Volatility in pricing and trading volumes are par for the course on any marketplace. What stood out in 2015, however, was not the usual swings in market sentiment but rather the consistency with which good news stories were able to be found on the CSE.

Despite a challenging year for many publicly listed firms, especially in the small cap space, in 2015 the Canadian Securities Exchange saw record trading volumes (2.47B shares traded), the highest number of listed securities on the exchange (316) and 273 financing deals that raised a total of $194M.

The details of the performance of the CSE in 2015 were shared as part of their latest news release. While the numbers confirm the exchange continues to grow, the figures also validate the model that the CSE offers to emerging and early stage firms who prioritize strategic growth.

CSE Achieves Major Milestones

In addition to the stats and figures, 2015 was an important year at home and internationally for the CSE.

Within the Canadian DIY investor space, the integration of all major Canadian discount brokerages meant that self-directed investors could directly access CSE-listed securities from any Canadian online brokerage.

Internationally, continued dialogue with international business leaders at the World Economic Forum sessions in Toronto and Miami, a CSE Day event with the OTC Markets Group in New York City as well as a memorandum of understanding signed with the Taipei Exchange demonstrated the CSE’s commitment to building an internationally recognized venue for listings and for innovation.

A Cause for Optimism

As the “Exchange for Entrepreneurs,” the CSE knows that key ingredients to success are resilience, innovation and of course, optimism.

Publicly listed firms who have made the switch to listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange have already reaped the benefit of lower operating costs. This, in turn, has provided these and other CSE-listed issuers with the resources to focus on strengthening their businesses.

By recognizing and responding to the need for a more efficient platform to raise public capital, the CSE looks to 2016 with a renewed sense of optimism. Like 2015, it seems that if investors and entrepreneurs are looking for good news in the markets, they may not have to look much further than the CSE to find it.