous disclosure documents such as annual reports, financial statements and news releases. No matter whether SEDAR+ filings are scrutinized by investors or Canadian regulators first, they must be exact, accurate and on time. For support and additional information, explore our SEDAR+ regulatory compliance solutions.

Corporate governance involves the processes, policies, guidelines and standards set by corporations to reference when managing and making formal decisions. Plus, it is a factor in helping a company avoid risk. There are seven characteristics of corporate governance often referenced: Discipline, transparency, independence, accountability, responsibility, fairness and social responsibility.

Corporate governance is also an important topic to include in shareholder communications. For example, risk management, diversity and human capital management are corporate governance topics frequently addressed in proxy statements. Additionally, shareholders remain keenly interested in corporate boardroom diversity, for reasons of both equity and performance. Including visuals such as iconography, infographics and pie charts can help represent the company’s position on these topics within the proxy. For support and additional information, explore our Annual Meeting and Proxy Solutions.