Finance Minister Joe Oliver has announced that Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are joining British Columbia and Ontario in Ottawa's proposal to create a single national securities regulator that would be operational by the fall of 2015.

"Today is a landmark day as the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System gains two valuable new members ... into this nation building project," Oliver told said.

Although the two provinces only add approximately three or four per cent of the country's total market capitalization, it is a symbolic victory for promoters of the single regulator because there is now a subscribing province from every region.

"Together, Ontario, B.C., Saskatchewan and New Brunswick represent more than half of the market capitalization of the listed Canadian companies on the TSX and TSX Venture," Oliver said.

To secure their participation, Ottawa promised Saskatchewan and New Brunswick some concessions, including a cash payment equivalent to the five years worth of net revenues the provinces would have brought in had they continued operating their own regulators. 

Wednesday's announcement leaves six provinces out of Ottawa's plan with Alberta and Quebec as the key holdouts.

Oliver said he hoped other provinces would soon jump on board, adding that "whether they participate or not, their interests will not be undermined."