The Toronto Stock Exchange is the major player in the Canadian stock market. It opens for a total of 6 hours 30 minutes on Weekdays only.
Canada Stock Market Open Times
- 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time GMT-05:00).
- 6:30 AM to 1 PM (Pacific Time GMT -08:00).
Although some stock markets in Asia close for lunch (between 30 minutes to 1 hour), the Toronto Stock Exchange and other major markets worldwide do not.
What is the Stock Market?
When a business enterprise is formed, its owners source funds through various means depending on its legal ownership structure. E.g. Owners’ earnings, savings, borrowings or contributions from shareholders. A Publicly Traded Company is the only type of company allowed to raise funds from the general public.
When members of the general public pool funds together to secure units or slices of a company, they are known as shareholders. A ‘Share’ or ‘Stock’ is the basic unit of a company’s equity. Private individuals can purchase it as well as corporate entities or even Governments (Public Corporations).
Shareholders have legal rights to a pre-determined portion of the company’s equity and earn benefits such as dividends. Shareholders also have voting rights (depending on the class of shares and volume of stock they hold), which empowers them to have a say in how the business is run.
What happens in the Stock Market?
At any point in time, members of the general public, as well as existing shareholders, may decide to buy or sell some of the shares they hold for cash. Similarly, companies may decide to issue more shares to raise extra funds.
There are millions of publicly traded companies and their shareholders making these decisions daily. For all of these activities to take place seamlessly, there is a need for a central standard meeting point or marketplace for everyone to trade. This, in a nutshell, is what is known as the Stock Market.
Like our regular grocery stores, brick and mortar shopping malls or online stores where we purchase our regular day to day items, the stock market is an aggregation of markets or exchanges where issuance of new shares, buying and selling of existing shares take place.
The stock market serves as a ready means for companies to raise the capital required for crucial expansion projects, meet short-term obligations, and fund the day to day running of the business.
Canadian Stock Market
The largest stock exchanges in the world by market capitalization include NASDAQ (USA), Japan Exchange Group, Shanghai Stock Exchange, and Hong Kong Exchanges.
In Canadian Stock Market, the Toronto Exchange and the Canadian Securities Exchange take center stage. The Canadian stock market is regulated by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) to prevent trading malpractices.
Stock Market Holidays 2021
The stock market shuts down on certain designated holidays in Canada and the USA.
Canadian Holidays
- New Year’s Day – January 1, 2021
- Family Day – Feb 15, 2021
- Good Friday – April 2, 2021
- Victoria Day – May 24, 2021
- Canada Day – July 1, 2021
- Civic Holiday – August 2, 2021
- Labor Day – September 6, 2021
- Thanksgiving Day – October 11, 2021
- In Lieu of Christmas Day – December 27, 2021
- In Lieu of Boxing Day – December 28, 2021
USA Holidays
- Martin Luther King, Jr Day – January 18, 2021
- Memorial Day – May 31, 2021
- Independence Day – July 5, 2021
- Thanksgiving Day – November 25, 2021
- In Lieu of Christmas Day – December 24, 2021.
