The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) has announced that its next biennial industry business continuity planning trading simulation test will take place on Saturday October 25, 2025.
As with the previous industry BCP tests in 2019, 2021, and 2023, the date coincides with industry test dates in the United States to facilitate participation by market participants who participate in both the Canadian and US markets.
The industry business continuity planning test provides the Canadian capital markets community with an opportunity to demonstrate its ability to recover from a significant disruptive event.
Similar to the 2023 simulation, participant dealers with annual trading volumes at or above 1 billion shares (based on 2024 trading data) will be required to participate in the trading simulation. All other participant dealers are encouraged to join voluntarily as their involvement will help assess the resilience of the entire system while also testing their own internal capabilities.
In addition to the trading simulation, two additional tests will also be conducted on separate dates, with further details to be provided in the coming months:
- An Incident Response Plan exercise. Developed in collaboration with the Canadian Securities Administrators, this hands-on simulation-based exercise is designed to test incident response planning.
- A crisis communication test will also be undertaken.
CIRO staff will contact all participant dealers in April 2025 to confirm their required level of participation in the 2025 industry BCP test.
In the coming weeks, CIRO will also establish an industry working group to provide guidance and support in preparing for the test.
