How to Read SEDI Filings — a practical guide for Canadian investors

SEDI is the System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders — Canada's equivalent of the SEC's EDGAR Form 4 system. If you research TSX or TSX-V names, learning to read SEDI properly is one of the highest-leverage skills available. Most US-only research tools ignore it entirely.

Who has to file on SEDI

Section 3.2 of National Instrument 55-104 requires “reporting insiders” of TSX and TSX-V issuers to file every direct or indirect change in beneficial ownership. The reporting-insider list typically includes:

• Directors and senior officers of the issuer.
• Significant shareholders — anyone holding 10%+ of voting securities.
• Directors and senior officers of significant shareholders.
• Management of the issuer's investment manager (where applicable).

The deadline matters. Initial reports are due within ten calendar days of becoming a reporting insider. Subsequent reports for ordinary trades are due within five calendar days of the transaction. Late filings are themselves a signal — the issuer's controls may be weak.

The transaction codes that matter

Every SEDI line carries a numeric “Nature of transaction” code. The full list is in the SEDI user guide; the ones that move the needle for analysis are:

Reading patterns, not single trades

One insider buying $20K of stock means little. Three insiders independently buying open-market in the same week, after a quiet quarter, while the share price is flat — that's a pattern worth examining. Specifically look for:

1. Cluster buying. Multiple insiders, ideally from different governance roles (director + CEO + CFO), filing code 10 within a tight window.
2. Open-market vs option-exercise. Code 10 is paid-for-with-cash conviction. Code 50 followed by code 10 sale is just compensation conversion — usually neutral.
3. Share-class context. Some Canadian issuers have multi-class structures. A founder selling restricted stock isn't the same as a director buying voting common.
4. Timing relative to disclosed news. Insider buys filed shortly before a major announcement are reviewed by securities regulators.

Where SEDI falls short (and how to compensate)

• Slow filings. The five-day window means by the time an active retail investor sees a SEDI entry, the market may have moved. Combine SEDI with the issuer's news flow on SEDAR+ for context.
• Ownership is fragmented. Indirect holdings via family trusts and holding companies appear under separate entities. Always check “Holding company” rows alongside the named insider.
• Dual-listed issuers. Insiders of a TSX-listed company that also lists in the US report on SEDI. If the company is a foreign private issuer in the US, its insiders are generally exempt from SEC Form 4, so SEDI is where their trades are reported. If it files with the SEC as a US domestic issuer, its insiders also file Form 4, and the two systems use different codes for the same trade.

What Quintarthai covers

Quintarthai does not ingest SEDI. The Insider Filings Explorer in our dashboard covers US SEC Form 4 filings only. Insiders of foreign private issuers, a group that includes most TSX-listed companies, are generally exempt from Form 4 and report on SEDI instead, so for most TSX tickers the explorer shows no Form 4 filings. For those names, SEDI itself is the record to read.

None of this is investment advice. Insider activity is one input among many. We surface the data — you decide what to do with it.