TSXV sets separate dollar tests for Tier 1 and Tier 2

The record

The TSX Venture Exchange, a separate market operated by TMX Group from the senior Toronto Stock Exchange, publishes its own minimum listing requirements in Policy 2.1 of its Corporate Finance Manual. The policy splits listing candidates into Tier 1, described as the exchange's premier tier for its most advanced issuers, and Tier 2, for earlier-stage companies. For the Industrial, Technology or Life Sciences segment, a Tier 2 issuer needs CAD 750,000 in net tangible assets, or CAD 500,000 in revenue, or CAD 2,000,000 raised through an arm's-length financing, along with working capital sufficient to run its business plan for 12 months plus CAD 100,000 unallocated, a public float of at least 500,000 shares, at least 200 public shareholders, and 20% of shares in public hands. A Tier 1 issuer in the same segment needs CAD 5,000,000 in net tangible assets or revenue, an 18-month working-capital runway plus CAD 200,000 unallocated, a 1,000,000-share float and at least 250 public shareholders.

What the documents establish

Policy 2.1 is TMX's own rulebook text, current as at March 31, 2026 per its footer, not a summary written by a listing agent or law firm. It sets out separate tables for five industry segments, mining, oil and gas, industrial or technology, real estate and investment, each with its own asset, working-capital and expenditure tests, which means TSX Venture Exchange requirements is not one number but a matrix that depends on both tier and sector. TMX's own listing overview page separately confirms that the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange are presented as two exchanges, each with its own listing track, inside the same corporate group, which is the basis for treating their thresholds as non-interchangeable rather than as two tiers of a single ladder.

The operating read

A founder comparing the TSX to the TSX Venture Exchange in casual conversation is comparing two different rulebooks with different currency thresholds, different float requirements and different sector tables. Editorially, the more useful question is not which exchange but which tier and segment, since a Tier 2 technology issuer and a Tier 1 mining issuer answer to almost entirely different numbers inside the same policy document. Reading the specific segment table that applies, rather than the policy's headline thresholds, is the only way to know what a given company actually had to clear.

What to check before you decide

Before citing a TSX Venture listing as evidence of a company's financial scale, check the following against Policy 2.1 and the company's own listing application.

• Which tier, Tier 1 or Tier 2, and which industry segment table did the issuer qualify under?
• Did the issuer meet the net tangible assets branch of the test, or the revenue or financing branch, since each implies a different company stage?
• Is the version of Policy 2.1 being cited current, given TMX amends the Corporate Finance Manual periodically?

Policy 2.1 is a live rulebook, current as retrieved on 16 September 2026, and its thresholds should not be read across to the senior Toronto Stock Exchange or to any other jurisdiction's own listing standard without checking that exchange's separate text.