PROPOSAL NO. 2: INCREASING THE NUMBER OF AUTHORIZED SHARES ISSUABLE UNDER THE 2023 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN TO 32,000,000 SHARES OF COMMON STOCK
Overview
Effective September 15, 2023, the Company adopted, after receiving Stockholder approval at the Company’s 2023 annual general and special meeting of shareholders on July 27, 2023 (the “
Meeting
”), the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan (the “
2023 Equity Incentive Plan
”) that enables the grant of stock options and restricted stock units. The full text of the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Form 8-K filed on the SEC’s website at
www.sec.gov
. and on SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca
. on September 18 2023.
The 2023 Equity Incentive Plan replaced the stock option plan approved by the Board on May 22, 2018 (the “
Stock Option Plan
”) and the Amended and Restated Share Unit Plan (as defined below) (together the “
Prior Plans
”). The Prior Plans continue to govern awards previously granted under them being, 417,922 stock options only that remain outstanding under the Stock Option Plan as of the Record Date.
The current number of Common Stock authorized for issuance under the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan is 22,000,000. After certain RSU issuances in 2025, there remain only 5,404,609 shares of Company common stock available for issuance under the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan as of the date of this Proxy Statement. Without increasing the number of shares available for issuance under the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan, once the current reserve of shares is exhausted, we will not be able to continue to offer competitive levels of equity compensation to attract and retain qualified personnel to continue supporting our growth. As a result, the Company may need to make significant changes to its compensation practices that would limit its flexibility to provide competitive compensation. Changes may include increased use of cash which, in addition to impacting its ability to attract, motivate and retain highly qualified personnel for positions of substantial responsibility with the Company, may negatively impact the business by reducing the cash available to reinvest into the business.
Given the limited number of remaining shares authorized to be issued under the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan, the Board of Directors believes it is in the best interest of the Company to increase the number of authorized shares under the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan by 10,000,000 shares, from 22,000,000 shares to 32,000,000 shares of Common Stock, so that the Board of Directors may continue to utilize the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan to further align the interests of eligible participants with those of the Company’s Stockholders by providing long-term incentive compensation opportunities tied to the performance of the Common Stock.
At the Meeting, Stockholders will be asked to approve an increase in the number of authorized shares issuable under the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan from 22,000,000 shares to 32,000,000 shares of Common Stock. On April 23, 2025, the Board adopted Amendment No. 1 to the Plan (“Plan Amendment 1”) to increase the number of authorized shares issuable under the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan from 22,000,000 shares to 32,000,000 shares of Common Stock.
The Board has determined that it is in the best interests of the Company to increase the number of authorized shares issuable under the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan from 22,000,000 shares to 32,000,000 shares of Common Stock and is asking the Stockholders to approve such increase. If approved by the Stockholders, the Plan Amendment 1 will become effective on the date it is approved and if not approved by the Stockholders, the number of shares of Common Stock under the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan will continue to be capped at 22,000,000.
As of March 31, 2025, the Company’s share price as quoted on the OTCQX exchange, was $0.243. The average strike price of the 417,922 options outstanding is $3.15, implying a market value of the options of $0.00.
As of March 31, 2025 there were 14,668,530 RSU awards outstanding with an implied fair market value of $3,564,453. The ultimate value of the RSU awards will be determined on the date that the RSUs vest and the underlying share awards are issued to the award participant. The Company will not receive any proceeds on the issuance of underlying RSU award shares.
Registration with the SEC
If Plan Amendment 1 is approved by the Stockholders, we intend to file a Registration Statement on Form S-8 relating to the issuance of the additional 10,000,000 shares of Common Stock authorized under Plan Amendment 1, with the SEC pursuant to the Securities Act as soon as practicable after approval of Plan Amendment 1 by our Stockholders.