The transition office that is working to establish a single securities regulator in Canada will work closely with a committee of advisors from each province to ensure that regional views are incorporated into the plan, the head of the office said on Thursday.

Doug Hyndman, chair and CEO of the Canadian Securities Transition Office, said participating provinces would nominate individuals to serve as advisors to work with the transition office.

“Their role is to provide advice to us on everything that we’re working on – the legislation and the transition plan,” said Hyndman, speaking at the Investment Industry Association of Canada’s annual conference in Toronto.

“I see them primarily as intermediaries between the transition office and the participating provinces, to make sure they bring the views and concerns of their provinces to the table, so we can discuss them all collectively, and make sure we design an agency that’s going to get maximum buy-in from those provinces.”

Hyndman said the Minister of Finance would soon announce the composition of the provincial advisory teams.

The plan to work closely with the provinces comes amid hefty resistance to the national securities plan from some of the provinces. Hyndman said the provinces’ commitment to advise the transition office was not an indication that they supported the plan.

“Just because the provinces put someone on the advisory committee doesn’t mean they’re fully committed to doing this,” he said. “It means they’re willing to work with us and if we can develop a proposal that those provinces find acceptable, then they presumably will sign on.”

Hyndman noted that the proposed opt-in model for the single regulator would allow the transition office to move forward with its plan even if some provinces continue to oppose the plan.

“The government is not intending to force this on unwilling provinces. We’re working with those who are willing and interested to work with us in the development of a Canadian securities regulator,” he said.

But he added that the objective of the office was to design a plan that appealed to all provinces.

Ian Russell, president and CEO of IIAC, applauded the plan to establish a single securities regulator.

“The securities industry is committed to assisting this newly established transition team to move on with this agenda of creating a federal securities act, and to implement a business plan to put this single regulator in place over the next couple of years,” said Russell. He noted that IIAC had established a steering committee of 25 senior executives to work with the transition office.

Hyndman said the ultimate goal of the transition office was to design the strongest securities regulator in the world.

“I think that’s quite achievable for Canada,” he said.

During the first year of the transition office’s mandate, it is developing a draft securities act to present to the Ministry of Finance and a plan to transition to the new legislation. The government is aiming to have a national securities regulator fully functioning by 2012.

IE