A passive foreign investment company (PFIC) is defined as a non-U.S. corporation which has at least 75% of its gross income considered passive income, or at least 50% of its assets produce, or held to produce, passive income. Passive income includes, but is not limited to earned interest, dividends, and capital gains. Canadian mutual funds and exchanged-traded funds (ETFs) are typically classified as PFICs for U.S. tax purposes.

Investors who hold units of Canadian mutual funds or ETFs and file U.S. tax returns, or are otherwise considered “U.S. Persons” for U.S. tax purposes, may benefit from PFIC reporting.

We recommend unitholders of Mackenzie ETFs speak with a U.S. tax professional to determine whether they are “U.S. Persons” for tax purposes.

PFIC Annual Information Statements (AIS) contain information that enables investors classified as “U.S. Persons”, if they choose, to elect to treat each Mackenzie ETF as a Qualified Electing Fund (QEF) on IRS Form 8621 on an annual basis. The QEF election allows investors to defer taxes on unrealized capital gains and receive the more favorable capital gains tax rates on any realized capital gains. Whether the QEF election is appropriate for an investor may depend on his or her individual circumstances. We therefore strongly recommend that investors speak with their financial advisor and/or tax advisor to discuss PFIC reporting and its consequences.

The PFIC statements for Mackenzie ETFs (both English and French versions) are posted on the Mackenzie Investments website. These statements are not mailed to individual investors.

The PFIC statements for Mackenzie ETFs for each taxation year will be posted on Mackenzie’s website on or before March 31st of the following year.

Currently PFIC statements are available for all Mackenzie ETFs. This may be subject to change without further notice.