Dividends are payable to holders of Common Shares and Class A Non-Voting Shares. Dividends paid by the Corporation in 2006 and subsequent years are considered "eligible dividends" for tax purposes until this notice is removed.
Capitalized terms
Capitalized terms have the meaning ascribed to such terms as defined in the Dividend Reinvestment Plan (the “Plan”), a copy of which may be obtained by visiting www.computershare.com/investorcentrecanada
The Plan enables registered and non-registered holders of Eligible Shares who are residents of Canada to elect to have their cash dividends on such shares invested in newly issued Class A Non-Voting Shares. Participants will continue to be liable for any income tax which may be payable on the amounts of dividends reinvested.
All registered and non-registered holders of Eligible Shares who are residents of Canada are eligible to participate in the Plan. No Class A Non-Voting Shares will be offered for sale under the Plan in the United States or in any other jurisdiction except Canada. Persons who appear to be, or who the Corporation or the Agent has reason to believe are, residents of or present in the United States or in any other jurisdiction except Canada, will not be permitted to participate in the Plan.
A registered Shareholder is a Shareholder whose Eligible Shares are registered in his, her or its own name. If a Shareholder holds Eligible Shares through a Nominee, that Shareholder is most likely a non-registered Shareholder.
Many of the instructions in this Plan apply specifically to registered Shareholders. Many Shareholders who will participate in the Plan, however, are non-registered Shareholders. In general, non-registered Shareholders should contact the Nominee through which they hold Eligible Shares in order to participate in the Plan and provide instructions regarding their investment in Eligible Shares.
To participate in the Plan, a registered Shareholder must properly complete an Enrollment Form and deliver it to the Agent. Alternatively, a registered Shareholder can enroll in the Plan online from the Agent’s website at: www.computershare.com/investorcentrecanada.
A registered Shareholder will begin participating in the Plan as of the first Dividend Record Date after the Agent has received that holder’s properly completed Enrollment Form, provided that it is received no later than the Cut-Off Time on the Cut-Off Date. Enrollment can also be completed online at the Agent’s website. If the properly completed Enrollment Form is not received by the Agent prior to this deadline, the Shareholder will begin participating in the Plan as of the next Dividend Record Date. The Dividend Record Dates are generally the last Business Days in January, April, July and October in each year but can be otherwise determined by the Board.
Eligible Shares enrolled by a registered Shareholder in the Plan will remain enrolled in and will automatically continue to be enrolled in the Plan until such time as the Plan is terminated by the Corporation or until the registered Shareholder’s enrollment is terminated by the registered Shareholder or by the Corporation. The Class A Non-Voting Shares acquired under the Plan for the account of the Participant will automatically be enrolled in the Plan.
Non-registered Shareholders should contact the Nominee through which they hold Eligible Shares well in advance of any Dividend Record Date in order to give the Nominee enough time to make arrangements to enroll the non-registered Shareholder in the Plan before the related Dividend Payment Date.
On the Dividend Payment Date, the Agent will purchase additional Class A Non-Voting Shares, including any fraction of a Class A Non-Voting Share calculated to three decimal places, from the Corporation at the Average Market Price which means a price equal to the weighted average price at which the Class A Non-Voting Shares trade on the TSX on the five trading days on which Class A Non-Voting Shares trade immediately preceding a Dividend Payment Date.
Computershare currently acts as the agent for the Participants under the Plan. If Computershare ceases to act as Plan agent for any reason, another trust company will be designated by the Corporation to act as Plan agent and Participants (or their Nominees) will be promptly notified of the change. On each Dividend Payment Date, the Corporation promptly pays to the Agent on behalf of the Participants all cash dividends paid on their Eligible Shares (including their Class A Non-Voting Shares held by the Agent under the Plan). These funds are used by the Agent to purchase additional Class A Non-Voting Shares for the Participants directly from the Corporation. All Class A Non-Voting Shares purchased under the Plan are registered in the name of the Agent or its nominee, as agent for the Participants, and credited to the Participants’ (or their Nominees’) accounts.
All Class A Non-Voting Shares purchased under the Plan will be registered in the name of the Agent or its nominee, as agent for Participants in the Plan. The number of Class A Non-Voting Shares held by each Participant under the Plan will be shown on each Statement of Account. Future dividends on Class A Non-Voting Shares held for a Participant will be reinvested in the Plan.
Class A Non-Voting Shares purchased under the Plan will be registered in the name of the Agent or its nominee, as agent for Participants in the Plan, and certificates for such shares will not normally be issued to Participants unless specifically requested in writing by a registered Shareholder. This method of registration protects against loss, theft or destruction of share certificates. A Participant who is a registered Shareholder may, upon completing a Withdrawal Form have a share certificate issued and registered in the Participant’s name for any number of whole Class A Non-Voting Shares held for the Participant’s account under the Plan. Share certificates will be issued within three weeks of receipt of the request by the Agent. Shares withdrawn by the Participant will continue to participate in the Plan unless the Participant terminates the enrollment of all of his, her or its Eligible Shares from the Plan. In addition, any remaining whole Class A Non-Voting Shares and any fractional shares thereof will continue to be held by the Agent or its nominee for the Participant’s account under the Plan.
Class A Non-Voting Shares may, where allowed for or permitted by applicable law and subject to the eligibility and participation by the Corporation, from time to time, in any applicable direct registration system, be electronically issued without a certificate as soon as practicable following a request. No person shall be entitled to receive a certificate, by way of electronic issuance or otherwise, for any fraction of a Class A Non-Voting Share.
In order for a registered Shareholder who is a Participant to terminate participation in the Plan and resume receiving cash dividends in respect of Eligible Shares on a particular Dividend Payment Date, he, she or it must complete a Termination Form no later than the Cut-Off Time on the Cut-Off Date. When the participation of a registered Shareholder in the Plan is terminated, the Participant will receive a certificate for the number of whole Class A Non-Voting Shares held for such Participant's account together with a cash payment for any fraction of a share held for such account, which payment will be determined with reference to the closing price of the Class A Non-Voting Shares on the day prior to the effective date of termination. If the Termination Form is received by the Agent after the Cut-Off Time on the Cut-Off Date and prior to the Dividend Payment Date, the Participant's account will not be closed until after the Dividend Payment Date.
A non-registered Shareholder whose Eligible Shares are held through a Nominee should contact that Nominee in order to make arrangements for the termination of that Shareholder’s participation in the Plan.
A copy of the Plan, additional forms and/or information about the Plan may be obtained at any time from the Agent’s website at: www.computershare.com/investorcentrecanada or by calling toll-free 1-877-982-8768.