Chi-X Canada ATS Ltd. today announced that, having completed the rollout of its smart router technology to subscribers, it’s the first Canadian market centre to offer smart-order routing.

The firm, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Instinet Inc., says that its proprietary SmartRouter is based on the next-generation of Instinet’s existing smart-order routing technology. The service not only routes orders to the Canadian market centre with best available price — the main stipulation of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada’s best price obligation — but also allows users to post buy or sell orders on multiple markets.

Chi-X Canada says it believes this market-level innovation will soon become a critical component for all market centres in Canada.

“Our proven, proprietary smart-order routing technology is a significant differentiator, as we are the first and only market centre to offer this service today,” said Tal Cohen, head of Chi-X Canada. “We also believe that this offering will play a large role in helping brokers meet their best price obligation, and that it is consistent with IIROC’s recent comments suggesting that this functionality should exist at the market centre level.”