Cenovus is authorized to issue an unlimited number of common shares and first and second preferred shares not exceeding, in aggregate, 20 percent of the number of issued and outstanding common shares. The first and second preferred shares may be issued in one or more series with rights and conditions to be determined by the Company’s Board of Directors prior to issuance and subject to the Company’s articles. Prior to the close of the Arrangement, Cenovus’s articles were amended effective December 30, 2020 to create the Cenovus series 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 first preferred shares.

	2020				2019
As at December 31,	Number of Common Shares (thousands)		Amount		Number of Common Shares (thousands)		Amount
Outstanding, Beginning of Year		1,228,828		11,040		1,228,790		11,040
Common Shares Issued Under Stock Option Plan (Note 32)		42		-		38	-
Outstanding, End of Year		1,228,870		11,040		1,228,828		11,040

There were no preferred shares outstanding as at December 31, 2020 (2019 – nil).

As at December 31, 2020, there were 27 million (2019 – 26 million) common shares available for future issuance under the stock option plan.

Subsequent to December 31, 2020, the Company issued common shares and first preferred shares in connection to the Arrangement that closed on January 1, 2021 (see Note 39).

Cenovus’s paid in surplus reflects the Company’s retained earnings prior to the split of Encana Corporation (“Encana”) under the plan of arrangement into two independent energy companies, Encana (now known as Ovintiv Inc.) and Cenovus (pre-arrangement earnings). In addition, paid in surplus includes stock-based compensation expense related to the Company’s NSRs discussed in Note 32A.

	Pre-Arrangement Earnings		Stock-Based Compensation		Total
As at December 31, 2018		4,086		281		4,367
Stock-Based Compensation Expense		-		10		10
As at December 31, 2019		4,086		291		4,377
Stock-Based Compensation Expense		-		14		14
As at December 31, 2020		4,086		305		4,391