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SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY
12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2023
SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY  
SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

9.     SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Authorized

Unlimited common shares, without par value.

Unlimited preferred shares, without par value.

Omnibus incentive plan

On February 25, 2021, the Company adopted an omnibus incentive plan (“Omnibus Plan”) consistent with the policies and rules of Nasdaq. Pursuant to the Omnibus Plan, the Company may issue stock options, share appreciation rights, restricted shares, restricted share units and other share-based awards. As of September 30, 2023, the Company has not issued any instruments other than stock options under the Omnibus Plan.

Prior to the adoption of the Omnibus Plan, the Company issued equity compensation pursuant to the Company’s amended and restated stock option plan (the “Legacy Option Plan”), Amended and Restated Restricted Share Unit Plan (the “RSU Plan”) and Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Since the adoption of the Omnibus Plan, no further grants have been made under the Legacy Option Plan or RSU Plan, though existing grants under the Legacy Option Plan will continue in effect in accordance with their terms.

As of September 30, 2023, the Omnibus Plan has a maximum of 8,410,907 Common Shares which may be reserved for issuance.

Employee Share Purchase Plan

The Company has adopted an Employee Share Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) under which qualifying employees may be granted purchase rights (“Purchase Rights”) to the Company’s Common Shares at not less of 85% of the market price at the lesser of the date the Purchase Right is granted or exercisable. The Company currently holds offerings consisting of six-month periods commencing on January 1 and July 1 and ending on June 30 and December 31 of each calendar year. As at September 30, 2023, the ESPP has a maximum of 208,836 (2022 –236,598) Common Shares reserved for issuance.

Eligible employees are able to contribute up to 15% of their gross base earnings for purchases under the ESPP through regular payroll deductions. Purchase of shares under the ESPP are limited for each employee at $25,000 worth of the Company’s Common Shares (determined using the lesser of (i) the market price of a common share on the first day of an applicable purchase period and (ii) the market price of a common share on the purchase date) for each calendar year in which a purchase right is outstanding.

During the year ended September 30, 2023, the Company issued a total of 27,762 (2022 –15,820) Common Shares upon the exercise of Purchase Rights. The Company recognizes compensation expense for purchase rights on a straight-line basis over the service period.

For the year ended

September 30, 

    

2023

    

2022

Research and development expense

$

4,517

 

$

16,381

General and administrative

 

7,031

 

13,562

$

11,548

$

29,943

The Company measures the purchase rights based on their estimated grant date fair value using the Black-Scholes option pricing model and the estimated number of shares that can be purchased. The following weighted average assumptions were used for the valuation of purchase rights:

2023

    

2022

    

Risk-free interest rate

 

4.90

%  

0.94

%  

Expected life of share purchase rights

 

6 months

 

6 months

 

Expected annualized volatility

 

72.45

%  

89.42

%  

Dividend

 

 

 

Stock options

Pursuant to the Legacy Option Plan and Omnibus Plan, options were previously or may be granted, respectively, with expiry terms of up to 10 years, and vesting criteria and periods are approved by the Board at its discretion. The options issued under the Legacy Option Plan and Omnibus Plan are accounted for as equity-settled share-based payments.

Stock option transactions are summarized as follows:

    

    

Weighted

Number

Average

of Options

Exercise Price*

 

Balance, September 30, 2021

 

6,803,230

$

5.20

Options granted

 

1,347,500

 

4.55

Options exercised

(72,910)

(4.41)

Options expired/forfeited

 

(175,759)

 

(3.60)

Balance, September 30, 2022

 

7,902,061

$

5.13

Options granted

 

300,000

 

2.97

Options expired/forfeited

 

(89,287)

 

(12.27)

Balance outstanding, September 30, 2023

 

8,112,774

$

4.97

Balance exercisable, September 30, 2023

 

6,444,885

$

4.79

*Options exercisable in Canadian dollars as at September 30, 2023 are translated at current rates to reflect the current weighted average exercise price in U.S. dollars for all outstanding options.

At September 30, 2023, options were outstanding enabling holders to acquire Common Shares as follows:

    

Weighted average remaining

Exercise price

Number of options

contractual life (years)

$

2.39

50,000

8.96

$

2.70

20,000

9.59

$

2.71

20,000

9.57

$

2.91

175,000

 

9.33

$

2.97

15,000

 

9.65

$

3.05

50,000

 

9.69

$

3.23

3,629,400

 

6.02

*

$

3.59

26,667

 

6.05

$

3.60

910,000

 

8.75

$

3.75

20,000

 

9.18

$

3.81

185,816

 

5.36

$

4.00

539,518

 

4.22

$

4.67

168,227

 

6.09

$

5.99

190,000

 

8.56

$

7.00

1,458,646

 

7.20

*

$

8.47

120,000

 

8.04

$

9.76

50,000

 

8.39

$

13.96

190,000

 

7.29

$

29.63

100,000

 

7.58

$

31.62

50,000

 

7.67

C$

4.90

124,500

 

3.63

*

C$

5.06

20,000

 

5.36

*

8,112,774

 

6.68

* 3,500 options expired unexercised and 41,250 options exercised subsequent to September 30, 2023

Share-based compensation

During the year ended September 30, 2023, the Company granted a total of 300,000 (2022 – 1,347,500) stock options with a weighted average fair value of $2.82 per option (2022 – $3.20).

The Company recognized share-based payments expense for options granted and vesting, net of recoveries on cancellations of unvested options, during the years ended September 30, 2023 and 2022 with allocations to its functional expense as follows:

For the year ended

September 30, 

2023

    

2022

Research and development expense

$

2,622,987

 

$

4,306,463

General and administrative

 

2,372,934

 

3,551,679

$

4,995,921

 

$

7,858,142

The following weighted average assumptions were used for the Black-Scholes option-pricing model valuation of stock options granted:

2023

    

2022

Risk-free interest rate

 

3.78

%  

2.73

%

Expected life of options

 

10.00

years

10.00

years

Expected annualized volatility

 

186.50

%  

79.11

%

Dividend

 

 

Warrants

Warrant transactions are summarized as follows:

    

    

Weighted

Number

Average

of Warrants

Exercise Price

 

Balance, September 30, 2021 and September 30, 2022

 

3,234,750

$

4.84

Warrants expired

 

(307,273)

 

(49.86)

Balance outstanding and exercisable, September 30, 2023

 

2,927,477

$

0.11

At September 30, 2023, warrants were outstanding enabling holders to acquire Common Shares as follows:

Number

    

    

of Warrants

Exercise Price

Expiry Date

7,477

*

$

42.80

 

November 18, 2023

2,920,000

$

0.0001

 

August 23, 2024

2,927,477

  

  

 

  

* 7,477 warrants expired unexercised subsequent to September 30, 2023