PQEFF Petroteq Energy Inc (CE)

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.

The following risks relate specifically to our business and should be considered carefully. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed by any of the following risks. As a result, the trading price of our common shares could decline and the holders could lose part or all of their investment.

We face business disruption and related risks resulting from the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus 2019 (“COVID-19”), which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

In an effort to contain and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, many countries, including the United States and Canada, have imposed unprecedented restrictions on travel, and there have been business closures and a substantial reduction in economic activity in countries that have had significant outbreaks of COVID-19. The pandemic has had a material adverse effect on our operations. We have scaled back to a skeleton crew and we have suspended production of hydrocarbon products, because of the effects of the recent decline in oil pricing, we are no longer operating (in terms of the cost to produce and sell oil, excluding G&A) on a breakeven basis. We do not plan to resume production until oil prices return to sustainable profitable levels. 

Significant uncertainty remains as to the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations, and on the global economy as a whole. Government-imposed restrictions on travel and other “social-distancing” measures such restrictions on assembly of groups of persons, have the potential to disrupt supply chains for parts and sales channels for our products, and may result in labor shortages.

It is currently not possible to predict how long the pandemic will last or the time that it will take for economic activity to return to prior levels. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely, and intend to follow health and safety guidelines as they evolve.

We expect the ultimate significance of the impact of these disruptions, including the extent of their adverse impact on our financial and operational results, will be dictated by the length of time that such disruptions continue, which will, in turn, depend on the currently unknowable duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of governmental regulations that might be imposed in response. Our business could also be impacted should the disruptions from COVID-19 lead to changes in commercial behavior. The COVID-19 impact on the capital markets could impact our cost of borrowing. There are certain limitations on our ability to mitigate the adverse financial impact of these items, including the fixed costs of our operations. COVID-19 also makes it more challenging for management to estimate future performance of our businesses, particularly over the near to medium term.

We have a limited operating history, and may not be successful in developing profitable business operations.

Our oil extraction segment has a limited operating history. We have generated limited revenue from our oil sands mining and processing activities, and do not anticipate generating any significant revenue from these activities until our Asphalt Ridge processing facility is fully operational. Even once we are fully operational, our business operations must be considered in light of the risks, expenses and difficulties frequently encountered in establishing a business in the oil extraction business. 

We have an insufficient history at this time on which to base an assumption that our oil sands mining and processing operations will prove to be successful in the long-term.  Our future operating results will depend on many factors, including:

To achieve profitable operations in the future, we must, alone or with others, successfully manage the factors stated above, as well as continue to develop ways to enhance or increase the efficiency of our mining and processing operations that are being conducted in the Asphalt Ridge area in eastern Utah.  Despite our best efforts, we may not be successful in our exploration or development efforts or obtain the regulatory approvals required to conduct our operations.  

We have suffered operating losses since inception and we may not be able to achieve profitability.

At August 31, 2020, August 31, 2019 and August 31, 2018, we had an accumulated deficit of ($90,664,349), ($78,285,282) and ($62,497,396), respectively and we expect to continue to incur increasing expenses in the foreseeable future as we develop our oil extraction business. We incurred a net loss of ($12,379,067) and ($15,787,886) for the years ended August 31, 2020 and August 31, 2019, respectively.  As a result, we are sustaining substantial operating and net losses, and it is possible that we will never be able to develop or sustain the revenue levels necessary to attain profitability.

Our ability to be profitable will depend in part upon our ability to manage our operating costs and to generate revenue from our extraction operations. Operating costs could be impacted by inflationary pressures on labor, volatile pricing for natural gas used as an energy source in transportation of fuel and in oil sands processes, and planned and unplanned maintenance.

We have concluded that certain of our previously issued financial statements should not be relied upon and have restated certain of our previously issued financial statements which was time-consuming and expensive and could expose us to additional risks that could have a negative effect on our Company.

As discussed in the Explanatory Note, we have concluded that certain of our previously issued financial statements should not be relied upon. We have restated our previously issued audited consolidated financial statements and related note disclosures as of and for the year ended August 31, 2020 and 2019, and included them in this Amendment. As of the date of this Amendment, we have not yet completed the restatements of certain other Periodic Financial Statements identified in the Explanatory Note. We do not intend to restate our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related note disclosures as of and for the three and six months ended February 28, 2019 and 2018 which were included in our initial registration statement on Form 10 originally filed with the SEC on May 22, 2019, and amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto filed with the SEC on June 24, 2019 and by Amendment No. 2 thereto filed with the SEC on July 5, 2019, and such unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related note disclosures should not be relied on. The restatement process is time consuming and expensive and, along with the failure to file our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended May 31, 2021 with the SEC in a timely manner, could expose us to additional risks that could have a negative effect on our Company. In particular, we incurred substantial unanticipated expenses and costs, including audit, legal and other professional fees, in connection with the restatement of our previously issued financial statements. Our management’s attention was also diverted from some aspects of the operation of our business in connection with the restatement.

The restatement of our financial statements may in the future lead to, among other things, future stockholder litigation, loss of investor confidence, negative impacts on our stock price and certain other risks.

There can be no assurance that litigation against the Company and/or its management or Board of Directors might not be threatened or brought in connection with matters related to our restatements. As a result of the circumstances giving rise to the restatements, we have become subject to certain additional risks and uncertainties, including unanticipated costs for accounting and legal fees in connection with or related to the restatements, potential stockholder litigation, government investigations, and potential claims by Redline Capital Management S.A. as described under Part I, Item 3. - Legal Proceedings and elsewhere in this Amendment. Any such proceeding could result in substantial defense costs regardless of the outcome of the litigation or investigation. If we do not prevail in any such litigation, we could be required to pay substantial damages or settlement costs. In addition, the restatements and related matters could impair our reputation and could cause our counterparties to lose confidence in us. Each of these occurrences could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and stock price.

We expect that our revenues will be limited until our Asphalt Ridge processing facility has become fully operational and we are at full production.

The losses from continuing operations over the past four fiscal years have been largely due to the relocation, reassembly and expansion or our processing facility, and we have faced additional challenges with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As described elsewhere in this Annual Report, the relocation of our Asphalt Ridge processing facility from its original site near Maeser, Utah, to its present site on the TMC Mineral Lease in 2017 occurred during a temporary suspension of our oil sands mining and processing operations that we had initiated in 2016 in the face of a sharp decline in world oil prices, and our resulting inability to operate profitably at low volumes of output. We restarted operations at the end of May 2018, and completed expansion work on the processing facility to increase production during the last quarter of fiscal 2019. We had expected to generate revenue from the sale of hydrocarbon products commencing in the third quarter ended May 31, 2020. However, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, we have suspended production of hydrocarbon products, and do not plan to resume production until oil prices return to sustainable profitable levels. Even once we resume production, we anticipate that our revenue will be limited until we are at full production. We expect that we will require additional capital to continue our operations and planned growth.

The failure to comply with the terms of our secured notes could result in a default under the terms of the note and, if uncured, it could potentially result in action against the pledged assets.

As of August 31, 2020, we had issued and outstanding notes in the principal amount of $930,979 and convertible notes in the principal amount of $10,007,436 to certain private investors which mature between October 2020 and March 30 ,2024 and are secured by a pledge of all of our assets.  If we fail to comply with the terms of the notes, the note holder could declare a default under the notes and if the default were to remain uncured, as secured creditors they would have the right to proceed against the collateral secured by the loans. Any action by secured creditors to proceed against our assets would likely have a serious disruptive effect on our operations.

We have limited capital and will need to raise additional capital in the future.

We do not currently have sufficient capital to fund both our continuing operations and our planned growth. We will require additional capital to meet the terms of the TMC Mineral Lease and to continue to grow our business via acquisitions and to further expand our exploration and development programs. We may be unable to obtain additional capital when required. Future acquisitions and future exploration, development, processing and marketing activities, as well as our administrative requirements (such as salaries, insurance expenses and general overhead expenses, as well as legal compliance costs and accounting expenses) will require a substantial amount of additional capital and cash flows.

We may pursue sources of additional capital through various financing transactions or arrangements, including joint venturing of projects, debt financing, equity financing or other means. We may not be successful in identifying suitable financing transactions in the time period required or at all, and we may not obtain the capital we require by other means. If we do not succeed in raising additional capital, our resources may not be sufficient to fund our planned operations and may force us to curtail operations or cancel planned projects.

Our ability to obtain financing, if and when necessary, may be impaired by such factors as the capital markets (both generally and in the oil and gas industry in particular), our limited operating history, the location of our oil and gas properties and prices of oil and gas on the commodities markets (which will impact the amount of asset-based financing available to us, if any) and the departure of key employees.  Further, if oil or gas prices on the commodities markets decline, our future revenues, if any, will likely decrease and such decreased revenues may increase our requirements for capital.  If the amount of capital we are able to raise from financing activities, together with our revenues from operations, is not sufficient to satisfy our capital needs (even to the extent that we reduce our operations), we may be required to cease our operations, divest our assets at unattractive prices or obtain financing on unattractive terms.

Any additional capital raised through the sale of equity may dilute the ownership percentage of our shareholders.  Raising any such capital could also result in a decrease in the fair market value of our equity securities because our assets would be owned by a larger pool of outstanding equity.  The terms of securities we issue in future capital transactions may be more favorable to our new investors, and may include preferences, superior voting rights and the issuance of other derivative securities, and issuances of incentive awards under equity employee incentive plans, which may have a further dilutive effect.

Any additional debt financing may include conditions that would restrict our freedom to operate our business, such as conditions that:

The incurrence of additional indebtedness could require acceptance of covenants that, if violated, could further restrict our operations or lead to acceleration of the indebtedness that would necessitate winding up or liquidation of our company. In addition to the foregoing, our ability to obtain additional debt financing may be limited and there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain any additional financing on terms that are acceptable, or at all.

We may incur substantial costs in pursuing future capital financing, including investment banking fees, legal fees, accounting fees, securities law compliance fees, printing and distribution expenses and other costs.  We may also be required to recognize non-cash expenses in connection with certain securities we may issue, which may adversely impact our financial condition.

There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

At August 31, 2020, we had not yet achieved profitable operations, had accumulated losses of ($90,664,349) since our inception and a working capital deficit of ($12,955,134), and expect to incur further losses in the development of our business, all of which casts substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. We have incurred net losses for the past five years. As at August 31, 2019 and August 31, 2018, we had an accumulated deficit of ($78,285,282) and ($62,497,396), respectively and a working capital deficit of ($9,268,763) and ($374,567), respectively. The opinion of our independent registered accounting firm on our audited financial statements for the years ended August 31, 2020 and 2019 draws attention to our notes to the financial statements, which describes certain material uncertainties regarding our ability to continue as a going concern. Our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon our ability to generate future profitable operations and/or to obtain the necessary financing to meet our obligations and repay our liabilities arising from normal business operations when they come due. Management’s plan to address our ability to continue as a going concern includes (1) obtaining debt or equity funding from private placement or institutional sources, (2) obtaining loans from financial institutions, where possible, or (3) participating in joint venture transactions with third parties. Although management believes that it will be able to obtain the necessary funding to allow us to remain a going concern through the methods discussed above, there can be no assurances that such methods will prove successful. The accompanying financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Strategic relationships upon which we may rely are subject to change, which may diminish our ability to conduct our operations.

Our ability to successfully acquire oil and gas interests, to establish reserves, and to identify and enter into commercial arrangements with customers will depend on developing and maintaining close working relationships with industry participants and our ability to select and evaluate suitable properties and to consummate transactions in a highly competitive environment. These realities are subject to change and our inability to maintain close working relationships with industry participants or continue to acquire suitable property may impair our ability to execute our business plan.

To continue to develop our business, we will endeavor to use the business relationships of our management to enter into strategic relationships, which may take the form of joint ventures with other private parties and contractual arrangements with other oil and gas companies, including those that supply equipment and other resources that we will use in our business. We may not be able to establish these strategic relationships or, if established, we may not be able to maintain them.  In addition, the dynamics of our relationships with strategic partners may require us to incur expenses or undertake activities we would not otherwise be inclined to in order to fulfill our obligations to these partners or maintain our relationships.  If our strategic relationships are not established or maintained, our business prospects may be limited, which could diminish our ability to conduct our operations.

We may not be able to successfully manage our growth, which could lead to our inability to implement our business plan.

Our growth is expected to place a significant strain on our managerial, operational and financial resources, especially considering that we currently only have a small number of executive officers, employees and advisors. Further, as we enter into additional contracts, we will be required to manage multiple relationships with various consultants, businesses and other third parties. In addition, once we commence operations at our oil extraction facility, our strain on management will further increase. These requirements will be exacerbated in the event of our further growth or in the event that the number of our drilling and/or extraction operations increases. There can be no assurance that our systems, procedures and/or controls will be adequate to support our operations or that our management will be able to achieve the rapid execution necessary to successfully implement our business plan. If we are unable to manage our growth effectively, our business results of operations and financial condition will be adversely affected, which could lead to us being forced to abandon or curtail our business plan and operations.

Our operations are dependent upon us maintaining our mineral lease for the Asphalt Ridge Property.

TMC, one of our wholly owned operating subsidiaries, holds certain mining and mineral production rights under the TMC Mineral Lease, covering lands consisting of approximately 1,229.82 acres located in the Asphalt Ridge area in Uintah County, Utah. The TMC Mineral Lease is subject to termination under various circumstances, including our non-payment of certain advance and production royalties as well as a failure to comply with certain minimum production requirements and receiving funding commitments for expanding or building additional production facilities. We currently intend to fund the expansion/additional facilities through revenue generated from the processing facility at the TMC Mineral Lease, which to date has been minimal, and/or third party funding sources for which we currently have no commitments. If the TMC Mineral Lease were to be terminated, our operations would be significantly impacted until such time that we were able to relocate our processing facility to a site within the SITLA Lease or to secure other acceptable mineral leases for our operations. Any relocation of our processing facility from the TMC Mineral Lease, or the acquisition of other mineral leases for our operations, would require extensive plant relocation and construction work and new regulatory permits to allow our processing facilities at a new lease or mine site to becoming operational. There can be no assurance that we could economically relocate our processing facility to the SITLA Leases or that we would be able to obtain new or substitute mineral leases, if necessary, upon or under acceptable terms, or that any new or substitute leases would permit us to relocate our processing facility to a site within such leases.

The loss of key personnel would directly affect our efficiency and profitability.

Our future success is dependent, in a large part, on retaining the services of our current management team. Our executive officers possess a unique and comprehensive knowledge of our industry, our technology and related matters that are vital to our success within the industry.  The knowledge, leadership and technical expertise of these individuals would be difficult to replace. The loss of one or more of our officers could have a material adverse effect on our operating and financial performance, including our ability to develop and execute our long term business strategy. We do not maintain key-man life insurance with respect to any employees. We do not have employment agreements with any of our executive officers other than our Chief Executive Officer. There can be no assurance that any of our officers will continue to be employed by us.

In the future, we may incur significant increased costs as a result of operating as a U.S reporting company, and our management may be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives.

In the future, we may incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses as a result of operating as a public company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), as well as new rules subsequently implemented by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), have imposed various requirements on public companies, including requiring changes in corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these new compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, we expect these new rules and regulations to make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to incur substantial costs to maintain the same or similar coverage.

We have identified weaknesses in our internal controls, and we cannot provide assurances that these weaknesses will be effectively remediated or that additional material weaknesses will not occur in the future.

As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We expect that the requirements of these rules and regulations will continue to increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time consuming and costly, and place significant strain on our personnel, systems and resources.

We are required requires, among other things, to maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures, and internal control over financial reporting.

We do not yet have effective disclosure controls and procedures, or internal controls over all aspects of our financial reporting. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we will file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms. Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over our financial reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act. We will be required to expend time and resources to further improve our internal controls over financial reporting, including by expanding our staff. However, we cannot assure you that our internal control over financial reporting, as modified, will enable us to identify or avoid material weaknesses in the future.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The material weaknesses identified to date include insufficient number of staff to maintain optimal segregation of duties and levels of oversight. As such, our internal controls over financial reporting were not designed or operating effectively.

We will be required to expend time and resources to further improve our internal controls over financial reporting, including by expanding our staff. However, we cannot assure you that our internal control over financial reporting, as modified, will enable us to identify or avoid material weaknesses in the future.

We have not yet retained sufficient staff or engaged sufficient outside consultants with appropriate experience in GAAP presentation, especially of complex instruments, to devise and implement effective disclosure controls and procedures, or internal controls. We will be required to expend time and resources hiring and engaging additional staff and outside consultants with the appropriate experience to remedy these weaknesses. We cannot assure you that management will be successful in locating and retaining appropriate candidates; that newly engaged staff or outside consultants will be successful in remedying material weaknesses thus far identified or identifying material weaknesses in the future; or that appropriate candidates will be located and retained prior to these deficiencies resulting in material and adverse effects on our business.

Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business, including increased complexity resulting from our international expansion. Further, weaknesses in our disclosure controls or our internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls, or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could also adversely affect the results of management reports and independent registered public accounting firm audits of our internal control over financial reporting that we will eventually be required to include in our periodic reports that will be filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures, and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the market price of our common stock.

Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could have a material and adverse effect on our business and operating results, and cause a decline in the market price of our common stock.

Our operations are currently geographically concentrated and therefore subject to regional economic, regulatory and capacity risks.

All of our production is anticipated to be derived from our properties in the Asphalt Ridge area. As a result of this geographic concentration, we may be disproportionately exposed to the effect of regional supply and demand factors, delays or interruptions of production from ore sands in this area caused by governmental regulation, processing or transportation capacity constraints, market limitations, weather events or interruption of the processing or transportation of crude oil or natural gas. Additionally, we may be exposed to additional risks, such as changes in laws and regulations that could cause us to permanently cease mining operations at Asphalt Ridge.

In addition, the Exchange Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective internal controls for financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. Further, we are required to perform system and process evaluation and testing on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Our testing may reveal deficiencies in our internal controls over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses. Our compliance with Section 404 will require that we incur substantial accounting expense and expend significant management efforts. We currently do not have an internal audit group, and we will need to hire additional accounting and financial staff with appropriate public company experience and technical accounting knowledge. Moreover, if we are not able to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner, or if we or our independent registered public accounting firm identifies deficiencies in our internal controls over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses, the market price of our stock could decline, and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which would require additional financial and management resources.

Licenses and permits are required for our company to operate in some jurisdictions, and the loss of or failure to renew any or all of these licenses and permits or failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations could prevent us from either completing current projects or obtaining future projects, and, thus, materially adversely affect our business.

Our operations will require licenses, permits and in some cases renewals of licenses and permits from various governmental authorities.  Our ability to obtain, sustain or renew such licenses and permits on acceptable terms is subject to change in regulations and policies and to the discretion of the applicable governments, among other factors.  Our inability to obtain, or our loss of or denial of extension of, any of these licenses or permits could hamper our ability to produce revenues from our operations.

We may be required to make significant capital expenditures to comply with laws and the applicable regulations and standards of governmental authorities and organizations.

We are subject to various national, state, and local laws and regulations in the various countries in which we operate, including those relating to the renewable energy industry in general, and may be required to make significant capital expenditures to comply with laws and the applicable regulations and standards of governmental authorities and organizations. Moreover, the cost of compliance could be higher than anticipated. On the effective date hereof, our operations will become subject to compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in addition to certain international conventions and the laws, regulations and standards of other foreign countries in which we operate. 

In addition, many aspects of our operations are subject to laws and regulations that relate, directly or indirectly, to the renewable energy industry. Existing and proposed new governmental conventions, laws, regulations and standards, including those related to climate and emissions of “greenhouse gases,” may in the future add significantly to our operating costs or limit our activities or the activities and levels of capital spending by our customers. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may result in the assessment of administrative, civil and even criminal penalties, the imposition of remedial obligations, and the issuance of injunctions that may limit or prohibit our operations. The application of these requirements, the modification of existing laws or regulations or the adoption of new laws or regulations which impose substantial new regulatory requirements on our oil extraction operations could also harm our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. 

We could be subject to litigation that could have an adverse effect on our business and operating results.

We are, from time to time, involved in litigation. The numerous operating hazards inherent in our business increase our exposure to litigation, which may involve, among other things, contract disputes, personal injury, environmental, employment, warranty and product liability claims, tax and securities litigation, patent infringement and other intellectual property claims and litigation that arises in the ordinary course of business. Our management cannot predict with certainty the outcome or effect of any claim or other litigation matter. Litigation may have an adverse effect on us because of potential negative outcomes such as monetary damages or restrictions on future operations, the costs associated with defending the lawsuits, the diversion of management’s resources and other factors.

Global political, economic and market conditions could negatively impact our business.

Our company’s operations are affected by global political, economic and market conditions. The recent economic downturn has generally reduced the availability of liquidity and credit to fund business operations worldwide and has adversely affected our customers, suppliers and lenders. Our limited capital resources have negatively impacted our activity levels and, in turn, our financial condition and results of operations. A sustained or deeper recession in regions in which we operate could limit overall demand for our renewable energy solutions and could further constrain our ability to generate revenues and margins in those markets and to grow overall.

War, terrorism, geopolitical uncertainties, public health issues, and other business interruptions have caused and could cause damage or disruption to international commerce and the global economy, and thus could have a material adverse effect on us, our suppliers, logistics providers and customers. Our business operations are subject to interruption by, among others, natural disasters (including, without limitation, earthquakes), fire, power shortages, nuclear power plant accidents, terrorist attacks and other hostile acts, labor disputes, public health issues, and other events beyond our control. Such events could decrease demand for our services and products, make it difficult or impossible for us to make and deliver crude oil and hydrocarbon products to our buyers and customers, or to receive necessary supplies from our suppliers, and create delays and inefficiencies in our supply chain. Should major public health issues, including pandemics, arise, we could be adversely affected by more stringent employee travel restrictions, additional limitations in freight services, governmental actions limiting the movement of products between regions, delays in production ramps of new products, and disruptions in the operations of our customers and suppliers. The majority of our business operations, our corporate headquarters, and other critical business operations, including suppliers and customers, are in locations that could be affected by natural disasters. In the event of a natural disaster, we could incur significant losses, require substantial recovery time and experience significant expenditures in order to resume operations.

We do not carry business interruption insurance, and any unexpected business interruptions could adversely affect our business.

Our operations are vulnerable to interruption by earthquake, fire, power failure and power shortages, hardware and software failure, floods, computer viruses, and other events beyond our control.  In addition, we do not carry business interruption insurance to compensate us for losses that may occur as a result of these kinds of events, and any such losses or damages incurred by us could disrupt our projects and our other operations without reimbursement. Because of our limited financial resources, such an event could threaten our viability to continue as a going concern and lead to dramatic losses in the value of our common shares.

Certain Factors Related to Oil Sands Exploration

The Nature of Oil Sands Exploration and Development involves many risks.

Oil sands exploration and development are very competitive and involve many risks that even a combination of experience, knowledge and careful evaluation may not be able to overcome. As with any exploration property, there can be no assurance that commercial deposits of bitumen will be produced from oil sands exploration licenses and our permit lands in Utah.

The Extraction Technology has never been implemented on a large commercial basis as an oil and gas recovery technology before and our assumptions and expectations may not be accurate causing actual results of the implementation of the Extraction Technology to be significantly different form our current expectations. As a result, our operations may not generate any significant revenues from the development of the bitumen resources. In addition, there is no assurance that reserve engineers or lenders will determine that the production resulting from the application of the Extraction Technology can be used to establish reserves.

Furthermore, the marketability of any resource will be affected by numerous factors beyond our control. These factors include, but are not limited to, market fluctuations of prices, proximity and capacity of pipelines and processing equipment, equipment and labor availability and government regulations (including, without limitation, regulations relating to prices, taxes, royalties, land tenure, allowable production, importing and exporting of oil and gas, land use and environmental protection). The extent of these factors cannot be accurately predicted, but the combination of these factors may result in us not receiving an adequate return on invested capital.

Supply risk is a function of the unavailability of oil sands ores containing heavy oil and bitumen, whether from our mineral leases or from third parties; poor ore grade quality or density, and solvents and condensates that we acquire from third parties. Unplanned mine equipment and extraction plant maintenance, storage costs and in situ reservoir and equipment performance could also impact our production targets. Our oil extraction activities will be dependent upon having an available supply of mined oil sands ores and sandstones containing heavy oil and bitumen.

The viability of our business plan, business operations, and future operating results and financial condition are and will be exposed to fluctuating prices for oil, gas, oil products and chemicals.

Prices of oil, gas, oil products and chemicals are affected by supply and demand, which can fluctuate significantly. Factors that influence supply and demand include operational issues, natural disasters, weather, political instability or conflicts, economic conditions and actions by major oil-exporting countries. Price fluctuations can have a material effect on our ability to raise capital and fund our exploration activities, our potential future earnings, and our financial condition. For example, in a low oil and gas price environment oil sands exploration and development may not be economically or financially viable or profitable. Prolonged periods of low oil and gas prices, or rising costs, could result in our mining and processing projects being delayed or cancelled, as well as the impairment of certain assets.

Environmental and regulatory compliance may impose substantial costs on us.

Our operations are or will be subject to stringent federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to improving or maintaining environmental quality. Environmental laws often require parties to pay for remedial action or to pay damages regardless of fault. Environmental laws also often impose liability with respect to divested or terminated operations, even if the operations were terminated or divested many years ago.

Our mining, production and processing activities are or will be subject to extensive laws and regulations governing prospecting, development, production, exports, taxes, labor standards, occupational health, waste disposal, land use, protection and remediation of the environment, protection of endangered and protected species, operational safety, toxic substances and other matters. Generally, oil and gas exploration and production, including our oil sands mining and processing operations, are subject to risks and liabilities associated with pollution of the environment and disposal of waste products. Compliance with these laws and regulations will impose substantial costs on us and will subject us to significant potential liabilities. In addition, should there be changes to existing laws or regulations, our competitive position within the oil sands industry may be adversely affected, as many industry players have greater resources than we do. 

We are required to obtain various regulatory permits and approvals in order to explore and develop our properties. There is no assurance that regulatory approvals for exploration and development of our properties will be obtained at all or with terms and conditions acceptable to us.

We may be exposed to third party liability and environmental liability in the operation of our business.

Our operations could result in liability for personal injuries, property damage, oil spills, discharge of hazardous materials, remediation and clean-up costs and other environmental damage. We could be liable for environmental damages caused by previous owners. As a result, substantial liabilities to third parties or governmental entities may be incurred, and the payment of such liabilities could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. The release of harmful substances in the environment or other environmental damages caused by our activities could result in us losing our operating and environmental permits or inhibit us from obtaining new permits or renewing existing permits. We currently have a limited amount of insurance and, at such time as we commence additional operations, we expect to be able to obtain and maintain additional insurance coverage for our operations, including limited coverage for sudden environmental damages, but we do not believe that insurance coverage for environmental damage that occurs over time is available at a reasonable cost. Moreover, we do not believe that insurance coverage for the full potential liability that could be caused by environmental damage is available at a reasonable cost. Accordingly, we may be subject to liability or may lose substantial portions of our properties in the event of certain environmental damage. We could incur substantial costs to comply with environmental laws and regulations which could affect our ability to operate as planned.

American climate change legislation could negatively affect markets for crude and synthetic crude oil

Environmental legislation regulating carbon fuel standards in the United States (or elsewhere) could adversely affect companies that produce, refine, transport, process and sell crude oil and refined products, including our oil sands mining and processing operations, and could result in increased costs and/or reduced revenue. For example, both the state of California and the U.S. Government have passed legislation which, in some circumstances, considers the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of purchased fuel and which may negatively affect our business or require the purchase of emissions credits, which may not be economically feasible.

Because of the speculative nature of oil exploration, there is risk that we will not find commercially exploitable oil and gas and that our business will fail.

The search for commercial quantities of oil and gas as a business is extremely risky. We cannot provide investors with any assurance that any properties in which we obtain a mineral interest will contain commercially exploitable quantities of oil and gas or heavy oil and bitumen contained in oil sands.  The exploration expenditures to be made by us may not result in the discovery of commercial quantities of oil and/or gas.  Problems such as unusual or unexpected formations or pressures, premature declines of reservoirs, invasion of water into producing formations and other conditions involved in oil and gas exploration often result in unsuccessful exploration efforts. If we are unable to find commercially exploitable quantities of oil and gas (in particular oil sands containing economically recoverable heavy oil and bitumen), and/or we are unable to commercially extract such quantities, we may be forced to abandon or curtail our business plan and, as a result, any investment in us may become worthless.

The price of oil and gas has historically been volatile.  If it were to decrease substantially, our projections, budgets and revenues would be adversely affected, potentially forcing us to make changes in our operations.

Our future financial condition, results of operations and the carrying value of any oil and gas interests we acquire will depend primarily upon the prices paid for oil and gas production. Oil and gas prices historically have been volatile and likely will continue to be volatile in the future, especially given current world geopolitical conditions. Our cash flows from operations are highly dependent on the prices that we receive for oil and gas. This price volatility also affects the amount of our cash flows available for capital expenditures and our ability to borrow money or raise additional capital. The prices for oil and gas are subject to a variety of additional factors that are beyond our control. These factors include:

These factors as well as the volatility of the energy markets generally make it extremely difficult to predict future oil and gas price movements with any certainty. Declines in oil and gas prices affect our revenues and accordingly, such declines could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, our future oil and gas reserves and the carrying values of our oil and gas properties. If the oil and gas industry experiences significant price declines, we may be unable to make planned expenditures, among other things. If this were to happen, we may be forced to abandon or curtail our business operations, which would cause the value of an investment in us to decline in value or become worthless.

Because of the inherent dangers involved in oil and gas operations, there is a risk that we may incur liability or damages as we conduct our business operations, which could force us to expend a substantial amount of money in connection with litigation and/or a settlement.

The oil and gas business involves a variety of operating hazards and risks such as well blowouts, pipe failures, casing collapse, explosions, uncontrollable flows of oil, gas or well fluids, fires, spills, pollution, releases of toxic gas and other environmental hazards and risks. These hazards and risks could result in substantial losses to us from, among other things, injury or loss of life, severe damage to or destruction of property, natural resources and equipment, pollution or other environmental damage, cleanup responsibilities, regulatory investigation and penalties and suspension of operations. In addition, we may be liable for environmental damages caused by previous owners of property purchased and leased by us. As a result, substantial liabilities to third parties or governmental entities may be incurred, the payment of which could reduce or eliminate the funds available for exploration, development or acquisitions or result in the loss of our properties and/or force us to expend substantial monies in connection with litigation or settlements. There can be no assurance that any insurance we may have in place will be adequate to cover any losses or liabilities. The occurrence of a significant event not fully insured or indemnified against could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and operations. In addition, pollution and environmental risks generally are not fully insurable. The occurrence of an event not fully covered by insurance could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations, which could lead to any investment in us becoming worthless.

The market for oil and gas is intensely competitive, and competitive pressures could force us to abandon or curtail our business plan.

The market for oil, gas and hydrocarbon products is highly competitive, and we only expect competition to intensify in the future. Numerous well-established companies are focusing significant resources on exploration and production and are currently competing with us for oil and gas opportunities, including opportunities involving the production of crude oil, synthetic crude oil and other products from oil sands.  Other oil and gas companies may seek to acquire oil and gas leases and properties that we have targeted.  Additionally, other companies engaged in our line of business may compete with us from time to time in obtaining capital from investors.  Competitors include larger companies which, in particular, may have access to greater resources, may be more successful in the recruitment and retention of qualified employees and may conduct their own refining and petroleum marketing operations, which may give them a competitive advantage.  Actual or potential competitors may be strengthened through the acquisition of additional assets and interests.  Additionally, there are numerous companies focusing their resources on creating fuels and/or materials which serve the same purpose as oil and gas but are manufactured from renewable resources. As a result, there can be no assurance that we will be able to compete successfully or that competitive pressures will not adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. If we are not able to successfully compete in the marketplace, we could be forced to curtail or even abandon our current business plan, which could cause any investment in us to become worthless.

Our estimates of the volume of recoverable resources could have flaws, or such resources could turn out not to be commercially extractable. Further, we may not be able to establish any reserves. As a result, our future revenues and projections could be incorrect.

Estimates of recoverable resources and of future net revenues prepared by different petroleum engineers may vary substantially depending, in part, on the assumptions made and may be subject to adjustment either up or down in the future. To date we have not established any reserves. Our actual amounts of production, revenue, taxes, development expenditures, operating expenses, and future quantities of recoverable oil and gas reserves may vary substantially from the estimates. There are numerous uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities of bitumen resources and recoverable reserves, including many factors beyond our control and no assurance can be given that the recovery of bitumen will be realized. In general, estimates of resources and reserves are based upon a number of factors and assumptions made as of the date on which the resources and reserve estimates were determined, such as geological and engineering estimates which have inherent uncertainties, the assumed effects of regulation by governmental agencies and estimates of future commodity prices and operating costs, all of which may vary considerably from estimated results. Oil and gas reserve estimates are necessarily inexact and involve matters of subjective engineering judgment. In addition, any estimates of our future net revenues and the present value thereof are based on assumptions derived in part from historical price and cost information, which may not reflect current and future values, and/or other assumptions made by us that only represent our best estimates. For these reasons, estimates of reserves and resources, the classification of such resources and reserves based on risk of recovery, prepared by different engineers or by the same engineers at different times, may vary substantially. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a resource is economically or legally extractable. Additionally, if declines in and instability of oil and gas prices occur, then write downs in the capitalized costs associated with any oil and gas assets we obtain may be required. Because of the nature of the estimates of our recoverable resources and future reserves and estimates in general, we can provide no assurance that our estimated bitumen resources or future reserves will be present and/or commercially extractable. If our recoverable bitumen resource estimates are incorrect, the value of our common shares could decrease and we may be forced to write down the capitalized costs of our oil and gas properties.

Decommissioning costs are unknown and may be substantial.  Unplanned costs could divert resources from other projects.

In the future, we may become responsible for costs associated with abandoning and reclaiming wells, facilities and pipelines which we use for processing of oil and gas reserves.  Abandonment and reclamation of these facilities and the costs associated therewith is often referred to as “decommissioning.”  We accrue a liability for decommissioning costs associated with our extraction plant and wells but have not established any cash reserve account for these potential costs in respect of any of our properties.  If decommissioning is required before economic depletion of our properties or if our estimates of the costs of decommissioning exceed the value of the reserves remaining at any particular time to cover such decommissioning costs, we may have to draw on funds from other sources to satisfy such costs.  The use of other funds to satisfy such decommissioning costs could impair our ability to focus capital investment in other areas of our business.

We may have difficulty marketing or distributing the oil we produce, which could harm our financial condition. 

In order to sell the finished crude oil that we are able to produce, if any, we must be able to make economically viable arrangements for the storage, transportation and distribution of our oil to the market.  We will rely on local infrastructure and the availability of transportation for storage and shipment of our products, but infrastructure development and storage and transportation facilities may be insufficient for our needs at commercially acceptable terms in the localities in which we operate.  This situation could be particularly problematic to the extent that our operations are conducted in remote areas that are difficult to access, such as areas that are distant from shipping and/or pipeline facilities.  These factors may affect our and potential partners’ ability to explore and develop properties and to store and transport oil and gas production, increasing our expenses.

Furthermore, weather conditions or natural disasters, actions by companies doing business in one or more of the areas in which we will operate, or labor disputes may impair the distribution of oil and/or gas and in turn diminish our financial condition or ability to maintain our operations.

Challenges to our properties may impact our financial condition.

Title to oil and gas interests is often not capable of conclusive determination without incurring substantial expense.  While we intend to make appropriate inquiries into the title of properties and other development rights we acquire, title defects may exist.  In addition, we may be unable to obtain adequate insurance for title defects, on a commercially reasonable basis or at all.  If title defects do exist, it is possible that we may lose all or a portion of our right, title and interests in and to the properties to which the title defects relate. If our property rights are reduced, our ability to conduct our exploration, development and processing activities may be impaired.  To mitigate title problems, common industry practice is to obtain a title opinion from a qualified oil and gas attorney prior to the excavation activities undertaken or the drilling operations of a well.

We rely on technology to conduct our business, and our technology could become ineffective or obsolete.

We rely on technology, including geographic and seismic analysis techniques and economic models, to develop our reserve estimates and to guide our exploration, development and processing activities.  We and our operator partners will be required to continually enhance and update our technology to maintain its efficacy and to avoid obsolescence.  Our oil extraction business is dependent upon the Extraction Technology that we have developed but which has not yet been used on a large commercial scale. As such, the project carries with it a greater degree of technological risk than other projects that employ commercially proven technologies and the Extraction Technology may not perform as anticipated. If major process design changes are required, the costs of doing so may be substantial and may be higher than the costs that we anticipate for technology maintenance and development.  If we are unable to maintain the efficacy of our technology, our ability to manage our business and to compete may be impaired.  Further, even if we are able to maintain technical effectiveness, our technology may not be the most efficient means of reaching our objectives, in which case we may incur higher operating costs than we would were our technology more efficient.

Our failure to protect our proprietary information and any successful intellectual property challenges or infringement proceedings against us could materially and adversely affect our competitive position.

We rely on a variety of intellectual property rights that we use in our services and products. We rely upon intellectual property rights and other contractual or proprietary rights, including copyright, trademark, trade secrets, confidentiality provisions, contractual provisions, licenses and patents. We may not be able to successfully preserve these intellectual property rights in the future, and these rights could be invalidated, circumvented, or challenged. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries in which our services and products may be sold do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. Our failure to protect our proprietary information and any successful intellectual property challenges or infringement proceedings against us could materially and adversely affect our competitive position. Without patent and other similar protection, other companies could use substantially identical technology to offer products for sale without incurring the sizable development costs we have incurred. Even if we spend the necessary time and money, a patent may not be issued or it may insufficiently protect the technology it was intended to protect. If our pending patent applications are not approved for any reason, the degree of future protection for our proprietary technology will remain uncertain. If we have to engage in litigation to protect our patents and other intellectual property rights, the litigation could be time consuming and expensive, regardless of whether we are successful. Despite our efforts, our intellectual property rights, particularly existing or future patents, may be invalidated, circumvented, challenged, infringed or required to be licensed to others. We cannot be assured that any steps we may take to protect our intellectual property rights and other rights to such proprietary technologies that are central to our operations will prevent misappropriation or infringement of the right to use or license others to use the Extraction Technology and accordingly may conduct an oil sands extraction operation similar to ours.

Certain Factors Related to Our Common Shares

There presently is a limited market for our common shares, and the price of our common shares may continue to be volatile.

Our common shares are currently quoted on the TSXV, the Frankfurt Exchange and the OTC Pink Sheets markets.  Our common shares, however, are very thinly traded, and we have a very limited trading history.  There could continue to be volatility in the volume and market price of our common shares moving forward.  This volatility may be caused by a variety of factors, including the lack of readily available quotations, the absence of consistent administrative supervision of “bid” and “ask” quotations and generally lower trading volume. In addition, factors such as quarterly variations in our operating results, changes in financial estimates by securities analysts or our failure to meet our or their projected financial and operating results, litigation involving us, factors relating to the oil and gas industry, actions by governmental agencies, national economic and stock market considerations as well as other events and circumstances beyond our control could have a significant impact on the future market price of our common shares and the relative volatility of such market price.

Offers or availability for sale of a substantial number of shares of our common shares may cause the price of our common shares to decline.

Our shareholders could sell substantial amounts of common shares in the public market, including shares sold upon the filing of a registration statement that registers such shares and/or upon the expiration of any statutory holding period under Rule 144 of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”), if available, or upon trading limitation periods.  Such volume could create a circumstance commonly referred to as an “overhang” and in anticipation of which the market price of our common shares could fall. The existence of an overhang, whether or not sales have occurred or are occurring, also could make it more difficult for us to secure additional financing through the sale of equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and price that we deem reasonable or appropriate.

We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends.

We do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common shares for the foreseeable future.  The payment of dividends, if any, would be contingent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements, and general financial condition.  The payment of any dividends will be within the discretion of our Board of Directors.  We presently intend to retain all earnings, if any, to implement our business strategy; accordingly, we do not anticipate the declaration of any dividends in the foreseeable future.

The market price and trading volume of our common shares may continue to be volatile and may be affected by variability in our performance from period to period and economic conditions beyond management’s control.

The market price of our common shares may continue to be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations. This means that our shareholders could experience a decrease in the value of their common shares regardless of our operating performance or prospects. The market prices of securities of companies operating in the oil and gas sector have often experienced fluctuations that have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating results of these companies. In addition, the trading volume of our common shares may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. If the market price of our common shares declines significantly, our shareholders may be unable to resell our common shares at or above their purchase price, if at all. There can be no assurance that the market price of our common shares will not fluctuate or significantly decline in the future.

Some specific factors that could negatively affect the price of our common shares or result in fluctuations in their price and trading volume include:

In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of the securities of other companies, shareholders have often instituted securities class action litigation against such companies. If we were involved in a class action suit, it could divert the attention of senior management and, if adversely determined, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We may be classified as a foreign investment company for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which could subject U.S. investors in our common shares to significant adverse U.S. income tax consequences.

Depending upon the value of our common shares and the nature of our assets and income over time, we could be classified as a “passive foreign investment company”, or “PFIC”, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Based upon our current income and assets and projections as to the value of our common shares, we do not presently expect to be a PFIC for the current taxable year or the foreseeable future. While we do not expect to become a PFIC, if among other matters, our market capitalization is less than anticipated or subsequently declines, we may be a PFIC for the current or future taxable years. The determination of whether we are or will be a PFIC will also depend, in part, on the composition of our income and assets, which will be affected by how, and how quickly, we use our liquid assets. Because PFIC status is a factual determination made annually after the close of each taxable year, including ascertaining the fair market value of our assets on a quarterly basis and the character of each item of income we earn, we can provide no assurance that we will not be a PFIC for the current taxable year or any future taxable year.

If we were to be classified as a PFIC in any taxable year, a U.S. holder would be subject to special rules generally intended to reduce or eliminate any benefits from the deferral of U.S. federal income tax that a U.S. holder could derive from investing in a non-U.S. corporation that does not distribute all of its earnings on a current basis. Further, if we are classified as a PFIC for any year during which a U.S. holder holds our common shares, we generally will continue to be treated as a PFIC for all succeeding years during which such U.S. holder holds our common shares.

We are exposed to credit risk through our cash and cash equivalents held at financial institutions.

Credit risk is the risk of unexpected loss if a customer or third party to a financial instrument fails to meet contractual obligations. We are exposed to credit risk through our cash and cash equivalents held at financial institutions. We have cash balances at four financial institutions. We have not experienced any loss on these accounts, although balances in the accounts may exceed the insurable limits.

Some of our officers and directors have conflicts of interest and cannot devote a substantial amount of time to our company.

Certain of our current directors and officers are, and may continue to be, involved in other industries through their direct and indirect participation in corporations, partnerships or joint ventures which may be potential competitors of ours. Several of our officers work for us on a part time basis. These officers have discretion as to what time they devote to our activities, which may result in lack of availability when needed due to responsibilities at other jobs. In addition, situations may arise in connection with potential acquisitions or opportunities where the other interests of these directors and officers may conflict with our interests. Directors and officers with conflicts of interest will be subject to and follow the procedures set out in applicable corporate and securities legislation, regulation, rules and policies. Certain of our directors and officers will only devote a portion of their time to our business and affairs and some of them are or will be engaged in other projects or businesses.

Our ability to issue an unlimited number of common shares and preferred shares may have anti-takeover effects that could discourage, delay or prevent a change of control and may result in dilution to our investors.

Our charter documents currently authorize the issuance of an unlimited number of common shares without nominal or par value and an unlimited number of preferred shares without nominal or par value in one or more series without the requirement that we obtain any shareholder approval. The Board could authorize the issuance of additional preferred shares that would grant holders rights to our assets upon liquidation, special voting rights, redemption rights. That could impair the rights of holders of common shares and discourage a takeover attempt. In addition, in an effort to discourage a takeover attempt, our Board could issue an unlimited number of additional common shares. There are currently no preferred shares outstanding. If we issue any additional shares or enter into private placements to raise financing through the sale of equity securities, investors’ interests in our company will be diluted and investors may suffer substantial dilution in their net book value per share depending on market conditions and the price at which such securities are sold. If we issue any such additional shares, such issuances also will cause a reduction in the proportionate ownership and voting power of all other shareholders.

Issuances of common shares upon exercise or conversion of convertible securities, including pursuant to our equity incentive plans and outstanding share purchase warrants and convertible notes could result in additional dilution of the percentage ownership of our stockholders and could cause our stock price to fall.

As of December 14, 2020, we have share purchase warrants to purchase 48,352,714 common shares outstanding at exercise prices ranging from US$0.03 to US$1.50 and options to purchase 9,470,000 common shares with a weighted average exercise price of CDN $0.86 and notes convertible into 93,941,474 common shares based on conversion prices ranging from $0.02 to $0.40 per share. The issuance of the common shares underlying the share purchase warrants, options and convertible notes will have a dilutive effect on the percentage ownership held by holders of our common shares.

The risks associated with penny stock classification could affect the marketability of our common shares and shareholders could find it difficult to sell their shares.

Our common shares are currently subject to “penny stock” rules as promulgated under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The SEC adopted rules that regulate broker-dealer practices in connection with transactions in penny stocks. Transaction costs associated with purchases and sales of penny stocks are likely to be higher than those for other securities. Penny stocks generally are equity securities with a price of less than $5.00 (other than securities listed on certain national securities exchanges, provided that current price and volume information with respect to transactions in such securities is provided by the exchange).

The penny stock rules require a broker-dealer, prior to a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from the rules, to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document that provides information about penny stocks and the nature and level of risks in the penny stock market. The broker-dealer also must provide the customer with current bid and offer quotations for the penny stock, the compensation of the broker-dealer and its salesperson in the transaction, and monthly account statements showing the market value of each penny stock held in the customer’s account. The bid and offer quotations, and the broker-dealer and salesperson compensation information, must be given to the customer orally or in writing prior to effecting the transaction and must be given to the customer in writing before or with the customer’s confirmation.

In addition, the penny stock rules require that prior to a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from such rules, the broker- dealer must make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written agreement to the transaction. These disclosure requirements may have the effect of reducing the level of trading activity in the secondary market for our common shares in the United States and shareholders may find it more difficult to sell their shares.

The rights of our shareholders may differ from the rights typically offered to shareholders of a U.S. corporation.

We are incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario). The rights of holders of our common shares are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario, including the Business Corporations Act (Ontario), by the applicable laws of Canada, and by our Articles, as amended (the “Articles”), and our bylaws (the “bylaws”). These rights differ in certain respects from the rights of shareholders in typical U.S. corporations. The principal differences include without limitation the following:

Under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario), we have a lien on any common share registered in the name of a shareholder or the shareholder’s legal representative for any debt owed by the shareholder to us. Under U.S. state law, corporations generally are not entitled to any such statutory liens in respect of debts owed by shareholders. Our bylaws also provide that at least 25% of our Board of Directors must be resident Canadians.

With regard to certain matters, we must obtain approval of our shareholders by way of at least 66 2/3% of the votes cast at a meeting of shareholders duly called for such purpose being cast in favor of the proposed matter. Such matters include without limitation: (a) the sale, lease or exchange of all or substantially all of our assets out of the ordinary course of our business; and (b) any amendments to our Articles including, but not limited to, amendments affecting our capital structure such as the creation of new classes of shares, changing any rights, privileges, restrictions or conditions in respect of our shares, or changing the number of issued or authorized shares, as well as amendments changing the minimum or maximum number of directors set forth in the Articles. Under many U.S. state laws, the sale, lease, exchange or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of a corporation generally requires approval by a majority of the outstanding shares, although in some cases approval by a higher percentage of the outstanding shares may be required. In addition, under U.S. state law the vote of a majority of the shares is generally sufficient to amend a company’s certificate of incorporation, including amendments affecting capital structure or the number of directors.

Pursuant to our bylaws, two persons holding 5% of the shares entitled to vote at the meeting present in person or represented by proxy and each entitled to vote thereat shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of shareholders. Under U.S. state law, a quorum generally requires the presence in person or by proxy of a specified percentage of the shares entitled to vote at a meeting, and such percentage is generally not less than one-third of the number of shares entitled to vote.

Under rules of the Ontario Securities Commission, a meeting of shareholders must be called for consideration and approval of certain transactions between a corporation and any “related party” (as defined in such rules). A “related party” is defined to include, among other parties, directors and senior officers of a corporation, holders of more than 10% of the voting securities of a corporation, persons owning a block of securities that is otherwise sufficient to affect materially the control of the corporation, and other persons that manage or direct, to a substantial degree, the affairs or operations of the corporation. At such shareholders’ meeting, votes cast by any related party who holds common shares and has an interest in the transaction may not be counted for the purposes of determining whether the minimum number of required votes have been cast in favor of the transaction. Under U.S. state law, a transaction between a corporation and one or more of its officers or directors can generally be approved either by the shareholders or by a majority of the directors who do not have an interest in the transaction.

Neither Canadian law nor our Articles or bylaws limit the right of a non-resident to hold or vote our common shares, other than as provided in the Investment Canada Act (the “Investment Act”), as amended by the World Trade Organization Agreement Implementation Act (the “WTOA Act”). The Investment Act generally prohibits implementation of a direct reviewable investment in a Canadian business, as defined in the Investment Act, by an individual, government or agency thereof, corporation, partnership, trust or joint venture that is not a “Canadian,” as defined in the Investment Act (a “non-Canadian”), unless, after review, the Minister responsible for the Investment Act is satisfied that the investment is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. An investment in our common shares by a non-Canadian (other than a “WTO Investor,” as defined below) would be reviewable under the Investment Act if it were an investment to directly acquire control of our company, and the value of our assets were CDN$5.0 million or more (provided that immediately prior to the implementation of the investment in our company, it was not controlled by WTO Investors). An investment in our common shares by a WTO Investor (or by a non- Canadian other than a WTO Investor if, immediately prior to the implementation of the investment our company was controlled by WTO Investors) would be reviewable under the Investment Act if it were an investment to directly acquire control and the value of our assets or our enterprise value was equal to or exceeded certain threshold amounts determined on an annual basis.

The threshold for a pre-closing net benefit review depends on whether the purchaser is: (a) controlled by a person or entity from a member of the WTO; (b) a state-owned enterprise (SOE); or (c) from a country considered a “Trade Agreement Investor” under the Investment Act. A different threshold also applies if the Canadian business carries on a cultural business.

The 2020 threshold for WTO investors that are state-owned enterprises (“SOEs”), as defined in the Investment Act, will be CDN$428 million based on the book value of the Canadian business’ assets.

The 2020 thresholds for review for direct acquisitions of control of a publicly-traded Canadian entity by private sector investor WTO investors (CDN$1.075 billion) and private sector trade agreement investors (CDN$1.613 billion) are both based on the “enterprise value” of the Canadian business being acquired, where the enterprise value is the target’s market capitalization, plus total liabilities (less operating liabilities), minus cash and cash equivalents.

A non-Canadian, whether a WTO Investor or otherwise, would be deemed to acquire control of our company for purposes of the Investment Act if he or she acquired a majority of our common shares. The acquisition of less than a majority, but at least one-third of the shares, would be presumed to be an acquisition of control of our company, unless it could be established that we are not controlled in fact by the acquirer through the ownership of the shares. In general, an individual is a WTO Investor if he or she is a “national” of a country (other than Canada) that is a member of the WTO (“WTO Member”) or has a right of permanent residence in a WTO Member. A corporation or other entity will be a “WTO Investor” if it is a “WTO Investor-controlled entity,” pursuant to detailed rules set out in the Investment Act. The U.S. is a WTO Member. Certain transactions involving our common shares would be exempt from the Investment Act, including (i) an acquisition of our common shares if the acquisition were made in connection with the person’s business as a trader or dealer in securities; (ii) an acquisition of control of our company in connection with the realization of a security interest granted for a loan or other financial assistance and not for any purpose related to the provisions of the Investment Act; and (iii) an acquisition of control of our company by reason of an amalgamation, merger, consolidation or corporate reorganization, following which the ultimate direct or indirect control of our company, through the ownership of voting interests, remains unchanged. Under U.S. law, except in limited circumstances, restrictions generally are not imposed on the ability of non- residents to hold a controlling interest in a U.S. corporation.

The Canadian government may review and prohibit any level of investment by a non-Canadian in a Canadian business if it determines that the investment may be “injurious to national security”.

We are required to comply with the Exchange Act’s domestic reporting regime and cause us to incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses.

We are required to comply with all of the periodic disclosure and current reporting requirements of the Exchange Act applicable to U.S. domestic issuers, which are more detailed and extensive than the requirements for foreign private issuers. We may also be required to make changes in our corporate governance practices in accordance with various SEC rules. As a result, we expect that compliance would increase our legal and financial compliance costs and is likely to make some activities highly time consuming and costly. We also expect that as we are now required to comply with the securities rules and regulations applicable to U.S. domestic issuers, it would make it more difficult and expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These rules and regulations could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our Board of Directors.

We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act and intend to take advantage of certain reduced reporting requirements.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in section 2(a)(19) of the Securities Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act even if we cease to be a smaller reporting company with annual revenues of less than $100 million, exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As an emerging growth company, we are required to report only two years of financial results and selected financial data compared to three and five years, respectively, for comparable data reported by other public companies. We may take advantage of these exemptions until we are no longer an emerging growth company. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year: (a) following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of our common shares pursuant to an effective registration statement filed under the Securities Act; (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion; or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which generally means the market value of our common shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeded $700.0 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. We cannot predict if investors will find our common shares less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common shares less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common shares and the price of our common shares may be more volatile in the event that we decide to make an offering of our common shares following this direct listing.

Claims of U.S. civil liabilities may not be enforceable against us.

We are incorporated under Canadian law. Certain members of our Board of Directors and senior management are non- residents of the United States, and many of our assets and the assets of such persons are located outside the United States. As a result, it may not be possible to serve process on such persons or us in the United States or to enforce judgments obtained in U.S. courts against them or us based on civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States. As a result, it may not be possible for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon such persons or to enforce judgments obtained in U.S. courts against them or us, including judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws.

The United States and Canada do not currently have a treaty providing for recognition and enforcement of judgments (other than arbitration awards) in civil and commercial matters. Consequently, a final judgment for payment given by a court in the United States, whether or not predicated solely upon U.S. securities laws, would not automatically be recognized or enforceable in Canada. In addition, uncertainty exists as to whether Canadian courts would entertain original actions brought in the United States against us or our directors or senior management predicated upon the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States. Any final and conclusive monetary judgment for a definite sum obtained against us in U.S. courts would be treated by the courts of Canada as a cause of action in itself and sued upon as a debt at common law so that no retrial of the issues would be necessary, provided that certain requirements are met. Whether these requirements are met in respect of a judgment based upon the civil liability provisions of the U.S. securities laws, including whether the award of monetary damages under such laws would constitute a penalty, is an issue for the court making such decision. If a Canadian court gives judgment for the sum payable under a U.S. judgment, the Canadian judgment will be enforceable by methods generally available for this purpose. These methods generally permit the Canadian court discretion to prescribe the manner of enforcement.

As a result, U.S. investors may not be able to enforce against us or our senior management, Board of Directors or certain experts named herein who are residents of Canada or countries other than the United States any judgments obtained in U.S. courts in civil and commercial matters, including judgments under the U.S. federal securities laws.

Our ability to use our net operating losses and certain other tax attributes may be limited.

As of August 31, 2018, we had accumulated net operating losses (NOLs), of approximately CDN $31.0 million. Varying jurisdictional tax codes have restrictions on the use of NOLs, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change NOLs, R&D credits and other pre-change tax attributes to offset its post-change income may be limited. An ownership change is generally defined as a greater than 50% change in equity ownership. Based upon an analysis of our equity ownership, we do not believe that we have experienced such ownership changes and therefore our annual utilization of our NOLs is not limited. However, should we experience additional ownership changes, our NOL carry forwards may be limited.

We may be subject to liability for failure to comply with the requirements of Regulation 14A under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Through inadvertence, we did not comply with the requirements of Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act in connection with the annual and special meeting of our shareholders held on December 13, 2019 (the Meeting”). In particular: (a) the proxy statement prepared by our management complied with applicable Canadian proxy rules but failed to meet the form and disclosure requirements for proxy statements prescribed by Schedule 14A under the Exchange Act; (b) since item 4 of the agenda for the Meeting (approval of our Company’s advance notice by-law) and agenda item 5 (approval of a proposed consolidation (reverse split) of our outstanding common shares) are not among the routine matters excepted from Exchange Act Rule 14a-6, we were required but failed to file a preliminary copy of the proxy statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission at least 10 calendar days prior to the date on which the definitive proxy statement was sent to our Company’s shareholders, and thereby failed to give Staff at the SEC an opportunity to review and comment on the proxy statement; and (c) we proceeded under the Canadian “notice-and-access” rules for electronic posting of proxy materials rather than in compliance with Rule 14a-16 under the Exchange Act. In addition, we failed to timely comply with its obligation to file a current report on Form 8-K reporting on the results of the Meeting no later than December 19, 2019 (being the fourth business day following the date of the Meeting).

As a result of our failure to comply with Regulation 14A, the SEC may bring an enforcement action or commence litigation against us. If any claims or actions were to be brought against us relating to our lack of compliance with Regulation 14A, we could be subject to penalties, required to pay fines, make damages payments or settlement payments. In addition, any claims or actions could force us to expend significant financial resources to defend ourselves, could divert the attention of our management from our core business and could harm our reputation. However, we believe that the potential for any claims or actions is not probable.