Canada new 52-week lows: thin trading, ramp-and-dump warnings and two loss rules
The screener lists Canadian securities at their lowest price of the past 52 weeks. A low is a fact about the past year. Losses in Canada follow the superficial loss rule, and in the United States the wash sale rule.
Prepared by Prem Tax and Accounting Corp. Last checked against official sources on October 23, 2026.
A security on the Canada new 52-week lows list is trading at the lowest price of the past year. It might have fallen with its sector, on news about the company or because a large holder sold. The list cannot say which, and it cannot say whether the low is a bargain, a warning or neither.
- A low is a label for price history, not for value.
- The CSA says ramp-and-dump schemes target low-priced or thinly traded stocks.
- Canada and the United States each disallow certain losses on quick repurchases, and the two tests are not the same.
What this list shows
The screener below is set to its “below 52-week low” view for Canada. It lists securities whose latest price is at or below the lowest price of the previous 52 weeks. Funds and companies appear together. A fund at a low reflects its holdings. A single company at a low reflects that company, and perhaps a small number of sellers.
The live list loads when you scroll to this spot.
It is a free screener from TradingView, shown inside this page.
Market list by TradingView; US data is usually end-of-day, other markets may be delayed. Open the full screener.
After a spike: how a ramp and dump looks from the low end
The Canadian Securities Administrators issued an alert on April 16, 2026 about “ramp and dump” schemes promoted through social media. The steps they describe explain why some lows follow an unusual run-up:
Contact
Scammers reach out on platforms such as Facebook or Instagram, build trust, then invite the person to an investment group on a messaging platform such as WhatsApp, Discord or Telegram.
Pressure
Inside the group, members are pushed to buy a specific stock, promised high returns and made to fear missing out. The alert says the scammers may claim inside information, which trading on would be illegal in any case.
Inflation
When enough people buy at the high price, the price is artificially inflated. The CSA says the targets are often smaller, unfamiliar stocks with a limited public float, which are more volatile, harder to sell and easier to manipulate.
Exit
The scammers sell their shares, the price crashes, and the people who bought at the high price are left with the loss.
CIRO says its trade surveillance aims to detect manipulative trading practices across Canadian marketplaces. Regulators' alerts are a sensible first place to check an unusual story.
How Canada treats a loss
The CRA says a capital loss is applied against your taxable capital gains for the year. If it is bigger, the leftover is a net capital loss, which you can carry back three years or forward without limit. The superficial loss rule can deny the loss if you or an affiliated person acquire identical property, or a right to buy it, within the 30 calendar days before or after the sale and still hold it 30 calendar days after the sale. A denied loss is not gone: it is usually added to the adjusted cost base of the replacement property.
Where the U.S. rule differs
| Canada: superficial loss | United States: wash sale | |
|---|---|---|
| What is bought back | Identical property, or a right to buy it. | Substantially identical stock or securities, a contract or option to buy them, or substantially identical stock for an IRA or Roth IRA. |
| Time window | 30 calendar days before through 30 calendar days after the sale. | 30 days before or after the sale. |
| Who is counted | You and persons affiliated with you. | You, and your spouse or a corporation you control if they buy substantially identical stock. |
| Effect | The loss is denied and usually added to the cost base of the replacement. | The loss is not deductible on that sale. It is added to the cost of the new shares, except for shares bought in an IRA or Roth IRA. |
A family that files in both countries has to pass both tests before it counts a loss on either return, and an exchange-rate difference can make the two gains and losses differ in size. Our tax calendar shows the year-end dates, and our pages on international families and traders and investors explain how we line the two returns up.
Common questions
What is a ramp and dump?
The CSA describes it as a variant of a pump and dump: coordinated efforts to take control of low-priced or thinly traded stocks, push the price sharply upward and then sell the holdings for profit. When the price falls afterwards, ordinary investors are often left with significant losses.
How long can I carry a Canadian capital loss?
The CRA says a net capital loss can be carried back three years and carried forward indefinitely. For a 2025 loss, the years you can carry it back to are 2022, 2023 and 2024. A net capital loss is applied against taxable capital gains.
What is a superficial loss?
It is a loss on capital property that is denied when you, or a person affiliated with you, buy or acquire a right to buy identical property in the period beginning 30 calendar days before the sale and ending 30 calendar days after it, and still own it at the end of that period. The denied loss is usually added to the adjusted cost base of the replacement property.
Do the Canadian and U.S. rules give the same answer?
Not necessarily. Canada looks at identical property and affiliated persons. The U.S. wash sale rule looks at substantially identical stock or securities, includes purchases for your IRA or Roth IRA, and applies over its own 30-day window. If you file in both countries, a repurchase has to pass both tests.
Official sources
- CSA: Investor alert on ramp-and-dump scams (April 16, 2026)
- CIRO: Trade surveillance
- CRA: Capital losses
- IRS Publication 550: Investment income and expenses
- IRS: Canada tax treaty documents
- TradingView widget documentation: Screener
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