Delegation orders

Delegation of regulatory decision making authority

Administrative agencies, such as the Ontario Securities Commission (Commission), are created and enabled by statute. This means that the Ontario legislature has set out the legal responsibilities and powers of the Commission in law.

The Commission is continued by the Securities Commission Act, 2021(SCA). The Securities Act (Ontario) (OSA), Commodity Futures Act (CFA), and SCA set out the Commission’s  powers and responsibilities. 

A delegation of authority (DOA) occurs when a person or entity that is responsible and accountable for exercising a power or duty assigns those powers or duties to another person to execute. For example, the Commission delegates certain powers assigned to it by the OSA and CFA to the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission and/or the “Director” as defined in section 1 of the OSA. See current delegation orders below.

Below are some examples of provisions from the OSA, CFA and SCA that authorize a DOA.

  • OSA subsection 3(1) - The Commission may delegate any of the Commission’s powers and duties under this Act to the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission or to another Director.
  • CFA subsection 2.3(1) - The Commission may delegate any of the Commission’s powers and duties under this Act to the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission or to another Director.
  • SCA subsection 5(4) - The Commission may delegate any of its powers or duties under the Business Corporations Act or the Corporations Act to the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission or to another Director within the meaning of the Securities Act.
  • SCA subsection 30(4) - The Chief Adjudicator may, in writing, delegate a power conferred on or a duty given to the Chief Adjudicator under this Act or under the Securities Act or the Commodity Futures Act to an employee of the Commission assigned to assist the Tribunal in the performance of its functions.

Revocation of delegation

The Commission also has the power to revoke any delegation made by it pursuant to the corresponding provision authorizing such delegation.

Current delegation orders:

Chief Executive Officer's designation and determination

The OSA and CFA authorize the Director to exercise certain regulatory powers. Operationally it would not be feasible for a single person to make all the decisions that the Director is authorized by statute to make. For this reason, Director is defined in the OSA and CFA to include the Commission’s Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director, Director or Deputy Director, or an employee of that is designated by the Chief Executive Officer.

The “Chief Executive Officer’s Designation and Determination” is an official list of Commission employees who are designated by the Chief Executive Officer and can exercise the Director’s statutory powers. Below are provisions in the OSA and CFA that authorize the Chief Executive Office to make such designation:

  • OSA section 1 – The definition of “Director” includes employees of the Commission that the Chief Executive Officer designates.
  • OSA section 1 – The definition of “Director” includes employees of the Commission that the Chief Executive Officer designates.

Current designation and determination:

Authorization orders

The SCA enables the Commission’s board of directors to authorize one or more of its directors to exercise any of the Commission’s powers or perform any of its duties under the OSA, CFA or any other Act. This authorization by the board must be in writing, and a decision of the director or directors acting under the authorization has the same force and effect as if the decision were made by the Commission.

The following provision of the SCA enables the board of directors to make such authorization orders:

  • SCA subsection 5(3) - The Commission may authorize one or more of its directors to exercise any of the Commission’s powers or perform any of its duties under the OSA, CFA or any other Act. 

Recent authorization order: