Canadian and US moves on reporting frequency could reshape how institutional investors track performance
Canadian regulators and exchanges are weighing whether to loosen quarterly earnings rules just as political and market forces in the United States push in the same direction.
Reuters says TMX Group, which runs the Toronto Stock Exchange, is discussing new rules with Canadian regulators that would let all companies switch from quarterly to semi‑annual earnings reports, mirroring an initiative in the United States.
The move comes as Canada attempts to revive its IPO market and reverse a years-long shrinkage of publicly traded companies driven by delistings and takeovers.
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the country’s top securities regulator, late last year published a proposal that would allow smaller companies, typically with revenues of less than $10m, to replace quarterly earnings reports with semi-annual filings.
TMX is suggesting that the newly proposed rules should also include larger publicly listed companies, Reuters said.
TMX CEO John McKenzie told Reuters that the exchange has recommended going further.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Futures Industry Association’s annual conference in Florida, McKenzie said they have recommended that the CSA go further and consider making the change optional for all public companies.
He said companies and shareholders should decide, and that if investors want more information “they will tell them or they won’t provide capital.”
Reuters reported that, in recent years, Canada has reduced tax burdens for smaller companies and eased onerous financial disclosure requirements for companies seeking to tap the public markets, in order to encourage more listings on stock exchanges.
McKenzie also said that if the US push against quarterly reporting “gets traction,” Canadian regulators have indicated they would “follow it immediately,” with “zero lag time.”
On the US side, Reuters said US President Donald Trump stated last year that companies should be allowed to get rid of quarterly reporting and switch to a semi-annual earnings schedule.
CNBC reported that in September last year Trump floated the idea that US companies should stop providing earnings reports on a quarterly basis and switch to semiannual instead.
Trump initially raised the idea in a Truth Social post, saying it is “subject to SEC approval” and would “save money, and allow managers to focus on properly running their companies.”
He added, “Did you ever hear the statement that, ‘China has a 50 to 100 year view on management of a company, whereas we run our companies on a quarterly basis??? Not good!!!’”
CNBC reported that during his first term Trump had asked the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to study the issue, but no recommendations came of that matter.
The SEC told the network it is actively looking into the plan. “At President Trump’s request, Chairman [Paul] Atkins and the SEC is prioritizing this proposal to further eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens on companies,” an agency spokesperson said.
The broader debate over quarterly practices has been building for years.
CNBC noted that in a 2018 opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon advocated doing away with quarterly guidance, though not earnings reports, writing that “quarterly earnings guidance often leads to an unhealthy focus on short-term profits at the expense of long-term strategy, growth and sustainability.”
CNBC reported that current US regulations require companies to report earnings on a quarterly basis, while providing forecasts is voluntary, and that the rules can be changed either by the SEC or by Congress.
According to Reuters, companies in many parts of Europe and Asia, as well as Australia, have been reporting earnings every six months for several years.
TMX is hoping for a big pick-up in IPO activity this year, driven by a rebound in the mining industry that has helped offset market volatility arising from the war in Iran and a recent software selloff.
Several companies, including AGT Food and Ingredients and drugmaker Apotex, are aiming to tap the public markets this year.
McKenzie told Reuters that the Toronto Stock Exchange is poised to regain its status as the world’s top mining hub after a revival in listings from the sector driven by increased global demand for critical minerals over the past year.
Roughly 1,100 mining companies currently trade on Canadian stock exchanges.
With respect to geopolitics and supply chains, McKenzie told Reuters that US moves to onshore production and strike mineral partnerships to counter China are opening more opportunities for prospectors and developers to build new mines.
“So it’s a very pro‑mining economy,” he said.
