UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

__________________

SCHEDULE 14A
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INFORMATION REQUIRED IN PROXY STATEMENT
SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Aptose Biosciences Inc.

(Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

_____________________________________________________________

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check all boxes that apply):

Notice and Proxy Statement

For the

Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders

to be held on May 23, 2023

April 18, 2023

Letter from Our Chairman, President, and CEO

Dear Fellow Shareholders,

During 2022, Aptose advanced its goal of developing new precision therapeutics for the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies resistant or refractory to current standard of care therapies. While the biotech market has been, and continues to be, extraordinarily challenging, Aptose maintained a steady march forward and we were able to execute on many key initiatives:

The key event for 2022 was completion of a successful Phase 1/2 dose escalation and dose exploration trial of tuspetinib, formerly HM43239, a myeloid kinase inhibitor and our most advanced and primary asset being developed as a once daily oral treatment for AML. Tuspetinib potently and simultaneously suppresses the SYK kinase, the mutant and wildtype forms of FLT3 kinase, the JAK1 and JAK2 kinases, the mutant forms of KIT kinase, and RSK1 and RSK2 kinases. This kinase targeting pattern allows tuspetinib to deliver clinical responses across AML populations with a diverse array of adverse mutations while maintaining a favorable safety profile.

During the Phase 1/2 dose escalation and dose exploration clinical trial, tuspetinib delivered complete and partial remissions (CRs and PRs) and dramatically reduced bone marrow leukemic blasts across four dose levels as a single agent with no dose-limiting toxicities in heavily pre-treated relapsed or refractory (R/R) AML patients harboring a wide range of highly adverse mutations. Tuspetinib delivered meaningful clinical benefit to all responders, either through bridging them to a stem cell transplant, or by providing a durable response over time. Before enrollment in the Aptose clinical trial, these patients had been treated with the best available approved therapies, and in many cases had failed various investigational drugs and prior hematopoietic stem cell transplants. These are exceedingly sick patients, and to reverse disease progression with a once daily oral tablet is a remarkable accomplishment.

At the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting in December 2022, lead investigator Naval Daver, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Leukemia, MD Anderson Cancer Center, presented data from the Phase 1/2 dose escalation and exploration trial. The findings revealed that tuspetinib can effectively treat certain genotypically-defined AML populations with high unmet need, and the data established that tuspetinib has strikingly broad activity across patients with diverse genotypic backgrounds. In addition, tuspetinib distinguished itself as a highly safe and well tolerated drug for AML with no observed drug related adverse events, deaths, QTc prolongation, or differentiation syndrome – and no myelosuppression to date. Collectively, these findings place tuspetinib in a class of its own.

The completed Phase 1/2 dose escalation and exploration monotherapy trial was essential to identify AML populations that may be pursued for registrational studies and approvals. Indeed, our understanding of the safety, efficacy, roles in AML treatment, and market potential for tuspetinib have evolved significantly. We now believe tuspetinib has paths for accelerated approvals as a monotherapy to treat specific subpopulations of R/R AML with high unmet needs, and that its superior safety profile and potency position tuspetinib as a potential drug of choice for doublet and triplet combination in earlier lines of therapy, as well as maintenance therapy. Combination therapy offers the greatest promise for deep and durable remissions in AML patients, and we believe tuspetinib is positioned to be a major player in that role.

The next step in the progression of tuspetinib is to collect sufficient data as a monotherapy and in drug combination to guide the design of registrational studies in the appropriate patient populations and to justify those trials to the key regulatory bodies. This led us to kick off the APTIVATE dose expansion trial earlier this year with tuspetinib. Throughout 2023, APTIVATE is expected to deliver up to 100 patients on study, to demonstrate single agent activity to support accelerated approval trials in patients with specific adverse mutations, and to demonstrate potent activity in combination therapies. Enrollment for APTIVATE has been brisk – we now we are enrolling and treating AML patients for tuspetinib as monotherapy and in combination treatment with venetoclax, and we look forward to delivering data from the APTIVATE trial as they become available throughout 2023.

Also during 2022, we began testing the G3 formulation of luxeptinib, our first-in-class, non-covalent and potent FLT3/BTK inhibitor, which many of you know as CG-806 or Lux. We already had reported that luxeptinib administered orally as our original first generation formulation delivered a complete remission in an AML patient and in a DLBCL lymphoma patient, demonstrating luxeptinib is a clinically active agent in different types of hematologic malignancies. In single dose administrations in patients, we determined the new G3 formulation achieved up to 18-fold greater absorption than the original G1 formulation. Because the highest dose of the original formulation was set at 900 mg, we initiated continuous dosing of G3 with an 18-fold lower dose of 50 mg. We continue to collect PK and safety data with G3 in AML patients, and a preliminary review suggests 50 mg of G3 delivers roughly equivalent plasma exposures as 900 mg of the original formulation. That was the target we hoped to achieve with 50 mg of G3, and we are now planning to administer a higher dose of G3 to determine if it can deliver even greater plasma exposure levels. I remind you that in preclinical studies of AML, luxeptinib triggered profound apoptosis and demonstrated in vivo tumor eradication. So while luxeptinib is behind tuspetinib in development, it still is an important part of our pipeline. We will keep you posted on our findings.

In addition to clinical activities, we continued to expand the capabilities of our Board of Directors. Our two most recent recruitments to the Board of Directors include Ms. Carol Ashe, a pharmaceutical legal and business development expert, and Bernd Seizinger, M.D., Ph.D., a highly accomplished senior executive with global expertise in oncology drug development, business development, management and Board experience. Our Board respectfully challenges management and each other, ensures risks are aired and mitigated, scrutinizes financial, clinical, HR and governance matters, and requires third party guidance on compensation related matters. While I serve as the CEO of the corporation and the Chairperson of the Board, all other directors and committees are independent and engage in Executive Sessions and In-Camera Sessions without the presence of management. All directors act in the best interest of the Corporation and ensure the Corporation abides by the requirements of relevant regulatory bodies.

We also are fortunate to be supported by a stellar Scientific Advisory Board, headed by distinguished hematologist Brian Druker, M.D, well-known for his role in developing Gleevec® for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. Our scientific advisors work closely with our resident KOL and Chief Medical Officer, Rafael Bejar, M.D., Ph.D., also an internationally recognized physician scientist with extensive research and clinical experience in the area of hematologic malignancies.

From a comprehensive perspective, Aptose made significant progress in 2022 and we look forward to a 2023 that promises to be an exciting year. We are especially grateful for the patients, families and investigators who are participating in advancing our essential work and support our efforts to create superior therapeutics. I thank our entire Aptose organization and thank you, our shareholders, for your support and for being part of our journey. We are eager to report our progress to you throughout the coming year.

Sincerely,

William G. Rice, Ph.D.
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

Letter from Our Lead Independent Director

Dear Fellow Shareholders:

I have had the privilege of working closely with an active and diverse group of executives and directors at Aptose over the past several years. As Lead Independent Director, my most important responsibility is to act on the behalf of all shareholders, and with my fellow directors, we take our oversight responsibilities very seriously. The Aptose Board of Directors is committed to representing your interests and believes that sound governance is key to creating long-term value for all shareholders.

On behalf of the Board, I’m pleased to provide an update on some of our priorities:

Strategic oversight

The Board not only evaluates company strategy but also shares perspectives, provides advice, and oversees and assesses management’s implementation of company objectives. Each quarter we discuss and debate topics critical to the Corporation’s long-term success and we are available to provide guidance as necessary.

Company performance

The Board remains focused on company performance and meeting clinical development goals. Aptose is committed to developing unique targeted therapies for hematological malignancies and we were pleased with the progress we made in 2022, particularly in the clinical development of our lead asset, tuspetinib, in acute myeloid leukemia, AML. The management team was able to complete a successful dose escalation and exploration trial of tuspetinib in very ill AML patients, while extending its cash runway into 2024 during challenging market conditions.

Risk oversight

We have a coordinated, comprehensive approach to overseeing the Corporation’s enterprise risk management. The Board regularly reviews strategic threats, opportunities, and key risks, including financial, product, cybersecurity, privacy, regulatory, and reputational risk. Both your Board and your management team are fully engaged in risk management and have made it a fundamental aspect of company strategy.

Talent and succession planning

Our role in talent and succession planning applies to both company leadership and the Board. We remain committed to regular Board refreshment, striving for balance between introducing new perspectives and maintaining continuity. In 2022, we added Bernd R. Seizinger, M.D., Ph.D., to the Board of Directors. An accomplished biotechnology and pharmaceutical executive leader in Europe and the U.S., Bernd brings 25 years of industry experience and oncology drug discovery expertise to Aptose. Another of our most recent directors, Carol Ashe brings notable biotech and pharmaceutical experience with a background that includes venture capital, corporate development and legal experience in mergers, acquisitions, and equity investments. Leadership on our Board committees continues to evolve; our corporate governance, Board committees and respective charters are all available to view on Aptose’s website. Our board is now composed of 7 directors, 6 of whom are independent, with broad expertise, skills, and viewpoints to help the Corporation advance and execute its strategy.

Let me close by thanking you for your continued support. We are always open to hearing from you with your questions and thoughts. On behalf of all of us on the Board of Directors, thank you for your investment in the success of Aptose.

Sincerely,

Denis R. Burger, Ph.D.
Lead Independent Director

Aptose Biosciences Inc.

Suite 120, 12770 High Bluff Drive, San Diego, California, 92130

Notice of 2023 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the annual and special meeting (the “Meeting”) of shareholders of Aptose Biosciences Inc. (the “Corporation”) will be held on May 23, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. (Pacific time). The Meeting will be conducted in a hybrid format. Therefore shareholders are invited to attend in person at Highlands Corporate Center - Conference Room, 12730 High Bluff Drive, Cantina Ste, San Diego, 92130 or by live webcast accessible directly online at web.lumiagm.com/472428776, where they will be able to listen, vote, and submit questions during the Meeting.

What the Meeting is About

The following items of business will be covered at the Meeting:

The shareholders may also consider other business that properly comes before the Meeting or any adjournment of the Meeting. The Proxy Statement provides additional information relating to the matters to be dealt with at the Meeting and forms part of this notice.

You have the right to vote.

You are entitled to receive notice of and vote at the Meeting, or any adjournment, if you are a holder of Shares at the close of business on April 3, 2023.

You have the right to vote your shares on items 2 through 7 listed above and any other items that may properly come before the Meeting or any adjournment.

The Notice of Meeting, Proxy Statement and the form of proxy will be mailed to you on or around April 26, 2023. Detailed instructions regarding shareholders’ voting process are also available on our website at https://www.aptose.com/investors/news-events/ir-calendar.

Your vote is important.

If you are not able to attend the Meeting, please exercise your right to vote by signing and returning the enclosed form of proxy to Computershare Investor Services Inc., 100 University Avenue, 8^th Floor, Toronto, Canada M5J 2Y1, so as to arrive not later than 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on May 18, 2023 or, if the Meeting is adjourned, 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays) before any adjournment of the Meeting.

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

William G. Rice, Ph.D.
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

April 18, 2023

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS FOR THE ANNUAL AND SPECIAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS TO BE HELD ON MAY 23, 2023.

Our Notice of 2023 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders, Proxy Statement and Annual Report to Shareholders are available on the Corporation’s website at https://www.aptose.com/investors/news-events/ir-calendar.

Copies are also available upon written request to the Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary (i) at our principal executive and registered office located at 251 Consumers Road, Suite 1105, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M2J 4R3; or (ii) at our executive headquarters located at Suite 120, 12770 High Bluff Drive, San Diego, California, 92130.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROXY STATEMENT

The information contained in this proxy statement (the “Proxy Statement”) is furnished in connection with the solicitation of proxies by Aptose Biosciences Inc. (the “Corporation”, “Aptose”, “we” or “our”) to be used at the annual and special meeting (the “Meeting”) of holders (the “Shareholders”) of common shares (the “Shares”) of the Corporation to be held on May 23, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. (Pacific time) and at all adjournments thereof, for the purposes set forth in the accompanying notice of meeting (the “Notice of Meeting”). The Meeting will be held at Highlands Corporate Center - Conference Room, 12730 High Bluff Drive, Cantina Ste, San Diego, 92130 as well as online at web.lumiagm.com/472428776, where Shareholders will be able to listen, vote and submit questions during the Meeting.

The information contained in this Proxy Statement is given as at April 3, 2023 except where otherwise noted. All references to “dollar” or the use of the symbol “$” are to United States dollars and use of the symbol “CA$” refers to Canadian dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ANNUAL AND SPECIAL MEETING
AND VOTING YOUR SHARES

What are the date, time and place of the Meeting?

The Meeting will be held on May 23, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. (Pacific time). The Meeting will be held in person at Highlands Corporate Center - Conference Room, 12730 High Bluff Drive, Cantina Ste, San Diego, 92130 as well as online at web.lumiagm.com/472428776. The online Meeting will be accessible 15 minutes before the start time.

How can I access the Meeting virtually?

To participate in the Meeting virtually, visit web.lumiagm.com/472428776. Registered Shareholders and duly appointed and registered proxyholders will be able to listen, vote and ask questions via the virtual meeting platform. It is to be noted, however, that questions cannot be submitted prior to the Meeting. Non-registered Shareholders who have not appointed themselves as proxyholders will only be able to attend the online Meeting as “Guests” and will not be able to vote or ask questions at the Meeting. To access the Meeting virtually, registered Shareholders and duly appointed proxyholders will need an Internet connection and an Internet-connected device (such as a desktop, laptop, tablet or cell phone) running the most updated version of applicable software and plugins. The virtual meeting platform is fully supported across browsers (Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Safari). Participants in the online Meeting must be connected to Internet at all times during the Meeting in order to vote when balloting commences. A summary of the information Shareholders will need to attend the Meeting virtually is provided below:

1.     Registered Shareholders and duly appointed proxyholders can participate in the Meeting virtually by clicking “I have a login” and entering a Username and Password before the start of the Meeting.

2.    Voting at the Meeting will only be available for registered Shareholders and duly appointed and registered proxyholders. Non-registered Shareholders who have not appointed themselves may attend the Meeting virtually by clicking “I am a guest” and completing the online form. This will allow them to listen to the online Meeting; however, they will not be able to vote or submit questions.

3.     Registered Shareholders who use a 15-digit control number to login to the online Meeting and who accept the terms and conditions will be revoking any and all previously submitted proxies. However, in such a case, registered Shareholders will be provided the opportunity to vote by ballot on the matters put forth at the Meeting. If registered Shareholders do not wish to revoke all previously submitted proxies, they should not accept the terms and conditions, in which case they can only enter the online Meeting as a guest.

If you attend the Meeting virtually, it is important that you remain connected to the internet at all times during the online Meeting in order to vote when balloting commences. It is your responsibility to ensure connectivity for the duration of the Meeting. You will be able to access the online Meeting 15 minutes before the start time and should allow ample time for online check-in, which will begin at 8:45 a.m. (Pacific time) on May 23, 2023.

Why is the Meeting held in hybrid format?

By conducting our Meeting in person as well as online, the Board aims to provide Shareholders with the option to choose to attend the Meeting in person if their circumstances allow it but also with an effective way to participate in the Meeting if they cannot attend in person.

The format of the Meeting has been designed to ensure that Shareholders who attend the Meeting online will be afforded the same rights and opportunities to participate as the Shareholders who attend in person.

Can I submit questions prior or at the Meeting?

Registered Shareholders and duly appointed and registered proxyholders can ask questions during the online Meeting via the virtual meeting platform. Registered Shareholders attending the Meeting in person will also have the opportunity to ask questions. It is to be noted, however, that questions cannot be submitted prior to the Meeting. Questions pertinent to the Meeting matters will be answered at a designated time during the Meeting, subject to time constraints. The chair of the Meeting reserves the right to edit or reject questions it deems irrelevant to meeting matters, profane or inappropriate.

The chair of the Meeting has broad authority to conduct the Meeting in an orderly manner. To ensure the Meeting is conducted in a manner that is fair to all Shareholders, the chair of the Meeting may exercise its discretion in recognizing Shareholders who wish to participate, in determining the order in which questions are answered, and the amount of time devoted to each question. However, consistent with prior annual shareholders’ meetings, questions submitted in accordance with the rules of conduct generally will be addressed in the order received during the allotted time for questions.

Who can vote at the Meeting?

Only Shareholders as of the close of business on the record date, being April 3, 2023, are entitled to receive notice of and vote on matters to be presented at the Meeting, or any adjournment or postponement thereof, in the manner and subject to the procedures described in this Proxy Statement and the accompanying form of proxy.

At the close of business on the record date, 93,005,278 Shares were issued and outstanding.

Each Shareholder is entitled to one vote per Share held on all matters to come before the Meeting. Shares of Aptose are the only securities of Aptose which will have voting rights at the Meeting.

What is the quorum for the Meeting?

The presence at the opening of the Meeting of two persons who are entitled to vote either as Shareholders or as proxyholders and holding or representing not less than 33⅓% of the outstanding Shares entitled to vote at the Meeting as of the record date will constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at the Meeting. In general, Shares represented by a properly signed and returned form of proxy, or properly voted by Internet or telephone, or voted by your broker will be counted as Shares present and entitled to vote at the Meeting for purposes of determining a quorum. Shares represented by proxies marked “Abstain” and “broker non-votes” are also counted in determining whether a quorum is present.

What does it mean to vote by proxy?

Voting by proxy means that you are giving the person or people named on your form of proxy (the “proxyholder”) the authority to vote your Shares for you at the Meeting or any adjournment. A form of proxy is included with this Proxy Statement.

The management representatives named on the form of proxy will vote your Shares for you, unless you appoint someone else to be your proxyholder. You have the right to appoint a person to represent you at the Meeting other than the persons named on the form of proxy. If you appoint someone else, he or she must be present at the Meeting to vote your Shares. If you want to appoint someone else, you can insert that person’s name in the blank space provided in the form of proxy. That other person does not need to be a Shareholder of the Corporation.

If you are voting your Shares by proxy, our transfer agent, Computershare, must receive your completed form of proxy by 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on May 18, 2023 or, if the Meeting is adjourned, 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays) before any adjournment of the Meeting.

What’s the difference between registered and non-registered (beneficial) Shareholders?

The voting process is different depending on whether you are a registered or non-registered (beneficial) Shareholder:

Registered Shareholders

You are a registered Shareholder if your name appears on your Share certificate or in the registers of the Corporation maintained by Computershare. Your form of proxy tells you whether you are a registered Shareholder. We mail copies of the Notice of Meeting, this Proxy Statement and the form of proxy (collectively, the “proxy materials”) directly to registered Shareholders. We have previously mailed our annual report to all registered Shareholders.

Non-Registered (or Beneficial) Shareholders

You are a non-registered (or beneficial) Shareholder if your bank, trust company, securities broker or other financial institution holds your Shares for you (as your nominee). For most of you, your voting instruction form or proxy tells you whether you are a non-registered (or beneficial) Shareholder.

In accordance with Canadian securities law and SEC rules, we have distributed copies of the proxy materials and the annual report to CDS Clearing and Depository Services Inc. and intermediaries (such as securities brokers or financial institutions) for onward distribution to those non-registered or beneficial Shareholders to whom we have not sent the proxy materials and the annual report directly.

The intermediaries are required to forward proxy materials and the annual report to non-registered or beneficial Shareholders unless a non-registered or beneficial Shareholder has waived the right to receive them. Very often, intermediaries will use a service company such as Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions to forward the proxy materials to non-registered or beneficial Shareholders.

How do I vote?

Most non-registered or beneficial Shareholders who have not waived the right to receive proxy materials will receive a voting instruction form (“VIF”). Registered Shareholders will, and some non-registered (beneficial) Shareholders may receive a form of proxy. Shareholders should follow the additional procedures set out below, depending on what type of form they receive. Detailed instructions regarding Shareholders’ voting process are also available on the Investors page of our website at https://www.aptose.com/investors/news-events/ir-calendar.

If a non-registered Shareholder wishes to attend and vote at the Meeting (or have another person attend and vote on the non-registered Shareholder’s behalf), the non-registered Shareholder must complete, sign and return the VIF in accordance with the directions provided. If the non-registered Shareholder wishes to attend and vote at the Meeting, they must appoint themselves as proxyholder. Otherwise, the non-registered Shareholder will only be able to attend the Meeting as a “Guest”, and will not be able to vote or ask questions at the Meeting. Non-registered Shareholders should visit our website at https://www.aptose.com/investors/news-events/ir-calendar to obtain additional instructions on how to vote online during the Meeting.

Non-registered Shareholders who wish to appoint themselves as a proxy holder in order to attend the Meeting virtually or who wish to appoint a proxyholder other than a management representative to represent them at the online Meeting must submit their VIF prior to registering themselves or their proxyholder, as applicable. Registering themselves or the proxyholder, as applicable, is an additional step once a non-registered Shareholder has submitted their VIF. Failure to register themselves or another person other than a management representative as duly appointed proxyholder will result in the non-registered Shareholder or the proxyholder not receiving a Username to participate in the Meeting. To register a proxyholder (be it themselves or another person other than a management representative), non-registered Shareholders must visit https://www.computershare.com/aptose by 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on May 18, 2023 or, if the Meeting is adjourned, 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays) before any adjournment of the Meeting, and provide Computershare with their information or their proxyholder’s contact information, as applicable, so that Computershare may provide them or the proxyholder, as applicable, with a Username via email. Without a Username, non-registered Shareholders who appointed themselves as proxyholders and proxyholders will only be able to attend the Meeting as “Guests” and will not be able to vote or ask questions at the Meeting.

Or

Registered Shareholders who wish to appoint a proxyholder other than a management representative to represent them at the online Meeting must submit their form of proxy prior to registering their proxyholder. Registering the proxyholder is an additional step once a registered Shareholder has submitted their proxy. Failure to register a duly appointed proxyholder will result in the proxyholder not receiving a Username to participate in the Meeting. To register a proxyholder, registered Shareholders must visit https://www.computershare.com/aptose by 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on May 18, 2023 or, if the Meeting is adjourned, 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays) before any adjournment of the Meeting, and provide Computershare with their proxyholder’s contact information, so that Computershare may provide the proxyholder with a Username via email. Without a Username, proxyholders will only be able to attend the Meeting as “Guests” and will not be able to vote or ask questions at the Meeting.

Registered Shareholders may also attend and vote at the Meeting. Registered Shareholders wishing to attend the Meeting virtually should visit our website at https://www.aptose.com/investors/news-events/ir-calendar to obtain additional instructions on how to vote online during the Meeting. The 15-digit control number provided on the registered Shareholder’s form of proxy will be required.

Less frequently, a non-registered Shareholder will receive, as part of the proxy materials, a form of proxy that has already been signed by the intermediary (typically by a facsimile or stamped signature), which is restricted as to the number of Shares beneficially owned by the non-registered Shareholder, but which is otherwise uncompleted. If the non-registered Shareholder does not wish to attend and vote at the Meeting (or have another person attend and vote on the non-registered Shareholder’s behalf), the non-registered Shareholder must complete the form of proxy and deposit it with Computershare, 100 University Avenue, 8^th Floor, Toronto, Canada, M5J 2Y1 as described above.

If a non-registered Shareholder wishes to attend and vote at the Meeting (or have another person attend and vote on the non-registered Shareholder’s behalf), the non-registered Shareholder must strike out the names of the persons named in the proxy and if they intend to participate in the Meeting virtually, insert the non-registered Shareholder’s (or such other person’s) name in the blank space provided. The non-registered Shareholder must then register themselves or the other person, as applicable, as proxyholder. Registering themselves or the other person, as applicable, is an additional step once a non-registered Shareholder has submitted their completed form of proxy. Failure to register themselves or the other person, as applicable, as duly appointed proxyholder will result in the non-registered Shareholder or the proxyholder, as applicable, not receiving a Username to participate in the online Meeting. To register a proxyholder (be it themselves or another person), non-registered Shareholders must visit https://www.computershare.com/aptose by 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on May 18, 2023 or, if the Meeting is adjourned, 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays) before any adjournment of the Meeting, and provide Computershare with their information or their proxyholder’s contact information, as applicable, so that Computershare may provide them or the proxyholder, as applicable, with a Username via email. Without a Username, non-registered Shareholders who appointed themselves as proxyholders and proxyholders will only be able to attend the Meeting as “Guests” and will not be able to vote or ask questions at the Meeting.

Computershare
100 University Avenue
8^th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5J 2Y1

OR

Email at: uslegalproxy@computershare.com

Requests for registration must be labelled as “Legal Proxy” and be received no later than by 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on May 18, 2023. U.S. non-registered Shareholders will receive a confirmation of their registration by email receipt of their registration materials by Computershare. U.S. non-registered Shareholders will then be able to attend the Meeting and vote and ask questions at web.lumiagm.com/472428776. U.S. non-registered Shareholders are required to register their appointment at www.computershare.com/appointee. If U.S. non-registered Shareholders do not follow the procedures set out above, they will only be able to attend the Meeting virtually as “Guests” and will not be able to vote or ask questions at the online Meeting.

Shareholders should follow the instructions on the forms they receive, and non-registered Shareholders should contact their intermediaries promptly if they need assistance.

How do I request a copy of proxy materials?

To request a printed copy of the proxy materials, please contact your broker, if you are a non-registered Shareholder, or if you are a registered Shareholder, contact our Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary at Aptose Biosciences Inc., Suite 120, 12770 High Bluff Drive, San Diego, California, telephone: 858-926-2730.

The proxy materials are being sent or made available to both registered and non-registered owners of Shares. The Corporation is sending proxy materials indirectly to non-objecting beneficial owners (as defined in National Instrument 54-101 - Communication with Beneficial Owners of Securities of a Reporting Issuer (“NI 54-101”)). The Corporation intends to pay for intermediaries to forward to objecting beneficial owners (as defined in NI 54-101) the proxy materials.

What am I voting on at the Meeting?

The following items of business will be covered at the Meeting:

As of the date of this Proxy Statement, the Board is not aware of any such other business.

How does the Board recommend that I vote?

Our Board recommends that each Shareholder vote “FOR” each of Proposals No. 1 through No. 6.

What votes may I cast with regard to each proposal?

You can choose to vote “For”, “Against” or “Abstain”, for Proposals No. 1s through No. 6. The Shares represented by the form of proxy will be voted in accordance with the instructions of the Shareholder on any ballot that may be called for and, if the Shareholder specifies a choice with respect to any matter to be acted upon, the Shares will be voted accordingly.

If you return your form of proxy and do not tell us how you want to vote your Shares, your Shares will be voted in accordance with Board recommendations for each proposal by the management representatives named in the form of proxy.

The enclosed form of proxy confers discretionary authority upon the management representatives designated in the form of proxy with respect to amendments to or variations of matters identified in the Notice of Meeting and with respect to other matters that may properly come before the Meeting. At the date of this Proxy Statement, management of the Corporation knows of no such amendments, variations or other matters.

What vote is required in order to approve each proposal?

What impact does an “Abstain” vote have?

If you select “Abstain,” your vote will have no effect on the votes cast for the purposes of approving each proposal.

What is the effect if I do not cast my vote?

If, as a registered Shareholder, you do not cast your vote at the Meeting or by proxy, no votes will be cast on your behalf on any of the proposals.

If you are a U.S. beneficial Shareholder with an intermediary, you must instruct your U.S. intermediary how to vote your shares. If, as a U.S. non-registered or beneficial Shareholder, you do not instruct your intermediary on how to vote on any of the proposals at the Meeting, we believe that the intermediary has discretionary authority to vote your shares on Proposals No. 2 and No. 4, but the intermediary does not have discretionary authority to vote your shares on Proposal No. 1, Proposals No. , No. 5 and No. 6 or any unusual item, so a “broker non-vote” will be recorded with respect to such item. Broker non-votes will be treated as not entitled to vote on any such matter and will not be counted as having been voted in respect of any such matter. Shares represented by such broker “non-votes” will, however, be counted in determining whether there is a quorum for the Meeting.

How do I change my vote?

A registered Shareholder who has given a proxy may revoke that proxy and change a vote by:

A non-registered or beneficial Shareholder may revoke a voting instruction form or a waiver of the right to receive proxy materials and to vote given to an intermediary or to the Corporation, as the case may be, at any time by written notice to the intermediary or the Corporation, except that neither an intermediary nor the Corporation is required to act on a revocation of a voting instruction form or on a waiver of the right to receive materials and to vote that is not received by such intermediary or the Corporation, at least seven days prior to the Meeting.

What does it mean if I receive more than one set of proxy materials?

This means that you own Shares that are registered under different accounts. For example, you may own some Shares directly as a registered Shareholder and other Shares as a non-registered beneficial Shareholder through an intermediary, or you may own Shares through more than one such organization. In these situations, you will receive multiple sets of proxy materials. It is necessary for you to complete and return all forms of proxy and VIFs in order to vote all of the Shares you own. Please make sure you return each form of proxy or VIF in the accompanying return envelope. You may also vote by Internet, telephone, facsimile or email, as applicable, by following the instructions on your proxy materials.

Who is soliciting the proxies, how will proxies be solicited and who will pay the cost of the proxy solicitation?

Aptose is soliciting proxies to be used at the Meeting. The solicitation of proxies will be primarily by mail, but Aptose’s directors, officers and regular employees may also solicit proxies personally or by telephone. Aptose will bear all costs of the solicitation, including the printing, handling and mailing of the Meeting materials. Aptose has arranged for intermediaries to forward the Meeting materials to non-registered or beneficial Shareholders of record, and Aptose may reimburse the intermediaries for their reasonable fees and disbursements in that regard.

In addition, we have engaged Morrow Sodali LLC to help us solicit proxies from Shareholders for a fee of $12,500 plus reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses.

How can I make a Shareholder proposal for the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders?

For a proposal to be valid, it must comply with the requirements if the CBCA, as well as those of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (United States) (the “Exchange Act”).

In order for a Shareholder proposal to be eligible for inclusion in the Proxy Statement under the Exchange Act, the Shareholder must submit the proposal in accordance with Rule 14a-8, by no later than December 28, 2023, and the Shareholder must follow the procedures of Rule 14a-8 including having continuously held at least US$2,000 in market value of the Shares entitled to be voted on the proposal at the Meeting, for at least three years; at least US$15,000 in market value of the Shares entitled to vote on the proposal for at least two years; at least US$25,000 in market value of the Shares entitled to vote on the proposal for at least one year by the date the Shareholder submits the proposal. The Shareholder must continue to hold those Shares through the date of the Meeting. A shareholder proposal submitted pursuant to the rules of the SEC under the Exchange Act must be received at our principal executive office at 251 Consumers Road, Suite 1105, Toronto, ON M2J 4R3 by December 28, 2023 and must comply with the requirements of Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act.

Shareholders who do not wish to use the mechanism provided by the Exchange Act may submit proposals to be considered at the 2024 annual general meeting of Shareholders under the provisions of the CBCA. In order for a Shareholder proposal to be eligible under the CBCA, it must be in writing, accompanied by the requisite declarations and signed by the submitter and qualified Shareholders who at the time of signing are the registered or beneficial owners of Shares that, in the aggregate: (a) constitute at least 1% of our issued Shares that have the right to vote at general meetings; or (b) have a fair market value in excess of CA$2,000. For the submitter or a qualified Shareholder to be eligible to sign the proposal, that Shareholder must have been the registered or beneficial owner of our Shares that carry the right to vote at general meetings for an uninterrupted period of at least six months before the date the proposal is submitted. To be considered for inclusion in the proxy materials for the 2024 annual general meeting of Shareholders, any such Shareholder proposal under the CBCA must be received by Aptose by no later than February 23, 2024.

A Shareholder wishing to nominate an individual to be a director, other than pursuant to a requisition of a meeting made pursuant to the CBCA or a Shareholder proposal made pursuant to the CBCA or Exchange Act provisions described above, is required to comply with Section 3.1 of By-Law 2015-01 – Advance Notice By-Law of Aptose Biosciences Inc. (the “Advance Notice Bylaw”).

Shareholders who wish to suggest a candidate for our Board in compliance with Section 3.1 of the Advance Notice Bylaw may submit a written recommendation to our Secretary at 251 Consumers Road, Suite 1105, Toronto, ON M2J 4R3 along with the Shareholder’s name, setting forth, among other things:

•       the name, age, and province or state, and country of residence of the proposed nominee;

•       the principal occupation, business or employment of the proposed nominee, both at present and within the five years preceding the recommendation;

•       the number of securities of each class of voting securities of the Corporation or its subsidiaries which are beneficially owned, or controlled or directed, directly or indirectly, by the proposed nominee as of the record date for the meeting of Shareholders (if such date shall then have been made publicly available and shall have occurred) and as of the date of such notice;

•       a description of any agreement, arrangement or understanding (financial, compensation or indemnity related or otherwise) between the nominating Shareholder and the proposed nominee, or any affiliates or associates of, or any person acting jointly or in concert with the nominating Shareholder or the proposed nominee, in connection with the proposed nominee’s election as director; and

•       whether the proposed nominee is party to any existing or proposed relationship, agreement, arrangement or understanding with any competitor of the Corporation or its affiliates or any other third party which may give rise to a real or perceived conflict of interest between the interests of the Corporation and the interests of the proposed nominee.

The corporate governance and nominating committee of the Board (the “Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee” may also request that the Shareholder provide certain additional information.

For the Board to consider a candidate for nomination at the 2024 Annual Meeting, Shareholders should submit the required information to the Secretary by the date not less than 30 days before the 2024 Annual Meeting; provided, however, that if the 2024 annual general meeting of Shareholders is to be held on a date that is fewer than 50 days after the date (the “Notice Date”) on which the first public announcement of the meeting was made, notice by the nominating Shareholder may be given not later than the close of business on the tenth day following the Notice Date. The foregoing is merely a summary of provisions contained in Section 3.1 of the Advance Notice Bylaw, and is not comprehensive and is qualified by the full text of such provisions. The full text of such provisions is set out in Section 3.1 of the Advance Notice Bylaw, a copy of which is filed under the Corporation’s profile at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov.

These advance notice provisions are in addition to, and separate from, the requirements that a stockholder must meet in order to have a proposal included in the proxy statement under the rules of the SEC and the CBCA. For such Shareholder’s director nominee to be eligible for inclusion in the proxy statement, please refer to the deadlines pursuant to the Exchange Act and the CBCA set out above.

To comply with the universal proxy rules set forth in Rule 14a-19 of the Exchange Act, shareholders who intend to solicit proxies in support of director nominees other than the Corporation’s nominees must provide notice to the Corporate Secretary that sets forth the information required by Rule 14a-19(b) under the Exchange Act, which shall be postmarked or transmitted electronically to the Corporation at the Corporation’s principal executive offices no later than March 24, 2024.

What if amendments are made to the proposals or if other matters are brought before the Meeting?

With respect to any amendments or variations in any of the proposals shown in the Proxy Statement, or any other matters which may properly come before the Meeting, the Shares will be voted by the appointed proxyholder as he or she in their sole discretion sees fit.

As of the date of this Proxy Statement, the Board is not aware of any such amendments, variations or other matters to come before the Meeting. However, if any such changes that are not currently known to the Board should properly come before the Meeting, the Shares represented by your proxyholders will be voted in accordance with the best judgment of the proxyholders.

Who will tabulate the votes?

We currently expect that Computershare will tabulate the votes, and the secretary of the Meeting will be our inspector of elections for the Meeting.

When will voting results be disclosed?

Preliminary voting results will be announced at the Meeting. Final voting results will be filed with the Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities on SEDAR at www.sedar.com promptly following the Meeting, and will also be published in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on EDGAR at www.sec.gov within four business days of the Meeting.

Whom do I contact if I have questions regarding the Meeting?

If you have any questions or require assistance in voting your Shares, please call Mr. Fletcher Payne, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary, at 858-926-2730.

Who may adjourn the Meeting?

The Meeting may be adjourned to any other time and any other place by the Shareholders who attend the Meeting or who are represented at the Meeting and entitled to vote even when such Shareholders do not constitute a quorum.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Proxy Statement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. This Proxy Statement also contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. We refer to such forward-looking statements and forward-looking information collectively as “forward-looking statements”. We have identified some of these forward-looking statements with words like “believe,” “may,” “could,” “would,” “might,” “possible,” “potential,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “predict,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “contemplate” and “continue”, the negative of these words, other words and terms of similar meaning and the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. These uncertainties include factors that affect all businesses as well as matters specific to us.

Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Uncertainties and risks may cause our actual results to be materially different than those expressed in or implied by our forward-looking statements. For us, particular uncertainties and risks include those described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. A copy of this document can be found by accessing the SEC’s EDGAR filing database at www.sec.gov and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com; however we will promptly provide a copy of this document to any Shareholder of the Corporation free of charge upon request. All forward-looking statements in this Proxy Statement speak only as of the date of this Proxy Statement and are based on our current beliefs and expectations. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

VOTING SECURITIES AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF VOTING SECURITIES

As of the record date April 3, 2023, 93,005,278 Shares are issued and outstanding. Each holder of Shares of record at the close of business on April 3, 2023 will be entitled to one vote for each Share held on all matters proposed to come before the Meeting, except to the extent that the Shareholder has transferred any Shares after the record date and the transferee of such Shares establishes ownership of them and makes a written demand, not later than 10 days prior to the Meeting, to be included in the list of Shareholders entitled to vote at the Meeting, in which case the transferee will be entitled to vote such Shares.

SHARE OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS,
MANAGEMENT AND DIRECTORS

The table below sets forth information known to us regarding the beneficial ownership of our Shares as of April 3, 2023 for:

The number of Shares beneficially owned by a person includes shares subject to options held by that person that are currently exercisable or that become exercisable within 60 days of April 3, 2023. Percentage calculations assume, for each person and group, that all Shares that may be acquired by such person or group pursuant to options currently exercisable or that become exercisable within 60 days of April 3, 2023 are outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage of Shares owned by such person or group. However, such unissued Shares described above are not deemed to be outstanding for calculating the percentage of Shares owned by any other person.

Except as otherwise indicated, the persons in the table below have sole voting and investment power with respect to all Shares shown as beneficially owned by them, subject to community property laws where applicable and subject to the information contained in the notes to the table.

RECEIPT OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

At the Meeting, Shareholders will receive and consider the financial statements of the Corporation for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 and the auditor’s report thereon, but no vote by the Shareholders with respect thereto is required or proposed to be taken.

PROPOSAL NO. 1—ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Pursuant to the articles of the Corporation, the number of directors of the Corporation is set at a minimum of three and a maximum of eleven, and the Board is authorized to determine the actual number of directors to be elected from time to time. The Corporation currently has seven directors, all of whom are being proposed for nomination at the Meeting. Unless they resign, all directors elected at the Meeting will hold office until our next annual meeting of Shareholders or until their successors are elected or appointed.

Pursuant to recent changes to the CBCA, there is a statutory voting requirement for uncontested directors elections whereby shareholders are allowed to vote “for” or “against” (as opposed to “for” and “withhold”) nominees for the Board. The required vote to elect a nominee to the Board is the majority of the votes cast for their election. If a nominee does not receive a majority of the votes cast for their election, the nominee will not be elected and the Board position will remain open or, if in the case of incumbent directors, such director may continue in office until the earlier of (i) the 90th day after the election, or (ii) the day on which his or her successor is appointed or elected.

The following incumbent directors of the Corporation are nominated for election at the Meeting.

* SEC reporting issuer

Other than as described below, no proposed director is, to the knowledge of the Corporation as at the date of the Proxy Statement, or has been, within 10 years before the date of this Proxy Statement, a director, chief executive officer or chief financial officer of any company (including Aptose) that: (i) was subject to a cease trade order, an order similar to a cease trade order or an order that denied the relevant company access to any exemption under Canadian securities legislation that was in effect for a period of more than 30 consecutive days, (ii) was subject to cease trade order, an order similar to a cease trade order or an order that denied the relevant company access to any exemption under Canadian securities legislation that was in effect for a period of more than 30 consecutive days that was issued after the proposed director ceased to be a director, chief executive officer or chief financial officer and which resulted from an event that occurred while that person was acting in the capacity as director, chief executive officer or chief financial officer, (iii) while that person was acting in that capacity, or within a year of that person ceasing to act in that capacity, became bankrupt, made a proposal under any legislation relating to bankruptcy or insolvency or was subject to or instituted any proceedings, arrangement or compromise with creditors or had a receiver, receiver manager or trustee appointed to hold its assets, or (iv) become bankrupt, made a proposal under any legislation relating to bankruptcy or insolvency, or become subject to or instituted any proceedings, arrangement or compromised with creditors, or had a receiver, receiver manager or trustee appointed to hold the assets of the proposed director.

Dr. Seizinger was a non-executive independent director of Opsona Therapeutics Ltd., a private company formed under the laws of Ireland, which filed for a creditors’ voluntary liquidation under applicable Irish law in December 2018.

Moreover, no proposed director of the Corporation has been subject, to the knowledge of the Corporation, to (i) any penalties or sanctions imposed by a court relating to securities legislation or by a securities regulatory authority or has entered into a settlement agreement with a securities regulatory authority, or (ii) any other penalties or sanctions imposed by a court or regulatory body that would likely be considered important to a reasonable securityholder in deciding whether to vote for a proposed director.

There are no family relationships among any of the director nominees, directors and/or any of Aptose’s executive officers. In addition, no nominee has an arrangement or understanding with another person under which he or she was or is to be selected as a director or nominee.

Board Recommendation

The Board recommends a vote FOR the election of all nominees for directors named in this Proxy Statement.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Corporate governance relates to the activities of the Board, the members of which are elected by and are accountable to the Shareholders, and takes into account the role of the individual members of management who are appointed by the Board and who are charged with the day-to-day management of Aptose. The Board believes that sound corporate governance practices are essential to contributing to the effective and efficient decision-making of management and the Board and to the enhancement of Shareholder value. The Board and management believe that Aptose has a sound governance structure in place for both management and the Board. Of particular note, Aptose has:

Each of the committee charters and the Code of Ethics can be found on the Corporation’s website at https://ir.aptose.com/corporate-governance.

National Instrument 58-101 — Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practices and National Policy 58-201 — Corporate Governance Guidelines (“NP 58-201”) requires issuers, including Aptose, to disclose the corporate governance practices that they have adopted. NP 58-201 provides guidance on governance practices. The Corporation is also subject to National Instrument 52-110 – Audit Committees (“NI 52-110”), which has been adopted in various Canadian provinces and territories and which prescribes certain requirements in relation to audit committees.

Board Mandate

The Board has adopted a mandate in which it explicitly assumes responsibility for stewardship of the Corporation. The Board is mandated to represent the Shareholders to ensure appropriate succession planning is in place, select the appropriate chief executive officer, assess and approve the strategic direction of the Corporation, ensure that appropriate processes for risk assessment, management and internal control are in place, monitor management performance against agreed benchmarks, and assure the integrity of financial reports. A copy of the Board Mandate is attached hereto as APPENDIX A.

Composition and Independence of the Board

The Corporation’s Board is currently composed of seven directors, a majority (six) of whom meet the independence standards under the listing standards of Nasdaq, the rules and regulations of the SEC, and NI 52-110. Each year the Board reviews the composition of the Board and assesses whether a Board member is “independent”.

Dr. William G. Rice, Ph.D., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation is not an independent director because of his role in the Corporation’s management team.

The following table outlines other reporting issuers where our directors serve on the Board:

Board Leadership

In 2014, further to the appointment of Dr. William G. Rice, Ph.D. as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, the Corporation created the position of Lead Director to ensure that the directors have an independent leadership contact and maintain and enhance the quality of the Corporation’s corporate governance practices. Dr. Denis Burger, an independent director, is currently the Lead Director. The Lead Director provides leadership to the Board in discharging its mandate and also assists the Board in discharging its stewardship function, which includes (i) satisfying itself as to the integrity of the Chief Executive Officer and the other senior officers of the Corporation and that the Chief Executive Officer and other senior officers create a culture of integrity throughout the organization; (ii) strategic planning; (iii) identifying and managing risks; (iv) succession planning; (v) adopting a disclosure policy; (vi) internal control and management information systems; and (vii) the Corporation’s approach to corporate governance. In addition, the Lead Director provides advice, counsel and mentorship to the Chief Executive Officer.

Board Oversight of Risk

With regard to risk management, the Board ensures that the business of the Corporation is conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations and according to the highest ethical standards; will identify and document the financial risks and other risks that the Corporation faces in the course of its business and ensure that such risks are appropriately managed; and will adopt a disclosure policy.

The Board as a whole has responsibility for risk oversight, with more in-depth reviews of certain areas of risk being conducted by the relevant Board committees that report on their deliberations to the full Board. The Board and its committees fulfill their oversight responsibilities with the support of management, whose reporting processes are designed to provide information to the Board about the identification, assessment and management of critical risks and management’s risk mitigation strategies. Areas of risk evaluated include regulatory, operational, financial (accounting, liquidity and tax), legal, cybersecurity compensation, competitive, health, safety and reputational risks.

The Audit Committee, Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee and Compensation Committee oversee risks associated with their respective principal areas of focus. The Audit Committee’s role includes a particular focus on the qualitative aspects of financial reporting to stockholders, on our processes for the management of business and financial risk, our financial reporting obligations and for compliance with significant applicable legal, ethical and regulatory requirements. The Audit Committee, along with management, is also responsible for developing and participating in a process for review of important financial and operating topics that present potential significant risk to the Corporation. The Compensation Committee is responsible for overseeing risks and exposures associated with our compensation programs and arrangements, including our executive and director compensation programs and arrangements, and management succession planning. The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee oversees risks relating to our corporate governance matters and policies and director succession planning.

We recognize that a fundamental part of risk management is understanding not only the risks a company faces and what steps management is taking to manage those risks, but also understanding what level of risk is appropriate for that company. Through their involvement in setting our business strategy, the Board can assess management’s appetite for risk and also determine what constitutes an appropriate level of risk for the Corporation.

We believe our current Board leadership structure is appropriate and helps ensure proper risk oversight for the Corporation. The full Board conducts general risk oversight in connection with its role in reviewing our key long-term and short-term business strategies and monitoring on an ongoing basis the implementation of our key business strategies, while our standing Board committees conduct more specific risk oversight related to their responsibilities. The Chair ensures that there is sufficient time on the Board agenda for risk management discussions.

Nomination of Directors

Directors of the Corporation are expected to bring to the Board the broadest possible knowledge and depth of experience from their chosen business or profession. Directors should evidence a demonstrated ability to deal with business, financial and social issues, both nationally and internationally. This implies a capacity to provide additional strength, diversity of views and up-to-date perceptions to the Board and its deliberations. It is the mandate of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee to identify and recommend qualified candidates for the Board. In assessing whether identified candidates are suitable for the Board, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee considers: (i) the competencies and skills considered necessary for the Board as a whole; (ii) the competencies and skills that the existing directors possess and the competencies and skills nominees will bring to the Board; and (iii) whether nominees can devote sufficient time and resources to his or her duties as a member of the Board. Potential candidates for membership on the Board will not be denied consideration by reason of race, sex, religion or affiliation with some special constituency group, nor will any candidate be selected solely for such reason.

It is the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee’s policy to consider director candidates recommended by our Shareholders in accordance with the provisions set forth in our Advance Notice By-Law, which may be accessed on our website at www.aptose.com in the Investors section. Candidates recommended by the Corporation’s Shareholders will be considered by the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee and, as stated in the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee Charter, such candidates shall be evaluated in the same manner as all other director candidates. During 2021, we received no recommendations of director candidates from our Shareholders.

For additional details, please see above under “Questions About the Annual and Special Meeting and Voting Your Shares—How can I make a Shareholder proposal for the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders?”

Diversity

The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee takes diversity, including diversity of experience, perspective and education, as well as individuals from other designated groups such as women, Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities (collectively, the “Designated Groups”), into consideration as part of its overall recruitment and selection process in respect of its Board and management. The Corporation does not have a formal policy on the representation of women or other members of the Designated Groups on the Board or management of the Corporation. The Board does not believe that a formal policy will necessarily result in the identification or selection of the best candidates. As such, the Corporation does not see any meaningful value in adopting a formal policy in this respect at this time as it does not believe that it would further enhance diversity, including gender diversity, beyond the current recruitment and selection process carried out by the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. However, the Board is mindful of the benefit of diversity on the Board and management of the Corporation and the need to maximize the effectiveness of the Board and management and their respective decision-making abilities.

The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee believes that having a diverse Board and management team offers a depth of perspective and enhances Board and management operations. The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee values diversity of experience, perspective, education and race, and considers the representation of women and other members of the Designated Groups, as part of its overall annual evaluation of director nominees for election or re-election as well as candidates for management positions.

In addition, in searches for new directors or officers, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee will consider the level of representation of women and other members of the Designated Groups on the Board and in management and this will be one of several factors used in its search process. This will be achieved through continuously monitoring the level of representation of women and other members of the Designated Groups on the Board and in management positions and, where appropriate, recruiting qualified candidates who are members of the Designated Groups as part of the Corporation’s overall recruitment and selection process to fill Board or management positions, as the need arises, through vacancies, growth or otherwise.

The Board has not adopted targets regarding the representation of women and other members of Designated Groups on the Board and in executive officer positions due to the small size of the Corporation and the need to consider a balance of criteria in each individual appointment. It is important that each appointment to the Board or in executive officer positions be made, and be perceived as being made, on the merits of the individual and the needs of the Corporation at the relevant time. In addition, targets based on specific criteria such as gender or race, could limit the Board’s ability to ensure that the overall composition of the Board or management of the Corporation meets the needs of the Corporation. We are actively seeking additional candidates to join our Board and we strongly prioritize diverse candidates.

Currently, one out of seven (14%) members of the Board and none of the executive officers are women. One executive officer identifies as being of “Hispanic, Latinx or Spanish origin” and one director identifies as being part of the LGBTQ+ group, otherwise no members of the Board or executive officers of the Corporation who self-identify as being part of any of the Designated Groups.

Board Diversity Matrix

The table below provides certain highlights of the composition of our Board members as of December 31, 2022. Each of the categories listed in the table below has the meaning as it is used in Nasdaq Rule 5605(f).

Director Term Limits and Other Mechanisms of Board Renewal

The Board has not adopted term limits for directors or other mechanisms of board renewal at this time as it believes that the imposition of director term limits or other mechanisms of board renewal on a board implicitly discounts the value of experience and continuity amongst the Board members and runs the risk of excluding experienced and potentially valuable board members as a result of arbitrary determination. The Board believes that it can best strike a balance between continuity and fresh perspectives without mandated term limits or other mechanisms of board renewal.

Position Descriptions

The Board has developed written position descriptions, which are reviewed annually, for the Chair and the chairs of each of the committees. The Chief Executive Officer also has a written position description that has been approved by the Board and is reviewed annually.

Orientation and Continuing Education

It is the mandate of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee to ensure that a process is established for the orientation and education of new directors that addresses the nature and operation of the Corporation’s business and their responsibilities and duties as directors (including the contribution individual directors are expected to make and the commitment of time and resources that the Corporation expects from its directors).

The orientation includes an overview of the Corporation’s history and operations, a review of industry conditions and competition, an introduction to the Corporation’s management team and corporate and business information. Any further orientation is dependent on the needs of the new member and may include items such as formal training sessions and attendance at seminars.

With respect to the continuing education of directors, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee ensures that directors receive adequate information and continuing education opportunities on an ongoing basis to enable directors to maintain their skills and abilities as directors and to ensure their knowledge and understanding of the Corporation’s business remains current.

Assessments

It is the Board’s mandate, in conjunction with the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, to assess the participation, contributions and effectiveness of the Chair and the individual members of the Board on an annual basis. The Board also monitors the effectiveness of the Board and its committees and the actions of the Board as viewed by the individual directors and senior management.

The Board has developed a formal questionnaire to be completed by each director on an annual basis for the purpose of formally assessing the effectiveness of the Board as a whole, committees of the Board, and the contribution of individual directors. These questionnaires, and the issues arising therefrom, are intended to be reviewed and assessed by the Lead Director on an annual basis or more frequently from time to time as the need arises. The Lead Director takes appropriate action as required based on the results obtained.

Meeting Attendance

As stated in the Board Mandate, all directors are expected to attend each meeting in person, by phone or by video conference depending on the format of the meeting, to the extent practicable. The Board of Directors and its committees held nine meetings during 2022. More specifically, the Audit Committee met four times, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee met four times and the Compensation Committee met two times.

The following table illustrates the attendance record of each director for all Board meetings held for the year ended December 31, 2022.

All director nominees are expected to attend the Meeting. William G. Rice, Denis Burger, Carol G. Ashe, Mark Vincent and Warren Whitehead attended last year’s Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders.

Executive Sessions

The independent directors meet regularly without the presence of non-independent directors and members of management. During the year ended December 31, 2022, independent directors met six times without the presence of management non-independent directors as part of meetings of the Board, and members of the Audit Committee and Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee met two and four times, respectively, without the presence of management as part of meetings of their committees.

Ethical Business Conduct

We have adopted a code of ethics for directors, officers (including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer) and employees, known as the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. The Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is available on our website at http://www.aptose.com under the Corporate Governance section of our Investors page. We will promptly disclose on our website (i) the nature of any amendment to the policy that applies to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller, or persons performing similar functions and (ii) the nature of any waiver, including an implicit waiver, from a provision of the policy that is granted to one of these specified individuals that is required to be disclosed pursuant to SEC rules and regulations, the name of such person who is granted the waiver and the date of the waiver.

The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee regularly monitors compliance with the Code through communications with management and reports through the Disclosure and Insider Trading Policy (as described below) and ensures that management of the Corporation encourages and promotes a culture of ethical business conduct. A copy of the Code may be found by accessing the SEC’s EDGAR filing database at www.sec.gov, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on our website at www.aptose.com.

The Corporation has developed a Disclosure and Insider Trading Policy that covers “whistle blowing” and provides an anonymous means for employees and officers to report violations of the Code or any other corporate policies, in addition to providing guidelines on employee trading in the Corporation’s securities.

The Board has not granted any waiver of the Code in favor of a director or officer of the Corporation. No material change reports have been filed since the beginning of the Corporation’s most recently completed fiscal year that pertain to any conduct of a director or executive officer that constitutes a departure from the Code.

Conflicts of Interest

The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee monitors the disclosure of conflicts of interest by directors and ensures that no director will vote or participate in a discussion on a matter in respect of which such director has a material interest.

Shareholder Communications with the Board

Shareholders may communicate with the Board or any one particular director by sending correspondence, addressed to Mr. Fletcher Payne, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary, 12770 High Bluff Drive, San Diego, California, 92130, with an instruction to forward the communication to the Board or one or more particular directors. He will forward promptly all such shareholder communications to the Board, or the one or more particular directors, after ascertaining whether the communications are appropriate to duties and responsibilities of the Board.

Board Committees

The Corporation has a standing Audit Committee, a Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee and a Compensation Committee, each of which are composed entirely of independent directors. In 2023, the Corporation established the Research and Development Committee (“R&D Committee”). Each current member of the R&D Committee, except for Dr. Rice, qualifies as “independent” under the listing standards of Nasdaq, the rules and regulations of the SEC and NI 52-110.

Audit Committee

Membership. The current members of the Audit Committee are Denis Burger, Bernd R. Seizinger and Warren Whitehead. Mr. Whitehead is the Chair of the Audit Committee. The Board has determined that all members of the Audit Committee qualify as financial experts under the listing standards of Nasdaq.

In addition, each current member of the Audit Committee qualifies as “independent” for purposes of membership on audit committees under the listing standards of Nasdaq, the rules and regulations of the SEC and NI 52-110.

Meetings. The Audit Committee met four times during the period from January 1, 2022 until December 31, 2022.

Committee Mandate. Among its responsibilities, the Audit Committee:

The Audit Committee is also responsible for implementing and overseeing our whistle-blowing procedures. 

Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee

Membership. The current members of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee are Mark Vincent, Carol Ashe and Denis Burger. Dr. Vincent is the Chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. Each current member of the Committee qualifies as “independent” under the listing standards of Nasdaq, the rules and regulations of the SEC and NI 52-110.

Meetings. The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee met four times during the period from January 1, 2022 until December 31, 2022. In addition, governance matters were discussed and considered at the Board level.

Committee Mandate. Among its responsibilities, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee:

Compensation Committee

Membership. The Compensation Committee is currently comprised of Carol Ashe, Denis Burger and Erich Platzer. Dr. Burger is the Chair of the Compensation Committee. Each current member of the Compensation Committee qualifies as “independent” for purposes of membership on compensation committees under the listing standards of Nasdaq, the rules and regulations of the SEC and NI 52-110, and as a “non-employee director” within the meaning of Rule 16b-3 under the Exchange Act.

Meetings. The Compensation Committee met two times during the period from January 1, 2022 until December 31, 2022. In addition, compensation matters were discussed and considered at the Board level.

Committee Mandate. Among its responsibilities, the Compensation Committee:

As part of its process to make recommendations to the Board with respect of the compensation for the non-employee directors and other employees of the Corporation, the Compensation Committee consults with the President and Chief Executive Officer and other officers of the Corporation to obtain recommendations as it deems necessary.

Further information pertaining the compensation of directors and officers and the role and policies of the Compensation Committee can be found in this Proxy Statement under the heading “Executive Compensation”.

Research and Development Committee

Membership. The current members of the R&D Committee are Erich Platzer, William Rice, Bernd R. Seizinger and Mark Vincent. Dr. Seizinger is the Chair of the R&D Committee. Each current member of the R&D Committee, except for Dr. Rice, qualifies as “independent” under the listing standards of Nasdaq, the rules and regulations of the SEC and NI 52-110.

The R&D Committee was established in early 2023 and, as such, did not hold any meetings in 2022.

Committee Mandate. The R&D Committee’s responsibilities include:

PROPOSAL NO. 2—APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

The Board, on the Audit Committee’s advice, recommends the appointment of KPMG LLP, as the independent registered public accounting firm of the Corporation for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023.

We are asking Shareholders to approve the appointment of KPMG for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. If Shareholders do not approve the appointment of KPMG LLP, the Audit Committee will reconsider its selection, but it retains sole responsibility for appointing and terminating our independent registered public accounting firm.

Representatives of KPMG LLP will be present at the Meeting.

Board Recommendation

The Board unanimously recommends a vote FOR the appointment of KPMG LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm of the Corporation for the fiscal year ending on December 31, 2023.

Audit, Audit-Related, Tax and Other Fees

The tables below present fees for professional services rendered by KPMG LLP for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures

The Audit Committee has adopted procedures pursuant to which all audit, audit-related and tax services, and all permissible non-audit services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm must be pre-approved by the Audit Committee. All services rendered by KPMG LLP during our fiscal year 2022 were permissible under applicable laws and regulations and were all approved in advance by the Audit Committee in accordance with the rules adopted by the SEC in order to implement requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Audit Committee Report

This report is furnished by the Audit Committee of the Board with respect to our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022.

One of the purposes of the Audit Committee is to oversee our accounting and financial reporting processes and the audit of our annual financial statements. Our management is responsible for the preparation and presentation of complete and accurate financial statements. Our independent registered public accounting firm, KPMG LLP, is responsible for performing an independent audit of our financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) and for issuing a report on their audit.

In performing its oversight role, the Audit Committee has reviewed and discussed our audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022 with our management. Management represented to the Audit Committee that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The Audit Committee has discussed with KPMG LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, the matters required to be discussed by the applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the Securities Exchange Commission. The Audit Committee has received the written disclosures and the letter from KPMG LLP required by the applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding communications with audit committees concerning independence. The Audit Committee has discussed with KPMG LLP its independence and concluded that the independent registered public accounting firm is independent from our company.

Based on the review and discussions of the Audit Committee described above, the Audit Committee recommended to the Board that our audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022 be included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 for filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Audit Committee

Warren Whitehead, Chair

Denis Burger

Bernd R. Seizinger

PROPOSAL NO. 3—Approval of Amendment to The Corporation’s 2021 Stock Incentive Plan

At the Meeting, Shareholders will be asked to approve an ordinary resolution (the “Amendment Resolution”) approving an amendment to the Corporation’s 2021 stock incentive plan (the “2021 Stock Incentive Plan”) to increase the number of Shares reserved thereunder by 1,027,758 Shares. All other provisions of the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan remain in full force and effect. A copy of the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, as proposed to be amended, is attached hereto as APPENDIX B.

The Board believes that our success depends, in large part, in attracting and retaining employees, officers, consultants, advisors, independent contractors and non-employee directors capable of assuring the future success of the Corporation. Accordingly, the purpose of the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan is to offer such persons incentives to put forth maximum efforts for the success of the Corporation’s business and to compensate such persons through stock-based awards in the form of stock options, stock appreciation rights (“SARs”), restricted stock, restricted stock units (“RSUs”) or dividend equivalents (collectively, “Awards”), and provide them with opportunities for stock ownership in the Corporation, thereby aligning their interests with those of the Shareholders. The 2021 Stock Incentive Plan is the only omnibus equity incentive plan under which the Corporation may grant equity awards.

As of April 3, 2023, there were 19,439,557 Shares subject to issuance upon exercise of outstanding options under all of our equity compensation plans, at a weighted average exercise price of $3.04¹, and a weighted average remaining life of 7.07 years. There were no issued and outstanding Awards other than stock options. As of April 3, 2023, we had 3,536,906 Shares available for future Awards under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan.

The Board believes that the number of Shares currently remaining available for issuance pursuant to future Awards is not sufficient for future granting needs. In addition, the Compensation Committee has considered our historical annual burn rate in granting Awards and believes that our burn rate is reasonable for a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is prudently planning for success, see “Annual Burn Rate”. Accordingly, on April 6, 2023, the Board unanimously approved, subject to the approval of the Shareholders, an amendment to the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan to increase the number of Shares reserved thereunder by 1,027,758 Shares (the “Amendment”). We expect that the proposed Share pool under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan will allow us to continue to grant equity awards at our historic rates for the next 2 years. Future circumstances may require us to change our current equity grant practices, the future price of our Shares, our future sales of equity securities, or future human capital management needs with any degree of certainty at this time, and the Share reserve under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, as amended, could last for a shorter or longer time.

If Shareholders approve the Amendment, subject to equitable adjustment in the event of any change in capitalization, Awards may be made under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan for up to the sum of 10,371,000 Shares, plus the number of Shares subject to awards outstanding under such the Corporation’s share option plan (the “Prior Awards”) that are not purchased or are forfeited, paid in cash or reacquired by the Corporation, or otherwise not delivered to the participant due to termination or cancellation of such Prior Award.

The Shares available for grant, if the Amendment is approved, would facilitate our ability to continue to grant equity incentives, which is vital to our ability to fully engage, attract and retain the highly skilled individuals which are so valuable to our business. We strongly believe that the approval of the Amendment is instrumental to our continued success.

¹ Canadian exercise prices have been converted to U.S. dollars based on an exchange rate as of April 3, 2023 of US$1.00 equals C$1.343003.

2021 Stock Incentive Plan Highlights, as proposed to be amended, and Certain Important Provisions

² Canadian exercise prices have been converted to U.S. dollars based on an exchange rate as of April 3, 2023 of US$1.00 equals C$1.343003.

Summary of the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan

The following brief summary of the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, as proposed to be amended, is not intended to be exhaustive and is qualified in its entirety by the terms of the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, a copy of which is attached hereto as APPENDIX B.

Eligibility

Eligibility under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan is limited to employees, officers, non-employee directors, consultants, independent contractors or advisors providing services to the Corporation or any entity controlled by the Corporation (an “Affiliate”), or any person to whom an offer of employment or engagement with the Corporation or any Affiliate is extended.

As of April 3, 2023, there were 35 employees, 4 officers, 6 non-employee directors and 4 consultants who are eligible to participate under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan. The Committee or subcommittee of the Board appointed from time to time by the Board to administer the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan (the “Administrator”), in its sole discretion, will determine which eligible persons will receive Awards under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan.

New Plan Benefits

Future benefits under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, as proposed to be amended, cannot be determined at this time because the grants are at the discretion of the Board and because their value may be dependent upon the satisfaction of vesting conditions and the future price of the Shares. For additional information on the grants and awards made under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan during the year ended December 31, 2022, see “Summary Compensation Table.”

Shares Available for Awards

Subject to customary capitalization adjustments, as of April 3, 2023, the aggregate number of Shares that may be issued under all Awards under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, as proposed to be amended, shall equal 10,371,000 Shares. Any Shares subject to an Award pursuant to the Corporation’s share option plan (the “Share Option Plan”) or the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan that are forfeited, cancelled, exchanged or surrendered or that otherwise terminates or expires without a distribution of Shares shall again be available for grant under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan. Shares underlying Awards that can only be paid in cash do not count against the overall 2021 Stock Incentive Plan share limit.

The 2021 Stock Incentive Plan provides that the following Shares shall not be recycled and again made available for grant under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan: (i) any Shares which would have been issued upon any exercise of an option but for the fact that the exercise price was paid by a “net exercise” or any Shares tendered in payment of the exercise price of an option; (ii) any Shares withheld by the Corporation or Shares tendered to satisfy tax withholding obligations with respect to an Award; (iii) Shares covered by a stock-settled SAR issued under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan that are not issued in connection with settlement in Shares upon exercise; or (iv) Shares that are repurchased by the Corporation using option exercise proceeds. In addition, Shares issued under Awards granted in substitution for awards previously granted by an entity that is acquired by or merged with the Corporation or an Affiliate shall not be counted against the aggregate number of Shares available for Awards under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan.

In the event that any dividend (other than a regular cash dividend) or other distribution (whether in the form of cash, Shares, other securities or property), recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, repurchase or exchange of Shares or other securities of the Corporation, issuance of warrants or other rights to purchase Shares or other securities of the Corporation order to prevent dilution or enlargement of the benefits or potential benefits intended to be made available under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, then the Administrator shall, in accordance with applicable law and in such manner as it may deem equitable, adjust any or all of (i) the number and type of Shares (or other securities or other property) that thereafter may be made the subject of Awards, and (ii) the number and type of Shares (or other securities or other property) subject to outstanding Awards.

Types of Awards

Options

The 2021 Stock Incentive Plan authorizes awards of options. Subject to the limitations of the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, the Administrator may grant options for such number of Shares and having such terms as the Administrator designates.

Options shall vest and be exercisable in the timeframe determined by the Administrator, which shall be set forth in the applicable option award agreement. The Administrator fixes the term of each option when granted, but such term may not be greater than 10 years from the date of grant. The exercise price of options is established by the Administrator and shall not be less than 100% of the Fair Market Value of a Share on the date of grant, except in limited circumstances. Payment for the exercise price may be made in cash or its equivalent, payment in unrestricted Shares already owned by the participant or, to the extent permitted under the relevant option award agreement, payment through (i) the sale by a broker acceptable to the Corporation on behalf of the participant of a portion of the Shares subject to the option, or (ii) the withholding of Shares that would otherwise be issuable in connection with the exercise of the options.

Stock Appreciation Rights

The 2021 Stock Incentive Plan authorizes awards of SARs, which confer to the holder a right to receive the excess of (i) the Fair Market Value of one Share on the date of exercise over (ii) the grant price of the SAR as specified in the relevant award agreement, which price shall not be less than 100% of the Fair Market Value of one Share on the date of grant of the SAR. The terms and conditions of a SAR will be set forth in an applicable award agreement, as determined by the Administrator. The Administrator fixes the term of each SAR when granted, but such term may not be greater than 10 years from the date of grant.

Restricted Stock

The 2021 Stock Incentive Plan authorizes awards of Restricted Stock, which will confer to the holder Shares subject to such restrictions as the Administrator may impose in an award agreement.

Restricted Stock shall be issued at the time such Awards are granted and will be held by the Corporation or a nominee until they are no longer subject to restrictions.

The 2021 Stock Incentive Plan authorizes the Administrator to pay dividends to holders of Restricted Stock.

RSUs

The 2021 Stock Incentive Plan authorizes awards of RSUs, which will confer to the holder a right to receive Shares (or a cash payment equal to the Fair Market Value of such Shares) at some future date, subject to such restrictions as the Administrator may impose in an Award agreement.

For RSUs, no Shares shall be issued at the time such Awards are granted. Upon the satisfaction, waiver, or lapse of restrictions relating to RSUs, Shares (or a cash payment equal to the Fair Market Value of such Shares) shall be issued and delivered to the holder of such RSUs.

The 2021 Stock Incentive Plan authorizes the Administrator to grant Dividend Equivalents to RSU holders (generally as additional RSUs), under which the participant shall be entitled to receive payments equivalent to and in lieu of the amount of cash dividends otherwise paid by the Corporation to holders of Shares. RSU Dividend Equivalents may be accrued but not paid out to a participant until all conditions or restrictions relating to such RSUs have been satisfied, waived or lapsed.

Limitations on Non-Employee Director Awards

The sum of the grant date fair value of equity-based Awards and the amount of any cash-based compensation granted to a non-employee director during any calendar year shall not exceed $500,000, subject to certain exceptions for compensation granted to a non-executive chair of the Board, in limited circumstances.

Transfer of Awards

No Award (other than fully vested and unrestricted Shares issued pursuant to any Award) and no right under any such Award shall be transferrable other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution. In addition, no Award (other than fully vested and unrestricted Shares issued pursuant to any Award) and no right under any such Award may be pledged, alienated, attached or otherwise encumbered, and any purported pledge, alienation, attachment or encumbrance thereof shall be void and unenforceable against the Corporation or any Affiliate.

Amendment and Termination

The Board may from time to time amend, suspend or terminate the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan or any Award agreement, and the Administrator may amend the terms of any previously granted Award, provided that no amendment to the terms of any previously granted Award may (except as expressly provided in the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan), materially and adversely alter or impair the terms or conditions of the Award previously granted without the participant’s consent. Any amendment to the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, an Award agreement or to the terms of any Award previously granted is subject to compliance with all applicable laws, rules, regulations and policies of any applicable laws, rules, regulations and policies of any applicable governmental entity or stock exchange.

Prior approval of the Shareholders shall be required to make any amendment to the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan or an Award that would (i) require Shareholder approval under the rules of the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”), the rules or regulations of the SEC, or any other securities exchange that is applicable to the Corporation; (ii) increase the number of Shares authorized under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan; (iii) permit repricing of Options or SARs, which is currently prohibited; (iv) permit the award of Options or SARs at a price less than 100% of the Fair Market Value of a Share on the date of grant; (v) increase the maximum term permitted for options and for SARs; or (vi) increase the maximum number of Shares or dollar value of Awards which can be granted to a participant in a calendar year.

Change in Control

Effective upon the consummation (or immediately prior to the consummation) of any reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, plan of arrangement, take-over bid or tender offer, repurchase or exchange of Shares or other securities of the Corporation or any other similar corporate transaction or event involving the Corporation (each, a “Change in Control Event”), the Administrator may, in its sole discretion, provide for (i) the termination of any Award, whether or not vested, in exchange for an amount of cash and/or other property; (ii) the replacement of any Award with other rights or property selected by the Administrator in its sole discretion; (iii) the Award to be assumed by, or substituted for a similar Award from, the successor or survivor of the Corporation, or a parent or subsidiary thereof, with appropriate adjustments; (iv) the vesting or exercisability of Awards notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the applicable Award Agreement; or (v) the determination of a future date after which Awards cannot vest, be exercised or become available, which may be the effective date of the Change in Control Event.

Clawback Provisions

All awards under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan are subject to forfeiture or other penalties pursuant to any clawback policy that may be adopted by the Corporation.

Withholdings

All awards under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan are subject to applicable deductions at source and tax reporting.

U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences

Grant of Options and SARs. The grant of a stock option or SAR is not expected to result in any taxable income to the recipient.

Exercise of Options and SARs. Upon exercising a non-qualified stock option, the optionee must recognize ordinary income equal to the excess of the fair market value of the shares of the Corporation’s common stock acquired on the date of exercise over the exercise price. The holder of a tax-qualified Incentive Stock Option (“ISO”) generally will have no taxable income upon exercising the option (except that an alternative minimum tax liability may arise). Upon exercising a SAR, the amount of any cash received and the fair market value on the exercise date of any of our Shares received are taxable to the recipient as ordinary income.

Disposition of Shares Acquired Upon Exercise of Options and SARs. The tax consequence upon a disposition of Shares acquired through the exercise of an option or SAR will depend on how long the Shares have been held, whether the shares were acquired by exercising an ISO or by exercising a non-qualified stock option or SAR, and whether the Corporation is classified as a “passive foreign investment company” within the meaning of Section 1297 of the Internal Revenue Code (“PFIC”) for any year during a U.S. recipient’s holding period for its Shares (which, pursuant to certain proposed Treasury Regulations which have not been finalized or withdrawn, would include such U.S. recipient’s holding period in its options, SARs or other awards, as applicable). Generally, there will be no tax consequence to the Corporation in connection with the disposition of Shares acquired under an option or SAR in the case of the disposition of Shares acquired under an ISO if the disposition occurs before the applicable ISO holding periods set forth in the Internal Revenue Code have been satisfied. If the Corporation is classified as a PFIC for any year during a U.S. recipient’s holding period for its Shares, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership and disposition of such Shares to such U.S. recipient will depend on whether such recipient makes certain elections under the PFIC regime, which elections are subject to certain limitations and requirements and may not be available in all circumstances. The PFIC regime is complex and is subject to differing interpretations. The implementation of certain aspects of the PFIC rules requires the issuance of Treasury Regulations which in many instances have not yet been promulgated and which, when promulgated, may have retroactive effect. U.S. recipients should consult their own tax advisors about the potential applicability of the PFIC regime and the proposed Treasury Regulations thereunder to any Options, SARs or other awards received under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, as well as the availability of and procedure for making such elections under the PFIC regime.

Awards Other Than Options and SARs. If an award is payable in Shares that are subject to substantial risk of forfeiture, unless a special election is made by the holder of the award under the Internal Revenue Code, the holder must recognize ordinary income equal to the excess of: (i) the fair market value of the Shares received (determined as of the first time the Shares become transferable or not subject to substantial risk of forfeiture, whichever occurs earlier) over (ii) the amount (if any) paid for the Shares by the holder of the award. As to other awards granted under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan that are payable either in cash or Shares not subject to substantial risk of forfeiture, the holder of the award must recognize ordinary income equal to: (a) the amount of cash received or, as applicable, (b) the excess of (i) the fair market value of the shares received (determined as of the date such shares are received) over (ii) the amount (if any) paid for the shares by the holder of the award.

Special Rules for Executive Officers Subject to Section 16 of the Exchange Act. Special rules may apply to individuals subject to Section 16 of the Exchange Act. In particular, unless a special election is made pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code, shares received through the exercise or settlement of an award may be treated as restricted as to transferability and subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture for a period of up to six months after the date of exercise. Accordingly, the amount of any ordinary income recognized will be determined as of the end of that period.

Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code. The Administrator intends to administer and interpret the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan and all award agreements in a manner consistent to satisfy the requirements of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code to avoid any adverse tax results thereunder to a holder of an award.

THE FOREGOING IS ONLY A SUMMARY OF THE EFFECT OF U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAXATION UPON PARTICIPANTS AND THE CORPORATION UNDER THE 2021 STOCK INCENTIVE PLAN. IT DOES NOT PURPORT TO BE COMPLETE AND DOES NOT DISCUSS THE TAX CONSEQUENCES OF A PARTICIPANT’S DEATH OR THE PROVISIONS OF THE INCOME TAX LAWS OF ANY MUNICIPALITY, STATE OR FOREIGN COUNTRY IN WHICH THE PARTICIPANT MAY RESIDE.

Canadian Federal Income Tax Consequences

The following is, as of the date of this Proxy Statement, a summary of the principal Canadian federal income tax consequences under the Income Tax Act (Canada) and the regulations thereunder (the “Regulations”, and collectively referred to throughout as the “Tax Act”) applicable to the receipt, exercise, holding, and settlement by an eligible person of an Award granted pursuant to the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan.

The summary is based on the current provisions of the Tax Act in effect on the date of this Proxy Statement and all specific proposals to amend the Tax Act publicly announced by or on behalf of the Minister of Finance (Canada) (the “Tax Proposals”) before the date of hereof. No assurance can be given that the Tax Proposals will be enacted in the form proposed or at all. This summary is not exhaustive of all possible Canadian federal income tax considerations.

This summary does consider the current administrative policies and assessing practices of the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”), and we assume that each administrative policy will continue to be applied and, except as mentioned above, that no other relevant change to any applicable law will be made, whether by legislative, administrative or judicial decision or action, although no assurance can be given in these respects. This summary does not take into account any applicable provincial, territorial or foreign tax laws, which may differ significantly from the Canadian federal income tax considerations discussed herein. Comment is restricted to the case of an eligible person who is an individual and who holds his Shares as capital property and deals at arm’s length with the Corporation and each of our associated, affiliated, controlled and subsidiary companies.

We assume in this summary that such eligible person does not use or hold (and will not use or hold) and is not (and will not be) deemed to use or hold his Stock Options, SARs, RSUs, and Restricted Stock, and any Shares resulting therefrom in, or in the course of carrying on, a business in Canada.

This summary assumes that an eligible person participating in the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan will be an individual who is, or is deemed to be, a resident of Canada for purposes of the Tax Act for purposes of the Tax Act, and will be a director, officer or employee of the Corporation or of any of our associated, affiliated, controlled and subsidiary companies (referred to throughout as a “Canadian Employee”). Although they may be eligible persons under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, this summary does not apply to any consultant.

The following discussion is not exhaustive and may not cover all aspects of a Canadian Employee’s unique tax situation. This summary should not be construed as tax advice by the Corporation, and it was not intended or written to be used, and it cannot be used, by any person for the purpose of avoiding any tax penalties that may be imposed on such person. All Participants should seek advice based on their particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor.

Stock Options

Grant of Options. A stock option is where a Participant is granted the right to acquire shares of the Corporation, subject to the terms and conditions of the Award. No tax consequences should arise as a consequence of the grant of a stock option to a Canadian Employee in respect of, in the course of, or by virtue of his employment.

We assume that the exercise price of any stock option granted is not less than the fair market value of the Shares at the time the option was granted and that at the time any options are exercised, the Shares will qualify as “prescribed shares” as such term is defined in section 6204 of the Regulations. Generally speaking, a “prescribed share” is an ordinary common share that does not have any fixed or special liquidation or dividend entitlements and cannot reasonably be expected to be redeemed, acquired or cancelled by the Corporation or a specified person, except in certain limited circumstances specified in section 6204 of the Regulations.

Exercise of Options. A Canadian Employee who exercises his right under an option to acquire Shares in a taxation year will be deemed to have received a benefit by virtue of his employment equal to the amount by which the fair market value of the Shares at the time of acquisition exceeds the amount paid by the Canadian Employee for the Shares and the amount, if any, paid by the Canadian Employee to acquire the option (the “Benefit”). The Benefit is included in the employment income of the Canadian Employee in the year the option is exercised and subject to the usual payroll deductions and remittances.

The Canadian Employee may be entitled to a deduction in computing his taxable income for the year in which the Benefit is included in income equal to one-half of the amount of the Benefit (the “Deduction”), provided that: (i) the exercise price of the option was not less than the fair market value of the Shares at the time the option was granted; (ii) there has not been any adjustment of the exercise price or the number of Shares to be issued on the exercise of options (to account for the payment of dividends or otherwise); (iii) the only securities acquired on the exercise of the options are Shares that are prescribed shares at the time they are acquired; and (iv) the Canadian Employee dealt at arm’s length with the Corporation and with each of its subsidiaries immediately after the grant of the options.

Recent changes to the Tax Act may further limit the ability to claim the Deduction for certain options granted after July 1, 2021. Canadian Employees should consult their own tax advisors in this regard. These new rules do not apply to options granted by an employer or a person that does not deal at arm’s length with an employer when the employer or a person that does not deal at arm’s length with the employer has, very generally, annual gross revenue not in excess of C$500 million. Because the Corporation’s annual gross revenue have not yet exceeded the C$500 million threshold, options granted on or prior to the date hereof by the Corporation or any of its Canadian affiliates should not be subject to the new rules.

In its 2023 budget, the federal government announced changes to the alternative minimum tax rules, such that a benefit associated with employee stock options may give rise to liability for alternative minimum tax as calculated under the detailed rules set out in the Tax Act. Legislative proposals implementing these rules have not been released as of the date hereof. Canadian Employees should consult their own tax advisors in this regard.

Disposition of Shares. The exercise price paid by the Canadian Employee to acquire a Share under an option and the amount of the Benefit (before the Deduction, if any) realised when exercising such option should be added to the adjusted cost base to the Canadian Employee of the Shares so acquired. The Canadian Employee’s adjusted cost base of each Share at any time is generally determined by reference to the average cost of all Shares of the same class held by the Canadian Employee at that time, whether acquired through exercise of stock options or otherwise. On a disposition of Shares (other than to the Corporation unless purchased by the Corporation in the open market in the manner in which shares are normally purchased by any member of the public in the open market), the Canadian Employee will realize a capital gain (or loss) equal to the amount by which the net proceeds of disposition exceed (or, are exceeded by) the Canadian Employee’s adjusted cost base of such Shares. One half of capital gains (“taxable capital gain”) net of one half of capital losses (“allowable capital loss”) realized in the year is included in the employee’s income for the year and taxed at ordinary rates. If allowable capital losses exceed taxable capital gains realized in the year, the net capital loss may generally be carried back three taxation years and forward to future years to offset taxable capital gains realized in those years subject to restrictions under the Tax Act. Capital gains realized by a Canadian Employee may give rise to liability for alternative minimum tax as calculated under the detailed rules set out in the Tax Act. Canadian Employees should consult their own tax advisors in this regard.

SARs

A SAR provides a payout to a Participant equal to the increase in the value of the Corporation’s shares from grant time until payout, with the payout being subject to the terms of the Award and in either cash or Shares at the choice of the Corporation. From the perspective of the Canadian Employee, generally there would be no income inclusion at the time of grant of a SAR provided that the initial value at the date of grant of the SAR, from which the increase will be measured, is no greater than the fair market value of the Share at the time of grant.

On receipt or constructive receipt of the SAR payout (whether in cash or Shares), the amount equal to the appreciation in value (if any) in the stock price from the grant date to a pre-settlement date will be included in the Canadian Employee’s employment income in the year of receipt, and be subject to the usual payroll deductions and remittances.

Where Shares are issued by the Corporation on a SAR payout, then the tax effects of any subsequent disposition of such shares are described above in Disposition of Shares, with the adjusted cost base of each Share issued in settlement of a SAR being equal to the income inclusion to the Canadian Employee on settlement.

Restricted Stock

A Restricted Stock issuance is where beneficial ownership of Shares is granted to a Participant, with such Restricted Stock being held by the Corporation or a nominee on behalf of the Participant. Awards of Restricted Stock can be made to Canadian Employees, subject to such restrictions as the Administrator may impose. The Canadian Employee would be taxed on the value of the Restricted Stock at the time of issuance and be subject to usual payroll deductions and remittances. The CRA may permit a reasonable discount from the fair market value of a share that is not subject to any restrictions in determining the value of a restricted share.

The tax effects of any disposition of such Restricted Stock are described above in Disposition of Shares, with the adjusted cost base of each Share being equal to the income inclusion to the Canadian Employee on settlement.

RSUs

Each RSU is a unit equal to the value of a Share granted to a Participant, with the payout being subject to the terms of the Award and within a specified time, and in either cash or Shares at the choice of the Corporation. There will be no income inclusion for the Canadian Employee at the RSU grant time.

Where either (i) Shares are issued and delivered to a Canadian Employee upon settlement of the RSUs, or (ii) the RSUs are settled in cash, and either form of settlement is required to be made within three years following the end of the taxation year during which the Canadian Employee rendered services in respect of which the RSUs were granted, an amount equal to the Fair Market Value of the Shares received or the amount of the cash received (respectively) will be included in the Canadian Employee’s employment income in the year of receipt, and be subject to the usual payroll deductions and remittances. If the settlement is in Shares, then the income tax consequences discussed above for Canadian Employees under the section entitled Disposition of Shares” will generally apply to a subsequent disposition of these Shares by the Canadian Employee, with the adjusted cost base of each Share being equal to the income inclusion to the Canadian Employee on settlement.

The 2021 Stock Incentive Plan authorizes the Administrator to grant Dividend Equivalents to RSU holders, under which Canadian Employees shall be entitled to receive amounts (generally additional RSUs) equivalent to and in lieu of the amount of cash dividends otherwise paid by the Corporation to holders of Shares, subject to the same terms and conditions as the RSUs to which the they relate. The tax considerations of Dividend Equivalents are not discussed herein and holders of RSUs should consult their own tax advisor in this respect.

This summary does not address the tax considerations applicable to the receipt, exercise, holding, and settlement by an eligible person of an Award if the terms and conditions of such Award differ from those described above.

THE FOREGOING IS ONLY A SUMMARY OF CERTAIN CANADIAN FEDERAL INCOME TAXATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE PARTICIPANTS IN RELATION TO THE ISSUANCE AND, WHEN APPLICABLE, EXERCISE OR SETTLEMENT OF CERTAIN AWARDS UNDER THE 2021 STOCK INCENTIVE PLAN. IT DOES NOT PURPORT TO BE COMPLETE AND DOES NOT DISCUSS THE TAX CONSEQUENCES OF A PARTICIPANT’S DEATH OR THE PROVISIONS OF THE INCOME TAX LAWS OF ANY MUNICIPALITY, PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE, OR FOREIGN COUNTRY IN WHICH THE PARTICIPANT MAY RESIDE.

Approval

With respect to the Amendment, the Corporation is relying on an exemption from certain requirements of the TSX Company Manual relating to security-based compensation arrangements as it qualifies as an “Eligible Interlisted Issuer” as defined in Section 602.1 of the TSX Company Manual.

The Amendment Resolution requires the approval of a majority of the votes cast by the Shareholders at the Meeting. If the Amendment is not approved, no additional Shares available for grant will be added to the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan. We expect the Amendment, if approved, to reinforce our ability to retain and incentivze our current employees and to attract and incentivize new employees. Therefore, we consider approval of the Amendment vital to our future success. Therefore, at the Meeting, Shareholders will be asked to consider, and if deemed advisable, to pass the following Amendment Resolution:

BE IT RESOLVED AS AN ORDINARY RESOLUTION OF THE SHAREHOLDERS THAT:

Unless you have specified in the enclosed form of proxy that the votes attaching to the Shares represented by the proxy are to be voted against the Amendment Resolution on any ballot that may be called for, the management representatives designated in the enclosed form of proxy intend to vote the Shares in respect of which they are appointed proxy FOR the Amendment Resolution.

Board Recommendation

The Board believes the passing of the Amendment Resolution is in the best interest of the Corporation and unanimously recommends a vote FOR the passing of the Amendment Resolution.

PROPOSAL NO. 4—APPROVAL OF REVERSE STOCK SPLIT

The Shares are listed under the symbol “APTO” on the Nasdaq. For the Shares to continue trading on the Nasdaq, the Corporation must comply with various listing standards, including that the Shares maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per Share, as set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (the “Minimum Bid Price Requirement”). The closing price of the Shares on the Nasdaq on April 3, 2023 was $0.64 per Share and, over the prior 52 weeks, the closing price of the Shares has ranged from $0.4255 to $1.55 per Share.

As previously disclosed, on July 18, 2022, the Corporation received a deficiency letter (the “Deficiency Letter”) from the Nasdaq Listing Qualification Department (the “Staff”) of Nasdaq notifying the Corporation that, for the last 30 consecutive business days, the closing bid price of the Shares on Nasdaq did not meet the Minimum Bid Price Requirement. The Deficiency Letter has no effect on the listing of the Shares at this time, and the Shares continue to trade on the Nasdaq. On January 18, 2023, the Corporation received a second compliance notice from the Staff regarding the Corporation’s failure to maintain the Minimum Bid Price Requirement. However, the Staff determined that the Corporation is eligible for an additional 180-day grace period, or until July 18, 2023, to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement. Such compliance may be achieved through the Reverse Stock Split or, if at any time prior to July 18, 2023, the closing bid price of the Shares is at least $1.00 for a minimum of ten (10) consecutive Business Days.

If the Corporation does not regain compliance prior to July 18, 2023, the Shares will be delisted from Nasdaq, but the Corporation will have the option to request a hearing to appeal the delisting determination. There can be no assurance that such an appeal, if made, will be granted by Nasdaq.

The Board is of the opinion that it may be in the best interests of the Corporation and the Shareholders to proceed with the Reverse Stock Split in order to both: (i) maintain the Nasdaq listing; and (ii) enhance the marketability of the Shares given that an increase in the price per Share could increase the interest of institutional and other investors with policies that prohibit them from purchasing stock below a minimum price.

In evaluating whether or not to recommend that Shareholders authorize the Reverse Stock Split, in addition to the considerations described above, the Board took into account various negative factors associated with the Reverse Stock Split. These factors include: the negative perception of reverse stock splits held by some investors, analysts and other stock market participants; the fact that the share price of some companies that have effected reverse stock splits has subsequently declined, with a corresponding decline in market capitalization; the adverse effect on liquidity that might be caused by a reduced number of shares outstanding; and the costs associated with implementing the Reverse Stock Split.

Conversely, the Board believes that the current low market price of the Shares impairs its acceptability to important segments of the investor community and investing public. Many investors look upon low-priced shares as unduly speculative in nature and, as a matter of policy, avoid investment in such shares. The Board believes that the low market price of the Shares has reduced the effective marketability of the Shares because of the reluctance of many brokerage firms to recommend low-priced shares to their clients. Further, a variety of brokerage house policies and practices tend to discourage individual brokers within those firms from dealing in low-priced shares. Some of those policies and practices pertain to the payment of brokers’ commissions and to time-consuming procedures that function to make the handling of low-priced shares unattractive to brokers from an economic standpoint.

Additionally, the structure of trading commissions also tends to have an adverse impact upon holders of low-priced shares because the brokerage commission on a sale of low-priced shares generally represents a higher percentage of the sales price than the commission on a relatively higher-priced issue.

Although approval of the Reverse Stock Split is being sought at the Meeting, the Reverse Stock Split, if approved, will not become effective until: (i) the Board determines it to be in the Corporation’s and Shareholders’ best interests, if applicable; and (ii) articles of amendment are filed to implement the Reverse Stock Split. It is expected, however, that the Reverse Stock Split will be effected promptly following the Meeting.

Effects of the Reverse Stock Split

If the Reverse Stock Split is approved by Shareholders and subsequently implemented, its principal effect will be to proportionately decrease the number of issued and outstanding shares by a factor equal to the consolidation ratio. At the close of business on April 3, 2023, the closing price of the Shares on the TSX was C$0.84 per share, the closing price of the Shares on the Nasdaq was $0.64 per share, and there were 93,005,278 Shares issued and outstanding. Based on such number of issued and outstanding Shares, and without taking into account any change to the number of issued and outstanding Shares between April 3, 2023 and the effective date of the Reverse Stock Split, immediately following the completion of the Reverse Stock Split, there will be approximately 9,300,527 Shares issued and outstanding if the Board elects to use the minimum ratio of 10-to-1 and approximately 4,650,263 Shares issued and outstanding if the Board elects to use the maximum ratio of 20-to-1 (in each case disregarding any resulting fractional Shares).

The Corporation does not anticipate that the Reverse Stock Split will have any economic effect on Shareholders or holders of securities convertible into or exercisable to acquire Shares, except to the extent the Reverse Stock Split will result in fractional shares. See “Fractional Shares” below.

Post-reverse stock split, the Shares will continue to be listed on the Nasdaq and the TSX under the symbol “APTO” and “APS”, respectively. Pre-reverse stock split voting rights and other rights of the holders of Shares will not be affected by the Reverse Stock Split, other than as a result of the creation and disposition of fractional Shares. For example, a holder of 2% of the voting power attached to the outstanding Shares immediately prior to the implementation of the Reverse Stock Split will generally continue to hold 2% of the voting power attached to the Shares immediately after the implementation of the Reverse Stock Split. The number of registered Shareholders will not be affected by the Reverse Stock Split.

Effect on Stock Options

As of April 3, 2023, there were an aggregate of 19,439,557 Options issued and outstanding under all of our equity compensation plans, to acquire an equal number of Shares. Each of our equity compensation plans authorizes the Board to make appropriate adjustments to any outstanding Options in the event of any change in the Shares through a reverse stock split. The Board has determined that upon the implementation of the Reverse Stock Split, each then outstanding Option will be adjusted as follows:

Effect on Non-Registered Shareholders

Non-registered Shareholders holding their Shares through a bank, broker or other nominee should note that such banks, brokers or other nominees may have different procedures for processing the Reverse Stock Split than those that will be put in place by the Corporation for the registered Shareholders. If you hold your Shares with such a bank, broker or other nominee and if you have any questions in this regard, you are encouraged to contact your nominee.

Fractional Shares

No fractional Shares will be issued pursuant to the Reverse Stock Split and Shareholders will not receive any compensation in lieu thereof. Any such fractional Shares will be rounded down to the nearest whole share.

Effect on Share Certificates

If the Reverse Stock Split is approved by shareholders and subsequently implemented, those registered shareholders who will hold at least one new Share after the Reverse Stock Split will be required to exchange their share certificates representing old Shares for new share certificates representing new Shares or, alternatively, a DRS Advice/Statement representing the number of new Shares they hold following the Reverse Stock Split. The DRS is an electronic registration system which allows shareholders to hold Shares in their name in book-based form, as evidenced by a DRS Advice/Statement, rather than a physical share certificate.

If the Reverse Stock Split is implemented, the Corporation (or its transfer agent) will mail to each registered shareholder a letter of transmittal. Each registered shareholder must complete and sign a letter of transmittal after the Reverse Stock Split takes effect. The letter of transmittal will contain instructions on how to surrender to the transfer agent the certificate(s) representing the registered shareholder’s old Shares. The transfer agent will send to each registered shareholder who follows the instructions provided in the letter of transmittal a new share certificate representing the number of new Shares to which the registered shareholder is entitled rounded up or down to the nearest whole number or, alternatively, a DRS Advice/Statement representing the number of new Shares the registered shareholder holds following the Reverse Stock Split. Beneficial shareholders (i.e. non-registered shareholders) who hold their Shares through intermediaries (securities brokers, dealers, banks, financial institutions, etc.) and who have questions regarding how the Reverse Stock Split will be processed should contact their intermediaries with respect to the Reverse Stock Split. See “Effect on Non-Registered Shareholders” above.

Until surrendered to the transfer agent, each share certificate representing old Shares will be deemed for all purposes to represent the number of new Shares to which the registered shareholder is entitled as a result of the Reverse Stock Split. Until registered shareholders have returned their properly completed and duly executed letter of transmittal and surrendered their old share certificate(s) for exchange, registered shareholders will not be entitled to receive any distributions, if any, that may be declared and payable to holders of record following the Reverse Stock Split.

Any registered shareholder whose old certificate(s) have been lost, destroyed or stolen will be entitled to a replacement share certificate only after complying with the requirements that the Corporation and the transfer agent customarily apply in connection with lost, stolen or destroyed certificates. The method chosen for delivery of share certificates and letters of transmittal to the Corporation’s transfer agent is the responsibility of the registered shareholder and neither the transfer agent nor the Corporation will have any liability in respect of share certificates and/or letters of transmittal which are not actually received by the transfer agent.

REGISTERED SHAREHOLDERS SHOULD NEITHER DESTROY NOR SUBMIT ANY SHARE CERTIFICATE UNTIL HAVING RECEIVED A LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

Accounting Consequences

If the Reverse Stock Split is implemented, net income or loss per Share, and other per Share amounts, will be increased because there will be fewer Shares issued and outstanding. In future financial statements, net income or loss per Share and other per Share amounts for periods ending before the Reverse Stock Split took effect would be recast to give retroactive effect to the Reverse Stock Split.

Interests of Directors and Executive Officers

Our directors and executive officers do not have substantial interests, directly or indirectly, in the matters set forth in this proposal except to the extent of their ownership of Shares and securities exercisable or convertible into Shares.

Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences of the Reverse Stock Split

The following discussion is a general summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the proposed Reverse Stock Split, if approved and effected, that may be relevant to U.S. Holders (as defined below) of Shares that hold such Shares as a capital asset within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Internal Revenue Code. This summary is included for general information purposes only. It does not discuss any state, local or non-U.S. income, U.S. federal estate or gift, U.S. federal alternative minimum, U.S. federal net investment income or any tax consequences other than U.S. federal income tax consequences. This summary does not discuss tax reporting requirements. This summary is based upon the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder, administrative rulings and judicial decisions as of the date hereof, all of which may change, possibly with retroactive effect, resulting in U.S. federal income tax consequences that may differ from those discussed below. No assurances can be given that any changes in these laws or authorities will not affect the accuracy of the discussions set forth in this summary. This summary also does not discuss the potential effects, whether adverse or beneficial, of any proposed legislation that, if enacted, could be applied on a retroactive or prospective basis. The Corporation will not request any rulings from the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) or legal opinion from legal counsel regarding the tax consequences described below. The IRS or a U.S. court might reach a contrary conclusion with respect to the issues addressed herein if the matter were contested.

This discussion does not address all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be relevant to such U.S. Holders in light of their particular circumstances or to U.S. Holders that may be subject to special tax rules, including, without limitation: (a) tax-exempt organizations, qualified retirement plans, individual retirement accounts, or other tax-deferred accounts; (b) financial institutions, underwriters, insurance companies, real estate investment trusts, or regulated investment companies; (c) broker-dealers, dealers, or traders in securities or currencies that elect to apply a mark-to-market accounting method; (d) U.S. Holders that have a “functional currency” other than the U.S. dollar; (e) U.S. Holders that own Shares as part of a straddle, hedging transaction, conversion transaction, constructive sale, or other integrated transaction; (f) U.S. Holders that acquired Shares in connection with the exercise of employee stock options or otherwise as compensation for services; (g) U.S. Holders that hold Shares other than as a capital asset within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Internal Revenue Code (generally, property held for investment purposes); (h) U.S. Holders subject to the alternative minimum tax; (i) U.S. Holders subject to special tax accounting rules with respect to the Shares; (j) partnerships or other “pass-through” entities (and partners or other owners thereof); (k) S corporations (and shareholders thereof); (l) U.S. expatriates or former long-term residents of the United States subject to Section 877 or 877A of the Internal Revenue Code; (m) U.S. Holders subject to taxing jurisdictions other than, or in addition to, the United States or that otherwise hold Shares in connection with a trade or business, permanent establishment, or fixed base outside the United States; or (n) U.S. Holders that own, or have owned, or will own, directly, indirectly, or by attribution, 10% or more, by voting power or value, of the outstanding Shares. In addition, this summary does not address the tax consequences arising under the laws of any non-U.S. or U.S. state or local jurisdiction and U.S. federal tax consequences other than federal income taxation.

If a partnership (including any entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds Shares, the tax treatment of a holder that is a partner in the partnership generally will depend upon the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. This summary does not address the tax consequences to any such entity or arrangement or partner. Partners (or other owners) of entities or arrangements that are classified as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes should consult their own advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences arising from and relating to the Reverse Stock Split.

EACH SHAREHOLDER SHOULD CONSULT ITS OWN TAX ADVISOR WITH RESPECT TO THE PARTICULAR TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE REVERSE STOCK SPLIT TO SUCH SHAREHOLDER.

For purposes of the discussion below, a “U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner (other than a partnership) of Shares that for U.S. federal income tax purposes is: (i) a citizen or individual resident of the United States; (ii) a corporation or an entity classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes created or organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; (iii) an estate, the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source; or (iv) a trust, the administration of which is subject to the primary supervision of a U.S. court and as to which one or more “U.S. persons” (within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code) have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust, or that has a valid election in effect to be treated as a U.S. person.

A “Non-U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner of Shares that is not a U.S. Holder or is a partnership. This summary does not address the U.S. federal income tax consequences to Non-U.S. Holders arising from and relating to the Reverse Stock Split. Accordingly, a Non-U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisors regarding the U.S. federal, U.S. federal alternative minimum, U.S. federal net investment income, U.S. federal estate and gift, U.S. state and local, and non-U.S. tax consequences (including the potential application of and operation of any income tax treaties) relating to the Reverse Stock Split.

The Reverse Stock Split

The Reverse Stock Split is intended to constitute a “recapitalization” within the meaning of Section 368(a)(1)(E) of the Internal Revenue Code and/or a tax-deferred exchange pursuant to Section 1036 of the Internal Revenue Code for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Assuming such treatment is correct, and subject to the discussion below regarding fractional shares, a U.S. Holder generally should not recognize a gain or loss pursuant to the Reverse Stock Split. Subject to the discussion below regarding fractional shares, a U.S. Holder’s aggregate tax basis in the Shares received pursuant to the Reverse Stock Split should equal the aggregate tax basis of the Shares surrendered, and such U.S. Holder’s holding period in the Shares received should include the holding period in the Shares surrendered. Treasury Regulations promulgated under the Internal Revenue Code provide detailed rules for allocating the tax basis and holding period of the Shares surrendered to the Shares received pursuant to the Reverse Stock Split. U.S. Holders of Shares acquired on different dates and at different prices should consult their own tax advisors regarding the allocation of the tax basis and holding period of such Shares.

A Shareholder will not receive a fractional Share in the Reverse Stock Split and will instead receive a whole number of Shares that is rounded down to the nearest whole number. Any U.S. Holder who would have otherwise received a fractional Share pursuant to the Reverse Stock Split should consult its own tax advisor regarding whether to allocate its aggregate tax basis in its Shares immediately prior to the Reverse Stock Split entirely to its Shares immediately after the Reverse Stock Split or, alternatively, whether it should allocate a portion of such basis to the fractional share which it would have received had its Shares not been rounded down to the nearest whole number pursuant to the Reverse Stock Split and recognize a loss on such fractional share equal to the basis so allocated.

The above summary of U.S. federal income tax consequences is for general information only and is not intended to constitute a complete analysis of all U.S. income tax consequences which could be relevant to U.S. Holders relating to the Reverse Stock Split. U.S. Holders should consult their own tax advisors as to the particular tax consequences to them of the Reverse Stock Split, including the applicability and effect of federal, state, local, non-U.S. and other tax laws and possible changes in tax law.

Certain Canadian Federal Income Tax Consequences of the Reverse Stock Split

Subject to the same qualifications and defined terms as under the section entitled “Canadian Income Tax Considerations” under Proposal No. 3, the following summary describes the principal Canadian federal income tax considerations under the Tax Act generally applicable to a beneficial holder of Shares whose Shares are consolidated pursuant to the Reverse Stock Split and who, for purposes of the Tax Act and at all relevant times, holds their Shares as capital property, deals at arm’s length and is not affiliated with the Corporation, and is, or is deemed to be, a resident of Canada for purposes of the Tax Act (a “Holder”). Generally, the Shares will be considered to be capital property of a Holder provided the Holder does not hold the Shares in the course of carrying on a business of trading or dealing in securities or has not acquired them or been deemed to have acquired them in one or more transactions considered to be an adventure or concern in the nature of trade. Holders that might not otherwise be considered to hold their Shares as capital property may, in certain circumstances, be entitled to have their Shares and all other “Canadian securities” (as defined in the Tax Act) owned in the year of the election and in all subsequent taxation years be deemed to be capital property by making the irrevocable election permitted by subsection 39(4) of the Tax Act. Holders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the availability and advisability of making this election in their particular circumstances.

This summary does not apply to a Holder: (i) that is a “financial institution” as defined in the Tax Act for purposes of the mark-to-market rules; (ii) that is a “specified financial institution” as defined in the Tax Act; (iii) that has elected to report its results in a currency other than Canadian dollars under section 261 of the Tax Act; (iv) an interest in which is a “tax shelter investment” for purposes of the Tax Act; (v) that is a corporation that is, or becomes as part of a transaction or event or a series of transactions or events that includes the acquisition of the Shares, controlled by a non-resident person, or a group of non-resident persons that do not deal with each other at arm’s length (for purposes of the Tax Act) for the purpose of the foreign affiliate dumping rules in section 212.3 of the Tax Act; or (vi) that has entered into or will enter into, in respect of the Shares, a “synthetic disposition arrangement” or a “derivative forward agreement” for the purposes of the Tax Act. Such Holders should consult their own tax advisors.

THIS SUMMARY IS OF A GENERAL NATURE ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED TO BE, AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED TO BE, LEGAL OR TAX ADVICE TO ANY PARTICULAR HOLDER. HOLDERS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR OWN TAX ADVISORS AS TO THE TAX CONSEQUENCES IN THEIR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES.

The Reverse Stock Split will not result in a disposition of the Shares for purposes of the Tax Act and, consequently, a Holder will not realize a capital gain or a capital loss as a result of the Reverse Stock Split other than in respect of fractional shares discussed below. Immediately after the Reverse Stock Split, but before the round down of the fractional shares, the aggregate adjusted cost base of the Shares held by a Holder immediately after the Reverse Stock Split will be equal to the aggregate adjusted cost base of the Shares held by such Holder immediately prior to the Reverse Stock Split.

A Holder whose fractional share will be rounded down to the nearest whole share without consideration and as described above will be considered to have disposed of such fractional share at the time of such disposition and will realize a capital loss equal to (subject to certain dispositions of the Tax Act that could reduce the amount of such loss) the adjusted cost base of such fractional share to the Holder. Generally, one-half of any capital loss realized may be deducted against taxable capital gains, in accordance with the detailed provisions of the Tax Act. Such Holders should consult their own tax advisors. Resident Holders to whom these rules may be relevant should consult their own tax advisors.

Certain Risks Associated with the Reverse Stock Split

The Board believes that the Reverse Stock Split will increase the price level of our Shares. There are a number of risks associated with the Reverse Stock Split, including as follow:

Approval

At the Meeting, Shareholders will be asked to consider a special resolution (the “Reverse Stock Split Resolution”) authorizing the Board to amend the articles of the Corporation to effect a consolidation (reverse stock split) of all of the issued and outstanding Shares on the basis of not more than 1 post-consolidation Share for every 10 pre-consolidation Shares and not less than 1 post-consolidation Share for every 20 pre-consolidation Shares.

Although the Board expects that the Reverse Stock Split will be effected promptly following the Meeting, the Board may, in its discretion, determine not to effect the Reverse Stock Split if it determines, subsequent to obtaining Shareholder approval, that such action is not in the best interests of the Corporation. By voting in favour of the Reverse Stock Split, you are expressly authorizing the Board to determine not to proceed with, and abandon, the Reverse Stock Split if it should so decide. The Reverse Stock Split will become effective at a date to be determined by the Board when the Board considers it to be in the best interests of the Corporation to implement such Reverse Stock Split, which is expected to be promptly following the Meeting, but in any event not later than one year after the date on which the Consolidation Resolution is approved.

The Board believes that a range of Reverse Stock Split ratios will provide it with the flexibility to implement the Reverse Stock Split in a manner designed to optimize the anticipated benefits of the Reverse Stock Split to the Corporation and Shareholders. In determining which precise Reverse Stock Split ratio within the range of ratios to implement, if any, following the receipt of Shareholder approval, the Board may consider, among other things, factors such as:

To be effective, the CBCA requires that the Reverse Stock Split Resolution be approved by a special resolution of the Shareholders, being a majority of not less than two-thirds (2/3) of the votes cast by Shareholders present in person or by proxy at the Meeting. In addition to the approval of the Shareholders, the Reverse Stock Split requires the approval of the TSX. The TSX has conditionally approved the proposed Reverse Stock Split.

Shareholders are not entitled any statutory dissert rights with respect to the proposed Reverse Stock Split.

At the Meeting, Shareholders will be asked to consider, and if deemed advisable, to pass the following Reverse Stock Split Resolution:

BE IT RESOLVED AS A SPECIAL RESOLUTION OF THE SHAREHOLDERS THAT:

Unless you have specified in the enclosed form of proxy that the votes attaching to the Shares represented by the proxy are to be voted against the Reverse Stock Split Resolution on any ballot that may be called for, the management representatives designated in the enclosed form of proxy intend to vote the Shares in respect of which they are appointed proxy FOR the Reverse Stock Split Resolution.

Board Recommendation

The Board believes the passing of the Reverse Stock Split Resolution is in the best interest of the Corporation and unanimously recommends a vote FOR the passing of the Reverse Stock Split Resolution.

PROPOSAL NO. 5—APPROVAL TO ADJOURN THE MEETING, IF NECESSARY, TO SOLICIT ADDITIONAL PROXIES

At the Meeting, Shareholders will be asked to authorize the Corporation to adjourn the Meeting to another time and place, if necessary or advisable, to solicit additional proxies in the event there are not sufficient votes to approve the Amendment Resolution and the Reverse Stock Split Resolution described in this Proxy Statement at the Meeting (the “Adjournment Proposal”). If the Shareholders do not approve these proposals, the presiding officer of the Meeting could adjourn the Meeting without a vote on Proposals No. 3 and 4 to solicit additional proxies and/or to seek to convince Shareholders to change their votes in favor of such proposal.

If it is necessary or advisable to adjourn the Meeting, no notice of any adjournment of less than 30 days is required to be given if the time and place of the adjourned Meeting, and the means of remote communication, if any, by which Shareholders and proxyholders may be deemed to be present and to vote at such adjourned Meeting, are announced at the Meeting at which adjournment is taken, unless after the adjournment a new record date is fixed for the adjourned Meeting. At the adjourned Meeting, Aptose may transact any business which might have been transacted at the original Meeting.

Approval

In order to be passed, the Adjournment Proposal must be passed by a majority of the votes cast by Shareholders present virtually or by proxy at the Meeting.

Unless you have specified in the enclosed form of proxy that the votes attaching to the Shares represented by the proxy are to be voted against the Adjournment Proposal on any ballot that may be called for, the management representatives designated in the enclosed form of proxy intend to vote the Shares in respect of which they are appointed proxy FOR the Adjournment Proposal.

Board Recommendation

The Board unanimously recommends a vote FOR the Adjournment Proposal.

PROPOSAL NO. 6—Advisory (non-binding) vote on the compensation of our named executive officers

As required by Section 14A of the Exchange Act, the Corporation is seeking a vote on an advisory basis to approve the compensation of the Named Executive Officers (as defined below), as disclosed in this Proxy Statement. Because this vote is advisory, the results will not be binding on the Corporation or the Board. However, this proposal, commonly known as a “say-on-pay” proposal, gives Shareholders the opportunity to endorse or not endorse the Corporation’s executive compensation programs and the results will be taken into consideration when future decisions regarding executive compensation are made. The Corporation provides its Shareholders with the opportunity to cast an annual advisory vote on executive compensation (commonly known as a ‘Say on Pay Proposal’).

As described under “Executive Compensation” below, the Corporation believes that its executive compensation programs are designed to:

These objectives are achieved by offering executives and employees a compensation package that is competitive and rewards the achievement of both short-term and long-term objectives of the Corporation.

The Corporation, the Board and the Compensation Committee believe that the executive compensation of its Named Executive Officers is reasonable and appropriate, justified by the Corporation’s performance and conducive for long-term value creation. The Corporation’s view is that the compensation of its executives must be competitive, weighted and fair. For this reason, the Compensation Committee retained Radford (an Aon Consulting Company) in 2018, in 2020, and more recently in 2022, to provide independent advice regarding executive compensation to the Compensation Committee. Radford concluded, in December 2022, that the executive compensation program was positioned at the market’s 25^th percentile in the aggregate (50^th percentile for the cash portion of the compensation package).

The Corporation urges Shareholders to read the section entitled “Executive Compensation” and the related narrative and tabular compensation disclosure included in this Proxy Statement. The section entitled “Executive Compensation” provides detailed information regarding the Corporation’s executive compensation program, as well as the compensation of the Named Executive Officers.

At the Meeting, Shareholders will be asked to consider and, if deemed appropriate, to approve, an advisory (non-binding) resolution in the form set out below (the “Say-on-Pay Resolution”), subject to such amendments, variations or additions as may be approved at the Meeting. In order to be passed, the advisory (non-binding) Say-on-Pay Resolution must be passed by a majority of the votes cast by Shareholders present virtually or by proxy at the Meeting.

The text of the advisory (non-binding) Say-on-Pay Resolution to be submitted to Shareholders at the Meeting is set forth below:

BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

Board Recommendation

The Board believes the passing of the Say-on-Pay Resolution is in the best interest of the Corporation and unanimously recommends a vote FOR the passing of the Say-on-Pay Resolution.

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Information About Our Executive Officers

Aptose’s leadership team comprises accomplished industry, financial and clinical research professionals who are dedicated to building a comprehensive anticancer drug pipeline and clinical development programs focused on targeted therapeutics directed against dysregulated oncogenic processes in patients with life-threathening hematologic malignancies. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the team included our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. William G. Rice, whose biography is listed above; our Senior Vice President, and Chief Financial Officer, Fletcher Payne; our Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Rafael Bejar and our Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Philippe Ledru. Dr. Jotin Marango also was part of the leadership team as Aptose’s Senior Vice President, Chief Business Officer and Chief Financial Officer prior to his resignation, effective April 7, 2022.

Fletcher Payne, age 60, joined Aptose as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) in June 2022. With a healthcare tenure of more than two decades, Mr. Payne most recently served as CFO of Syapse, where he completed several financing transactions and oversaw accounting, finance, corporate development, and legal functions. Prior, he served as CFO at Catalyst Bioscience, a publicly traded biotech company. He served in a CFO capacity and senior financial positions at CytomX Therapeutics, Plexxikon Inc., Rinat Neuroscience Corporation, Dynavax Technologies Corporation, and Cell Genesys, among others. Mr. Payne holds a B.S. in Finance from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Rafael Bejar, M.D, Ph.D., age 52, joined Aptose as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer in January 2020. Dr. Bejar is an internationally recognized physician scientist with extensive research and clinical experience in the area of hematologic malignancies. Dr. Bejar joined Aptose from UC San Diego (“UCSD”) where he began working in 2012. He continues to serve at UCSD as an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, caring for patients and maintaining a research laboratory focused on translational studies of myeloid malignancies and also serves and is an independent consultant as a member of the Independent Data Monitoring Committee for other pharmaceutical companies. At UCSD, he founded the MDS Center of Excellence and led the Hematology Disease Team from 2017 to 2019. There he has directed several clinical studies and served as an advisor for numerous companies including Celgene, Takeda, AbbVie, Astex, Genoptix, Forty Seven, PersImmune, and Daiichi-Sankyo. Outside UCSD, Dr. Bejar sits on the Scientific Advisory Board for the MDS Foundation, is a prior member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines Committee, and has led projects for the International Working Group for MDS. He is frequently invited to speak at national and international meetings and has published articles in a variety of journals including The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Leukemia, Blood, and Blood Advances. Dr. Bejar completed his fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and has been board certified in Hematology and Oncology. He completed his internship in Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago followed by his residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston where he later served a Medical Chief Resident and an Instructor in Hematology. He holds an MD degree and Neuroscience PhD from UCSD and a BS in Physics from MIT.

Philippe Ledru, age 56, joined Aptose as Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer on April 7, 2022. Mr. Ledru brings to Aptose more than 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in the U.S. and Europe, including innovative drug development and commercial and strategic experience at two top global oncology companies. Most recently, he served as Associate Vice President and Head of Oncology New Products at Merck & Co, where he was responsible for commercial leadership over the entire Merck oncology pipeline, over 25 assets from discovery to mid-stage clinical development, across major solid tumors and hematological malignancies. At Merck, he also provided leadership on all licensing and M&A activities, including the Peloton Therapeutics and Arqule acquisitions in 2019. Prior, Mr. Ledru spent a 20+ year career at Novartis in the U.S. and France, most recently as Senior Director of Early Commercial Strategy focused on oncology products. There he also was part of the brand team and had early commercial development and global marketing responsibilities for several new compounds, including midostaurin. Earlier at Novartis Oncologie, he helped lead launches of several oncology products, including imatinib (Gleevec), a landmark drug that has greatly improved the outcomes of patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia. Mr. Ledru also held oncology product management and business development positions at Zeneca Pharma France/ICI Pharma.

The following discussion covers the compensation arrangements for Dr. Rice, Mr. Payne, Dr. Bejar and Mr. Ledru (each, an “NEO” and, collectively the “Named Executive Officers”).

Compensation Philosophy

The Compensation Committee’s mandate is to review and advise the Board on the recruitment, appointment, performance, compensation, benefits and termination of executive officers. The Compensation Committee also administers and reviews procedures and policies with respect to equity-based compensation plans, employee benefit programs, pay equity and employment equity and reviews executive compensation disclosure where it is publicly disclosed.

Aptose’s executive compensation program is designed to:

These objectives are achieved by offering executives and employees a compensation package that is competitive and rewards the achievement of both short-term and long-term objectives of the Corporation. As such, our compensation package consists of three key elements:

The Compensation Committee reviews each of these items on a stand-alone basis and also reviews compensation as a total package. Adjustments to compensation are made as appropriate following a review of the compensation package as a whole.

Independent Advice

In 2022, the Compensation Committee retained Radford (an Aon Consulting Company), to provide independent advice to the Compensation Committee and to conduct a detailed assessment of the executive compensation program of the Corporation. Radford was retained to identify a peer group of companies as well as perform an assessment of the competitiveness of the Corporation’s executive compensation process. Radford did not provide any services to management. The Compensation Committee has sole authority to retain and terminate any compensation consultant to be used to assist it in the evaluation of executive officer compensation. The Compensation Committee has sole authority to approve such consultants’ fees and retention terms and to obtain advice and assistance from internal or external legal, accounting or other advisors.

The Compensation Committee conducted an independence assessment for Radford in accordance with the Compensation Committee’s charter and Nasdaq listing standards, considering factors included in the listing standards. The Compensation Committee determined, based on an analysis of these factors, that the work of Radford as the independent compensation consultant did not create any conflict of interest.

Radford concluded, in December 2022, that the executive compensation program was positioned at the market’s 25^th percentile in the aggregate (50^th percentile for the cash portion of the compensation package).

Comparator Group

In 2022, the Compensation Committee and the Board, with advice from Radford, its independent compensation consultant, reviewed the compensation of its executive officers against that of its compensation peer group. The comparator group takes into account direct competitors for talent, especially for industry-specific roles. The comparator group is comprised of 15 publicly traded U.S. biotechnology companies which range in size from approximately 1/2 × to 20 × the market capitalization of the Corporation (as of November 2022). The companies comprising the comparator group are as follows:

Pay Positioning

The Corporation endeavors to target total cash compensation (salary and short-term incentive) somewhat above the 50^th percentile of the comparator group, and generally provides long-term incentive opportunities in the 50^th to 75^th percentile of the comparator group. The Compensation Committee believes this approach aligns executive compensation with the long-term interests of Shareholders and with the Corporation’s strategy, particularly when relatively few executives are performing multiple executive roles. In 2022, Radford provided detailed information to the Compensation Committee relating to compensation values, pay mix and incentive vehicles at the comparator group companies. In addition, the Compensation Committee considered compensation in relation to executives located in Central and Southern California which are regions of relatively higher cost of living and highly competitive for recruitment and retention. Based on this information and also taking into account experience in the role, scope of the role, performance and retention risk, as further explained below, the Compensation Committee suggested compensation goals for the executives for 2023 and the following years aligned with the target pay positioning set out above.

Although the Compensation Committee considers Radford’s recommendations in its review of executive compensation, the Compensation Committee ultimately makes its own decisions about compensation matters. The Compensation Committee realizes that using a peer benchmark such as the one provided by Radford is neither the only means for gathering and validating market data nor the only criteria for establishing executive compensation. In instances where an executive is uniquely critical to our success, the Compensation Committee may provide compensation in excess of the benchmark of the comparator group companies. Upward or downward variations for base salary and long-term incentives may also occur as a result of the individual’s experience level, the balance of the individual’s different elements of compensation, market factors and other strategic considerations. The Compensation Committee believes that, given the competitiveness of our industry and our company culture, our base compensation, cash incentives and equity programs must remain flexible, reward the achievement of clearly defined corporate goals. In addition, the Compensation Committee believes that such programs must be sufficient to retain our existing executive officers and to hire new executive officers, when necessary, and that unnecessary turnover at the executive level can have expensive consequences from the perspectives of time lost and capital required.

In 2022, achievements that were considered by the Compensation Committee when making compensation recommendations included, (i) for the oral, myeloid kinome inhibitor tuspetinib (HM43239), the transition of contract research organization (CRO) from external parties to the Aptose internal team, the completion of the Phase 1 dose escalation/expansion to select the go forward dose(s) and the initiation of expansion trials in acute myeloid leukemia (“AML”) patient populations defined by genotype or phenotype; (ii) for the oral, dual lymphoid and myeloid kinome inhibitor luxeptinib, the introduction of third generation capsules in the ongoing AML and B-cell cancer trials, the manufacture of sufficient drug substance to support clinical needs and the selection of patient population(s) for expansion cohort(s); and (iii) for the small molecule MYC oncogene inhibitor APTO-253, the closing of the study and minimization of consumption of personnel time and corporate cash. The rigorous cash management and the management of the business relationships with strategic partners were also taken into account. In addition, the exceptional market environment for the hiring and retention of talent was an important factor for the Compensation Committee and the Board when making compensation decisions.

Base Salary

In establishing base salaries, the objective of the Compensation Committee is to establish levels that will enable Aptose to attract and retain executive officers that can effectively contribute to the long-term success of the Corporation. Base salary for each executive officer is determined by the individual’s skills, abilities, experience, past performance and anticipated future contribution to the success of Aptose. The members of the Compensation Committee use their knowledge of the industry and of industry trends as well as independent third party consultants to assist with the determination of an appropriate compensation package for each executive officer.

Short-Term Compensation Incentives

Short-term compensation incentives motivate our executive officers to achieve specified performance objectives and to reward them for their achievement in the event that those objectives are met. Each year, the Compensation Committee approves the annual corporate objectives encompassing scientific, clinical, regulatory, business and corporate development and financial criteria. The annual cash incentive for the executive officers is based, at least in part, on the level of achievement of these annual objectives, assuming these objectives are still relevant at the time of evaluation.

All corporate and executive officer objectives and short-term incentives are reviewed by the Compensation Committee and approved by the Board.

For each executive officer, during the year ended December 31, 2022, the annual cash incentives ranged from 20% to 50% of base salary.

Cash incentives are determined as soon as practicable after the end of the fiscal year and, for the Named Executive Officers (as defined hereinafter), are included in the Summary Compensation Table in the year in respect of which they are earned.

Short-Term Compensation Incentives - Performance Metrics

The performance of the Named Executive Officers for the period ended December 31, 2022 was measured with respect to the following objectives:

Each of the above objectives is weighted at 55%, 25%, 15% and 5%, respectively, in relation to assessment of satisfaction of overall corporate objectives and determination of any general corporate bonuses and additional unanticipated accomplishments during 2022 were also considered.

Long-Term Incentive Plans

Long-term compensation incentives at Aptose reward an executive’s contribution to the attainment of Aptose’s long-term objectives, align an executive’s performance with the long-term performance of Aptose and to provide an additional incentive for an executive to enhance shareholder value. Long-term incentive compensation for directors, officers, employees and consultants is reviewed annually and may be accomplished through the grant of share options and of stock-based awards under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan.

In certain cases, executive officers may be granted share options on the commencement of employment with Aptose in accordance with the responsibility delegated to each executive officer for achieving corporate objectives and enhancing shareholder value in accordance with those objectives.

The number of options granted for certain executives of Aptose for the year ended December 31, 2022 was based on achievement of both corporate and executive officer objectives. The Compensation Committee recommends the allocation of options, and options are priced using the closing market price of the Shares on the TSX or on Nasdaq, as applicable, on the last trading day prior to the grant. Options to purchase Shares granted under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan expire ten years from the date of grant and vest over a term recommended by the Compensation Committee and approved by the Board of Directors. During 2022, options granted to Aptose Named Executive Officers vested over four years, except for 600,000 options which vest in accordance to performance criteria established by the Board of Directors. The Compensation Committee and the Board consider previous grants of options when considering new grants of options.

Stock and option awards may be subject to accelerated vesting in the event of termination or change of control, see “Termination and Change of Control Benefits.”

Other Benefits

In certain cases, the Compensation Committee may recommend inclusion of automobile allowances, fitness allowances and the payment of certain professional dues as a component of a competitive remuneration package for executives.

Hedge or Offset Instruments

Named Executive Officers, other Aptose employees, and directors are not restricted from purchasing financial instruments that are designed to hedge or offset a decrease in market value of the Corporation’s equity securities granted as compensation or held, directly or indirectly, by Named Executive Officers or directors, including, for greater certainty, prepaid variable forward contracts, equity swaps, collars, or units of exchange funds.

Employment Agreements

Aptose entered into an employment agreement with Dr. Rice on October 25, 2013 upon his commencement as Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer. This agreement was amended and restated on August 19, 2014. Pursuant to the amended and restated employment agreement, Dr. Rice is entitled to an annual base salary of $480,000, which amount is reviewed annually by the Board and increased at the Board’s discretion, upon the advice of the Compensation Committee. Dr. Rice is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus of up to 50% of his current base salary. The annual bonus is based on the Corporation’s and Dr. Rice’s achievement of objectives and milestones to be determined on an annual basis by the Board. Dr. Rice is entitled to receive termination benefits described under “Termination and Change of Control Benefits” below. Dr. Rice also receives employee benefits including, without limitation, participation in the Corporation’s 401(k) plan with a 3% non-elective company contribution, participation in Aptose’s group health coverage plan and life insurance plan for US employees, 25 days of paid vacation time annually, and an annual automobile allowance of $18,000. Dr. Rice is subject to certain non-compete restrictions. Dr. Rice receives no remuneration for his service as Chairman of the Board and director.

Aptose entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Payne upon his commencement as Chief Financial Officer, effective June 27, 2022. Pursuant to the employment agreement, Mr. Payne is entitled to an annual base salary of $430,000 which amount is reviewed annually by the Board and increased at the Board’s discretion, upon the advice of the Compensation Committee. Mr. Payne is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus of up to 40% of his current base salary. The annual bonus is based on the Corporation’s and Mr. Payne’s achievement of objectives and milestones to be determined on an annual basis by the Board. Mr. Payne’s agreement also provides for termination benefits described under “Termination and Change of Control Benefits” below. Mr. Payne also receives employee benefits, including, without limitation, participation in any 401(k) plan with a 3% non-elective company contribution, participation in other benefits provided by Aptose to its U.S.-based executive officers and other employees, which consist to date of life insurance and health benefits, and 20 days of paid vacation time annually. Mr. Payne is subject to certain non-compete restrictions.

Aptose entered into an employment agreement with Dr. Bejar upon his commencement as Chief Medical Officer, effective January 1, 2020. Pursuant to the employment agreement, Dr. Bejar is entitled to an annual base salary of $400,000 which amount is reviewed annually by the Board and increased at the Board’s discretion, upon the advice of the Compensation Committee. Dr. Bejar is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus of up to 40% of his current base salary. The annual bonus is based on the Corporation’s and Dr. Bejar’s achievement of objectives and milestones to be determined on an annual basis by the Board. Dr. Bejar’s agreement also provides for termination benefits described under “Termination and Change of Control Benefits” below. Dr. Bejar also receives employee benefits, including, without limitation, participation in any 401(k) plan with a 3% non-elective company contribution, participation in other benefits provided by Aptose to its U.S.-based executive officers and other employees, which consist to date of life insurance and health benefits, and 20 days of paid vacation time annually. Dr. Bejar is subject to certain non-compete restrictions.

Aptose entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Ledru upon his commencement as Chief Commercial Officer, effective April 6, 2022. Pursuant to the employment agreement, Mr. Ledru is entitled to an annual base salary of $410,000 which amount is reviewed annually by the Board and increased at the Board’s discretion, upon the advice of the Compensation Committee. Mr. Ledru is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus of up to 40% of his current base salary. The annual bonus is based on the Corporation’s and Mr. Ledru’s achievement of objectives and milestones to be determined on an annual basis by the Board. Mr. Ledru’s agreement also provides for termination benefits described under “Termination and Change of Control Benefits,” below. Mr. Ledru also receives employee benefits, including, without limitation, participation in any 401(k) plan with a 3% non-elective company contribution, participation in other benefits provided by Aptose to its U.S. based executive officers and other employees, which consist to date of life insurance and health benefits, and 20 days of paid vacation time annually. Mr. Ledru is subject to certain non-compete restrictions.

Summary Compensation Table

The following table details the compensation information for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2022 of the Corporation for the Named Executive Officers. All amounts presented in the following tables are as recorded in US dollars.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End

1. Unexercisable options vest on January 22, 2023.

2. Unexercisable options vest as follows: 50% vest on January 30, 2023, and 50% vest on January 30, 2024 for William Rice and Rafael Bejar and 50% vest on January 30, 2023.

3. Unexercisable options vest as follows: 33% vest on January 4, 2023, 33% vest on January 4, 2024, and 33% vest on January 4, 2025 for William Rice and Rafael Bejar and 33.33% vest on January 4, 2023.

4. Unexercisable options vest as follows: 50% vest on January 17, 2023, 16.67% vest on January 17, 2024, 16.67% vest on January 17, 2025, and 16.67% vest on January 17, 2026 for William Rice and Rafael Bejar and 50% vest on January 18, 2023.

5. Unexercisable options vest upon reaching certain performance triggers as determined by the Board.

6. Converted from the Canadian exercise price at the conversion rate of 0.7913 Canadian dollars per U.S. dollar.

7. Unexercisable options vest as follows: 50% vest on June 26, 2023, 16.67% vest on June 26, 2024, 16.67% vest on June 26, 2025, and 16.67% vest on June 26, 2026.

8. Unexercisable options vest as follows: 50% vest on January 1, 2023, and 50% vest on January 1, 2024.

9. Unexercisable options vest either (i) upon reaching certain performance triggers as determined by the Board, or (ii) if such performance triggers are not attained in the opinion of the Board, on August 19, 2025.

10. Unexercisable options vest as follows: 50% vest on April 12, 2023, 16.67% vest on April 12, 2024, 16.67% vest on April 12, 2025, and 16.67% vest on April 12, 2026.

Retirement Benefits

The Corporation maintains a 401(k) plan in which eligible employees of the Corporation may choose to participate, including the Named Executive Officers. The Corporation makes non-elective contributions of 3% of compensation for all eligible employees, subject to the maximum allowed by the Internal Revenue Code Section 401(k).

Termination and Change of Control Benefits

The employment agreements of Dr. Rice, Mr. Payne, Dr. Bejar and Mr. Ledru provide that if their employment is terminated by the Corporation other than for “cause” (defined as (i) theft, fraud, dishonesty or material misconduct of the executive involving the property, business or affairs of the Corporation, which results, or could result in material harm to the Corporation, (ii) any material breach by the NEO of any term of his employment agreement, or (iii) any material breach of the Employee Information and Inventions Agreement (as defined in each employment agreement)), or if the Named Executive Officer resigns for “good reason” (defined as a material reduction in Executive Base Salary (as defined in each employment agreement), unless pursuant to a salary reduction program, a material reduction in the NEO’s duties or the relocation of the NEO’s principal place of employment) each of Dr. Rice, Mr. Payne, Dr. Bejar and Mr. Ledru shall be entitled to a payment equivalent to 12 months of their respective annual base salaries at the time of termination (Dr. Rice’s December 31, 2022 annual base salary represents $600,000, Mr. Payne’s December 31, 2022 annual base salary represents $430,000, Dr. Bejar’s December 31, 2022 base salary represents $460,000 and Mr. Ledru’s December 31, 2022 base salary represents $410,000), plus an amount equal to the average bonus remuneration received from the Corporation during the last three years of employment completed prior to the termination date, prorated based on the number of days the executive worked during the year of the termination. In addition, the employment agreements of Dr. Rice, Mr. Payne, Dr. Bejar and Mr. Ledru provide that certain payments related to health benefits will continue to be made for a period of 12 months following termination of their employment.

The employment agreements of Dr. Rice, Mr. Payne and Mr. Ledru provide that, in the event their employment with the Corporation is terminated within three months immediately preceding or 12 months immediately following the consummation of a “change of control” (defined as the consummation of any of the following: (a) the acquisition of the Corporation by another entity by means of any transaction or series of related transactions to which the Corporation is a party, (b) a sale, lease or other conveyance of all or substantially all of the assets of the Corporation, or (c) liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation, whether voluntary of involuntary), each of Dr. Rice, Mr. Payne and Mr. Ledru would be eligible, subject to certain conditions, to receive a payment equivalent to 18 months of their annual base salaries at the time of termination, plus an amount equal to 150% of the average bonus remuneration received from the Corporation during the last three years of employment completed prior to the termination date, prorated based on the number of days the executive worked during the year of the termination, as well as continuation of the payments related to health benefits for a period of 12 months following the termination following a change of control.

The employment agreements of Dr. Rice, Mr. Payne, Dr. Bejar and Mr. Ledru provide that in the event of their termination, other than for cause, the vesting and exercisability of all then outstanding unvested share options, RSUs or other equity awards then held by such NEO become immediately vested and exercisable and shall remain exercisable as set forth in the applicable award documents. 

Pay versus Performance

As required by Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and Item 402(4) of Regulation S-K, we are providing the following information about the relationship of the annual total compensation of our NEOs and our performance.

Narrative

The relationship between compensation actually paid and the pay of our NEOs is described below:

·       Relationship Between Compensation Paid to the CEO and Average Other Named Officers and the Corporation’s Cumulative TSR - In 2021, the compensation actually paid to the CEO and the other NEOs decreased in line with the decrease in our TSR. In 2022, the compensation paid to the CEO and other NEOS was also lower than the Summary Compensation Total due largely to the decrease in our TSR. This is due primarily to the Corporation’s use of long-term equity incentive awards, which are tied directly to our stock price in addition to our financial performance.

The chart below shows the relationship between the compensation actually paid to the CEO and the average compensation actually paid to our other NEOs, on one hand, and the Corporation’s cumulative TSR (total shareholder return, based on an initial investment of $100 on December 31, 2020) over the two most recently completed financial years.

·       Relationship Between Compensation Paid to the CEO and Average Other Named Officers and the Corporation’s Net Loss - The changes in compensation actually paid to the CEO and our other NEOS were largely driven by equity award related adjustments as a result of the volatility in the market price of our common stock, and to a lesser extent by variability in annual salary, bonus and equity incentive awards. As a result, such changes are not directly related to the changes in our net loss.

The chart below shows the relationship between the compensation actually paid to the CEO and the average compensation actually paid to our other NEOs, on one hand, and the Corporation’s net loss over the two most recently completed financial years.

DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

Overview

The Compensation Committee makes recommendations regarding compensation payable to our non-employee directors to the entire Board, which then makes final decisions regarding such compensation.

Dr. Rice receives no remuneration for his service as Chairman of the Board and director.

Cash Compensation

Non-employee directors are entitled to an annual fee of $60,000 with no per meeting fees. The Lead Director is entitled to an additional annual fee of $40,000. The chair of each committee is entitled to an additional annual fee of $15,000, with the exception of the chair of the Audit Committee who is entitled to an additional annual fee of $20,000. Each committee member is entitled to receiving an annual fee of $10,000 per committee. All fees are paid in quarterly installments.

Non-employee directors are reimbursed for any out-of-pocket travel expenses incurred in order to attend meetings. Executive directors are not entitled to directors’ compensation.

Option Awards

Upon appointment to the Board a non-employee director will be entitled to an option grant of 100,000 options under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan and each year thereafter are eligible for an additional grant at the beginning of the fiscal year. The options vest 50% after one year, and 25% for each of the second and third years. If a director resigns, the director will have 90-days from the date of resignation to exercise all vested and unexercised options.

The maximum compensation (cash and equity awards) that may be received by any director during a financial year has been set to $500,000.

The following table details the compensation earned by each non-employee director for the year ended December 31, 2022:

EQUITY COMPENSATION PLAN INFORMATION

General

As of December 31, 2022, the total number of Shares subject to outstanding awards and available for future issuance by the Corporation under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan and the Corporation’s share option plan (the “Share Option Plan”) was 23,543,463. As of December 31, 2022, there were outstanding options to purchase 6,511,001 Shares issued under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan and outstanding options to purchase 9,989,590 Shares issued under the Share Option Plan, which, combined, represented 17.9% of the issued and outstanding Shares of the Corporation as of December 31, 2022 and Nil RSUs issued and outstanding under the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, representing 0.0% of the issued and outstanding Shares of the Corporation.

2021 Stock Incentive Plan

On April 20, 2021, the Board unanimously approved and adopted, subject to the approval of the Shareholders, the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan. The 2021 Stock Incentive Plan was ratified, confirmed and approved by the Shareholders at the annual and special meeting held on June 1, 2021 and amended to increase the number of shares available thereunder on May 31, 2022.

For a summary of the terms of the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, see “Proposal No. 3 – Amendment to the Corporation’s 2021 Incentive Plan.”

The Corporation currently maintains its existing Share Option Plan. However, following the approval of the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan by the shareholders at the June 1, 2021 annual shareholder meeting, no further grants were permitted to be made under the Share Option Plan, though existing grants under the Share Option Plan continue in effect in accordance with their terms.

Share Option Plan

The Share Option Plan was established to advance the interests of Aptose by:

The Compensation Committee, as authorized by the Board, administers the Share Option Plan. Further to the approval of the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan by Shareholders, the Share Option Plan no longer makes new option grants available under the Share Option Plan upon the exercise of options previously granted. A copy of the Share Option Plan was filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com on June 12, 2015.

Under the Share Option Plan, options may be granted to any executive officer, employee, subsidiary of an executive officer or employee, or consultant or consultant entity (“Eligible Persons”). The exercise price of options granted under the Share Option Plan is established by the Board and will be equal to the closing market price of the Shares on the TSX on the last trading day preceding the date of grant. If there is no trading on that date, the exercise price will be the average of the bid and ask on the TSX on the last trading date preceding the date of grant. If not otherwise determined by the Board, an option granted under the Share Option Plan will vest as to 50% on the first anniversary of the date of grant of the option and an additional 25% on the second and third anniversaries after the date of grant. The Board fixes the term of each option when granted, but such term may not be greater than 10 years from the date of grant. If the date on which an option expires pursuant to an option agreement occurs during, or within 10 days after the last day of, a black out period or other restriction period imposed on the trading of Shares by the Corporation, the expiry date for the option will be the last day of the 10-day period. Options are personal to the participant and a participant may not transfer an option except in accordance with the Share Option Plan.

The Share Option Plan does not limit insider participation and does not provide a maximum number of Shares which may be issued to an individual under the Share Option Plan. The Corporation did not provide financial assistance to any Eligible Person to facilitate the exercise of Options during the year ended December 31, 2021.

The Board may, in its sole discretion, amend, suspend or terminate the Share Option Plan or any portion of it at any time in accordance with applicable legislation, without obtaining the approval of Shareholders. Such amendments could include: (i) amendments of a “housekeeping” nature; (ii) a change to the vesting provisions of options granted pursuant to the Share Option Plan; and (iii) a change to the termination provisions of options granted under the Share Option Plan which does not entail an extension beyond the original expiry date.

Any amendment to any provision of the Share Option Plan is subject to any required regulatory or Shareholder approval. The Corporation is, however, required to obtain the approval of the Shareholders for any amendment related to (i) the maximum number of Shares reserved for issuance under the Share Option Plan, and under any other security-based compensation arrangements of the Corporation; (ii) a reduction in the exercise price for options held by insiders of the Corporation; and (iii) an extension to the term of options held by insiders of the Corporation.

If an option holder is terminated without cause, resigns or retires, each option that has vested will cease to be exercisable three months after the option holder’s termination date. Any portion of an option that has not vested on or prior to the termination date will expire immediately. If an option holder is terminated for cause, each option that has vested will cease to be exercisable immediately upon the Corporation’s notice of termination. Any portion of an option that has not vested on or prior to the termination date will expire immediately.

Employee Share Purchase Plan

On April 20, 2021, the Board unanimously approved and adopted, subject to the approval of the Shareholders, the Corporation’s 2021 employee stock purchase plan (the “ESPP”), a copy of which is attached to the Corporation’s proxy statement dated April 20, 2021 as Appendix C. After being approved by the Shareholders at the annual and special meeting held on June 1, 2021, the ESPP became effective on July 2, 2021.

ESPP Highlights

The ESPP

ESPP Benefits

Participation in the ESPP is voluntary and each eligible employee will have the discretion to determine whether and to what extent to participate in and contribute to the ESPP. Accordingly, the benefits and amounts that will be received or allocated to officers and other employees under the ESPP are not determinable at this time.

Summary of Material Provisions of the ESPP

The following brief summary of the ESPP is not intended to be exhaustive and is qualified in its entirety by the terms of the ESPP, a copy of which is attached to the Corporation’s proxy statement dated April 20, 2021 as Appendix C.

Plan Administration

The ESPP is administrated by the Compensation Committee, or by the Board acting in place of the Compensation Committee. Subject to the terms of the ESPP, the Compensation Committee has the authority to, among other matters determine the terms and conditions of offerings under the ESPP, determine the eligibility of participants, and construe, interpret and apply the terms of the ESPP.

Shares Reserved for Issuance

Subject to customary capitalization adjustments, the maximum number of Shares reserved for issuance from treasury under the ESPP is 1,700,000.

Eligibility

Any individual who is a common law employee of the Corporation and any of its subsidiaries designated by the Compensation Committee for at least 20 hours per week on any given Offering Date will be eligible to participate in the ESPP.

The Compensation Committee may, in its discretion, exclude the following categories of employees from participation: (i) employees who have not completed at least two years of service since their last hire date; (ii) employees who customarily work not more than 20 hours per week or five months per calendar year; or (iii) certain highly-compensated employees.

As of April 3, 2023, there are approximately 32 employees which are eligible to participate under the ESPP.

Offering Periods

The ESPP is currently expected to be administered through consecutive six-month periods referred to as “Offering Periods”. The Offering Periods will be determined by the Compensation Committee, provided that no Offering Period may extend for a period longer than 27 months.

On the Offering Date, each eligible employee who has properly enrolled in that Offering Period will be granted an option to purchase Shares to be funded by payroll deductions, based on the participant’s elected contribution rate. Unless a participant has properly withdrawn from the Offering Period, each option granted under the ESPP will automatically be exercised on the Exercise Date. The purchase price will be equal to 85% of the lesser of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on (i) the Offering Date; and (ii) the Exercise Date.

Contribution and Purchase Limitations

Unless otherwise determined by the Compensation Committee in accordance with the terms of the ESPP, no participant may (i) elect a contribution rate of more than 15% of his or her compensation for the purchase of Shares under the ESPP in any one payroll period; (ii) purchase more than 10,000 Shares under the ESPP on any one Exercise Date; or (iii) purchase Shares that have a Fair Market Value of more than $25,000, determined as of the Offering Date, in any calendar year.

Certain Corporate Transactions

If the number of outstanding Shares is changed by a dividend or other distribution (whether in the form of cash, Shares, other securities, or other property), recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, repurchase, or exchange of Shares or other securities of the Corporation, or other change in the corporate structure of the Corporation affecting the Shares occur, the Compensation Committee, in order to prevent dilution or enlargement of the benefits or potential benefits intended to be made available under the ESPP will, in such manner as it may deem equitable, adjust the number and class of shares which may be delivered under the ESPP, the purchase price and the number of Shares covered by each option under the ESPP which has not yet been exercised, and the contribution and purchase limitations.

Amendments and Termination

The Compensation Committee may generally amend, suspend, or terminate the ESPP at any time without Shareholder approval.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, Named Executive Officers, as a group, did not purchase any Shares pursuant to the ESPP. Employees purchased an aggregate of 10,858 Shares pursuant to the ESPP during the same period.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

The following table sets forth certain details as at the end of the year ended December 31, 2022 with respect to compensation plans pursuant to which equity securities of the Corporation are authorized for issuance.

1.     Includes share option awards, RSUs, and Dividend Equivalents that may be awarded under our 2021 Stock Incentive Plan and Share Option Plan as at December 31, 2022. Does not include additional shares whose issuance is subject to shareholder approval under Proposal No. 3.

Annual Burn Rate

The following table provides the annual burn rate associated with the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan for the year ended December 31, 2022 and the Share Option Plan for each of the Corporation’s three most recent fiscal years:

INTEREST OF CERTAIN PERSONS IN MATTERS TO BE ACTED UPON

None of the directors or executive officers of the Corporation, none of the persons who have been directors or executive officers of the Corporation at any time since January 1, 2022, none of the proposed nominees for election as a director of the Corporation and none of the associates or affiliates of any of the foregoing has any material interest, direct or indirect, by way of beneficial ownership of securities or otherwise, in any matter scheduled to be acted upon at the Meeting other than the election of directors.

INTEREST OF RELATED PERSONS IN TRANSACTIONS

For the last two completed fiscal years, no director, proposed director, executive officer, or immediate family member of a director, proposed director or executive officer nor, to the knowledge of our directors or executive officers, after having made reasonable inquiry, any person or company who beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, Shares carrying more than 5% of the voting rights attached to all Shares outstanding at the date hereof, or any immediate family member thereof, had any material interest, direct or indirect, in any transaction or proposed transaction of the Corporation which involves an amount exceeding the lesser of $120,000 or one percent of the average of the Corporation’s total assets at year-end for the last two completed fiscal years.

DELINQUENT section 16(A) REPORTS

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our directors and executive officers and all persons who beneficially own more than 10 percent of our outstanding Shares to file with the SEC initial reports of changes in ownership of our Shares. To our knowledge, based on a review of the copies of such reports and amendments to such reports furnished to us with respect to the year ended December 31, 2022, and based on written representations by our directors and executive officers, all required Section 16(a) reports under the Exchange Act for our directors, executive officers, and beneficial owners of greater than 10 percent of our Shares were filed on a timely basis during the year ended December 31, 2022.

Householding of Annual Proxy Materials

Some banks, brokers and other nominee record holders may be participating in the practice of “householding” proxy statements and annual reports. This means that only one copy of our Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, proxy materials or annual report to Shareholders may have been sent to multiple Shareholders in each household unless otherwise instructed by such Shareholders. We will deliver promptly a separate copy of these documents to any Shareholder upon written or oral request to our Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary at Aptose Biosciences Inc., Suite 120, 12770 High Bluff Drive, San Diego, California, telephone: 858-926-2730. Any Shareholder who wants to receive separate copies of our Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, proxy materials or annual report to Shareholders in the future, or any Shareholders who is receiving multiple copies and would like to receive only one copy per household, should contact the Shareholder’s bank, broker, or other nominee record holder, or the Shareholder may contact us at the above address and phone number.

INDEBTEDNESS

As of the date hereof, there is no indebtedness owing to the Corporation by any employees, officers or directors of the Corporation. The Corporation did not provide financial assistance to any employees, officers or directors for the purchase of securities during the year ended December 31, 2022 or from January 1, 2023 to the date hereof.

DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS’ LIABILITY

We purchase and maintain liability insurance for the benefit of directors and officers to cover any liability incurred by such person in such capacities. The policy provides for coverage in the amount of $30,000,000. The annual premium payable by the Corporation for directors’ and officers’ liability insurance for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $980,000.

MANAGEMENT CONTRACTS

The management functions of the Corporation are not, in any way, performed in a substantial degree by a person or persons other than the directors or the executive officers of the Corporation.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Additional information relating to us, including our most current Annual Report on Form 10-K (together with documents incorporated therein by reference), our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022, the report of the independent registered public accounting firm thereon, and management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 can be found by accessing the SEC’s EDGAR filing database at www.sec.gov and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com Copies of those documents are available upon written request to the Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary at Aptose Biosciences Inc., Suite 120, 12770 High Bluff Drive, San Diego, California, free of charge to our securityholders. Our financial information is provided in our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022 and management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022.

DIRECTORS’ APPROVAL

The contents and sending of this Proxy Statement have been approved by our directors.

(signed) William G. Rice, Ph.D.
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
April 18, 2023

Appendix A

APTOSE BIOSCIENCES INC.

BOARD MANDATE

Purpose

The board of directors (the “Board”) of Aptose Biosciences Inc. (the “Corporation”) is responsible for the proper stewardship of the Corporation. The Board is mandated to represent the shareholders to select the appropriate Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), assess and approve the strategic direction of the Corporation, ensure that appropriate processes for risk assessment, management and internal control are in place, monitor management performance against agreed benchmarks, and assure the integrity of financial reports.

Membership and Reporting

Terms of Reference

Meetings

Meeting Preparation and Attendance

Corporate Planning and Performance

In establishing corporate performance objectives, the Board will:

Risk Management and Ethics

Shareholder Communication

Supervision of Management

Management of Board Affairs

Appendix B

APTOSE BIOSCIENCES INC.

2021 STOCK INCENTIVE PLAN, AS AMENDED

Section 1.               Purpose

The purpose of the Plan is to promote the interests of the Company and its shareholders by aiding the Company in attracting and retaining employees, officers, consultants, advisors, independent contractors and non-employee Directors capable of assuring the future success of the Company, to offer such persons incentives to put forth maximum efforts for the success of the Company’s business and to compensate such persons through stock-based awards and provide them with opportunities for stock ownership in the Company, thereby aligning the interests of such persons with the Company’s shareholders.

Section 2.               Definitions

As used in the Plan, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth below:

(a)               “Affiliate” shall mean any entity that, directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, is controlled by the Company.

(b)               “Award” shall mean any Option, Stock Appreciation Right, Restricted Stock, Restricted Stock Unit or Dividend Equivalent granted under the Plan.

(c)               “Award Agreement” shall mean any written agreement, contract or other instrument or document evidencing an Award granted under the Plan (including a document in an electronic medium) executed in accordance with the requirements of Section 9(b).

(d)               “Board” shall mean the Board of Directors of the Company.

(e)               “Code” shall mean the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time, and any regulations promulgated thereunder.

(f)                “Committee” means a committee or subcommittee of the Board appointed from time to time by the Board. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if, and to the extent that no Committee exists which has the authority to administer this Plan, the functions of the Committee shall be exercised by the Board and all references herein to the Committee shall be deemed to be references to the Board. The Committee shall be comprised of not less than such number of Directors as shall be required to permit Awards granted under the Plan to qualify under Rule 16b-3, and each member of the Committee shall be a “non-employee director” within the meaning of Rule 16b-3.

(g)               “Common Share” or “Common Shares” shall mean common shares of the Company (or such other securities or property as may become subject to Awards pursuant to an adjustment made under Section 4(c) of the Plan), provided that such class is listed on a securities exchange.

(h)               “Company” shall mean Aptose Biosciences Inc., a corporation incorporated under the laws of Canada and any successor corporation.

(i)                 “Director” shall mean a member of the Board.

(j)                 “Dividend Equivalent” shall mean any right granted under Section 6(b) of the Plan.

(k)               “Eligible Person” shall mean any employee, officer, non-employee Director, consultant, independent contractor or advisor providing services to the Company or any Affiliate, or any such person to whom an offer of employment or engagement with the Company or any Affiliate is extended. An Eligible Person must be a natural person.

(l)                 “Exchange Act” shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

(m)             “Fair Market Value” shall mean the closing price of the Common Shares, as reported on the NASDAQ Stock Market or Toronto Stock Exchange, whichever exchange is designated in the Award Agreement, and any successor securities exchange thereof, or, if the applicable securities exchange is not open for trading on such date, on the most recent preceding date when such exchange is open for trading. In all other cases, Fair Market Value shall mean the amount which is determined by the Committee, in good faith, to be the fair market value of one Common Share.

(n)               “Incentive Stock Option” shall mean an option granted under Section 6(a) of the Plan that is intended to meet the requirements of Section 422 of the Code or any successor provision.

(o)               “Non-Qualified Stock Option” shall mean an option granted under Section 6(a) of the Plan that is not intended to be an Incentive Stock Option.

(p)               “Option” shall mean an Incentive Stock Option or a Non-Qualified Stock Option to purchase Common Shares of the Company.

(q)               “Participant” shall mean an Eligible Person designated to be granted an Award under the Plan.

(r)                “Plan” shall mean the Aptose Biosciences Inc. 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, as amended from time to time.

(s)                “Prior Stock Plans” shall mean the Aptose Biosciences Inc. 2015 Stock Incentive Plan and the Aptose Biosciences Inc. Share Option Plan, as amended from time to time.

(t)                 “Restricted Stock” shall mean any Common Share granted under Section 6(c) of the Plan.

(u)               “Restricted Stock Unit” shall mean any unit granted under Section 6(c) of the Plan evidencing the right to receive a Common Share (or a cash payment equal to the Fair Market Value of a Common Share) at some future date.

(v)               “Rule 16b-3” shall mean Rule 16b-3 promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or any successor rule or regulation.

(w)             “Section 409A” shall mean Section 409A of the Code, or any successor provision, and applicable Treasury Regulations and other applicable guidance thereunder.

(x)               “Securities Act” shall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

(y)               “Specified Employee” shall mean a specified employee as defined in Section 409A(a)(2)(B) of the Code or applicable proposed or final regulations under Section 409A, determined in accordance with procedures established by the Company and applied uniformly with respect to all plans maintained by the Company that are subject to Section 409A.

(z)               “TSX Rules” means the rules of the Toronto Stock Exchange Company Manual relating to changes in the capital structure of listed companies in connection with security based compensation arrangements (currently Section 613), as those rules may be amended, renumbered or reclassified from time to time, or any successors.

(aa)            “Stock Appreciation Right” shall mean any right granted under Section 6(b) of the Plan.

Section 3.               Administration

(a)               Power and Authority of the Committee. The Plan shall be administered by the Committee. Subject to the express provisions of the Plan and to applicable law, the Committee shall have full power and authority to: (i) designate Participants and grant Awards; (ii) determine the type or types of Awards to be granted to each Participant under the Plan; (iii) determine the number of Common Shares to be covered by (or the method by which payments or other rights are to be calculated in connection with) each Award; (iv) determine the terms and conditions of any Award or Award Agreement, including any terms relating to the forfeiture of any Award and the forfeiture, recapture or disgorgement of any cash, Common Shares or other amounts payable with respect to any Award; (v) amend the terms and conditions of any Award or Award Agreement, subject to the limitations under Sections 6 and 7; (vi) accelerate the exercisability of any Award or the lapse of any restrictions relating to any Award, subject to the limitations of Sections 6 and 7; (vii) determine whether, to what extent and under what circumstances Awards may be exercised in cash, Common Shares, other securities, other Awards or other property (but excluding promissory notes), or canceled, forfeited or suspended; (viii) determine whether, to what extent and under what circumstances amounts payable with respect to an Award under the Plan shall be deferred either automatically or at the election of the holder thereof or the Committee, subject to the requirements of Section 409A; (ix) interpret and administer the Plan and any instrument or agreement, including an Award Agreement, relating to the Plan; (x) establish, amend, suspend or waive such rules and regulations and appoint such agents as it shall deem appropriate for the proper administration of the Plan; (xi) make any other determination and take any other action that the Committee deems necessary or desirable for the administration of the Plan; and (xii) adopt such modifications, rules, procedures and sub-plans as may be necessary or desirable to comply with provisions of the laws of non-U.S. or Canadian jurisdictions in which the Company or an Affiliate may operate, including, without limitation, establishing any special rules for Affiliates, Eligible Persons or Participants located in any particular country, in order to meet the objectives of the Plan and to ensure the viability of the intended benefits of Awards granted to Participants located in such non-United States jurisdictions. Any sub-plan established hereunder shall be deemed a part of the Plan, except to the extent of any inconsistency between the terms of the Plan and the terms of such sub-plan, in which event the terms of such sub-plan shall prevail. Each sub-plan shall apply only to the Eligible Persons in the jurisdiction for which the sub-plan was designed. Unless otherwise expressly provided in the Plan, all designations, determinations, interpretations and other decisions under or with respect to the Plan or any Award or Award Agreement shall be within the sole discretion of the Committee, may be made at any time and shall be final, conclusive and binding upon any Participant, any holder or beneficiary of any Award or Award Agreement, and any employee of the Company or any Affiliate.

(b)               Delegation. The Committee may delegate to one or more officers or Directors of the Company, subject to such terms, conditions and limitations as the Committee may establish in its sole discretion, the authority to grant Awards; provided, however, that the Committee shall not delegate such authority (i) with regard to grants of Awards to be made to officers or directors of the Company or (ii) in such a manner as would contravene applicable law or applicable exchange rules.

(c)               Power and Authority of the Board. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the Board may, at any time and from time to time, without any further action of the Committee, exercise all the powers and duties of the Committee under the Plan, unless the exercise of such powers and duties by the Board would cause the Plan not to comply with the requirements of Rule 16b-3; and only the Committee (or another committee of the Board comprised of directors who qualify as independent directors within the meaning of the independence rules of any applicable securities exchange where the Common Shares are then listed) may grant Awards to Directors who are not also employees of the Company or an Affiliate.

(d)               Indemnification. To the full extent permitted by law, (i) no member of the Board, the Committee or any person to whom the Committee delegates authority under the Plan shall be liable for any action or determination taken or made in good faith with respect to the Plan or any Award made under the Plan, and (ii) the members of the Board, the Committee and each person to whom the Committee delegates authority under the Plan shall be entitled to indemnification and reimbursement by the Company with regard to such actions and determinations in accordance with applicable law in the manner provided in the Company’s by-laws and any indemnification agreements as they may be amended from time to time. The provisions of this paragraph shall be in addition to such other rights of indemnification as a member of the Board, the Committee or any other person may have by virtue of such person’s position with the Company.

Section 4.               Common Shares Available for Awards

(a)               Common Shares Available. Subject to adjustment as provided in Section 4(c) of the Plan, the aggregate number of Common Shares that may be issued under all Awards under the Plan shall equal:

On and after stockholder approval of this Plan, no awards shall be granted under the Prior Stock Plans, but all outstanding awards previously granted under the Prior Stock Plans shall remain outstanding and subject to the terms of the Prior Stock Plans.

When determining the Common Shares added to and subtracted from the aggregate reserve, the number of Common Shares added or subtracted shall be also determined in accordance with the Common Share counting rules described in Section 4(b) below.

(b)               Counting Common Shares. Except as set forth in this Section 4(b) below, if an Award entitles the holder thereof to receive or purchase Common Shares, the number of Common Shares covered by such Award or to which such Award relates shall be counted on the date of grant of such Award against the aggregate number of Common Shares available for granting Awards under the Plan.

(c)               Adjustments. In the event that any dividend (other than a regular cash dividend) or other distribution (whether in the form of cash, Common Shares, other securities or other property), recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, repurchase or exchange of Common Shares or other securities of the Company, issuance of warrants or other rights to purchase Common Shares or other securities of the Company or other similar corporate transaction or event affects the Common Shares such that an adjustment is necessary in order to prevent dilution or enlargement of the benefits or potential benefits intended to be made available under the Plan, then the Committee shall, in accordance with applicable law and in such manner as it may deem equitable, adjust any or all of (i) the number and type of Common Shares (or other securities or other property) that thereafter may be made the subject of Awards, and (ii) the number and type of Common Shares (or other securities or other property) subject to outstanding Awards.

(d)               Individual Limitations Under the Plan. The limitation contained in this Section 4(d) shall apply only with respect to any Award or Awards granted under this Plan, and limitations on awards granted under any other shareholder-approved incentive plan maintained by the Company will be governed solely by the terms of such other plan.

Section 5.               Eligibility

Any Eligible Person shall be eligible to be designated as a Participant. In determining which Eligible Persons shall receive an Award and the terms of any Award, the Committee may take into account the nature of the services rendered by the respective Eligible Persons, their present and potential contributions to the success of the Company or such other factors as the Committee, in its discretion, shall deem relevant. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Incentive Stock Option may only be granted to full-time or part-time employees (which term as used herein includes, without limitation, officers and Directors who are also employees) who are subject to taxation in the United States, and an Incentive Stock Option shall not be granted to an employee of an Affiliate unless such Affiliate is also a “subsidiary corporation” of the Company within the meaning of Section 424(f) of the Code or any successor provision.

Section 6.               Awards

(a)               Options. The Committee is hereby authorized to grant Options to Eligible Persons with the following terms and conditions and with such additional terms and conditions not inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan as the Committee shall determine:

(b)               Stock Appreciation Rights. The Committee is hereby authorized to grant Stock Appreciation Rights to Eligible Persons subject to the terms of the Plan and any applicable Award Agreement. A Stock Appreciation Right granted under the Plan shall confer on the holder thereof a right to receive upon exercise thereof the excess of (i) the Fair Market Value of one Common Share on the date of exercise over (ii) the grant price of the Stock Appreciation Right as specified by the Committee, which price shall not be less than one hundred percent (100%) of the Fair Market Value of one Common Share on the date of grant of the Stock Appreciation Right; provided, however, that subject to applicable law, the Committee may designate a grant price below Fair Market Value on the date of grant if the Stock Appreciation Right is granted in substitution for a stock appreciation right previously granted by an entity that is acquired by or merged with the Company or an Affiliate. Subject to the terms of the Plan and any applicable Award Agreement, the grant price, term, methods of exercise, dates of exercise, methods of settlement and any other terms and conditions of any Stock Appreciation Right shall be as determined by the Committee (except that the term of each Stock Appreciation Right shall be subject to the term limitation in Section 6(a)(ii) applicable to Options). The Committee may impose such conditions or restrictions on the exercise of any Stock Appreciation Right as it may deem appropriate.(c)Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units. The Committee is hereby authorized to grant an Award of Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units to Eligible Persons with the following terms and conditions and with such additional terms and conditions not inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan as the Committee shall determine:

(d)               Dividend Equivalents. The Committee is hereby authorized to grant Dividend Equivalents to Eligible Persons under which the Participant shall be entitled to receive payments (net of any applicable withholding tax and on terms and subject to conditions established and determined by and in the discretion of the Committee) equivalent to and in lieu of the amount of cash dividends paid by the Company to holders of Common Shares with respect to a number of Common Shares determined by the Committee. Subject to the terms of the Plan and any applicable Award Agreement, such Dividend Equivalents may have such terms and conditions as the Committee shall determine. Notwithstanding the foregoing, (i) the Committee may not grant Dividend Equivalents to Eligible Persons in connection with grants of Options and Stock Appreciation Rights and (ii) dividend and Dividend Equivalent amounts with respect to any Common Share underlying Restricted Stock or Restricted Stock Unit Award may be accrued but not paid to a Participant until all conditions or restrictions relating to such Common Share have been satisfied, waived or lapsed.

(e)               General.

Section 7.               Amendment and Termination; Corrections

(a)               Amendments to the Plan and Awards. The Board may from time to time amend, suspend or terminate this Plan or any Award Agreement, and the Committee may amend the terms of any previously granted Award, provided that no amendment to the terms of any previously granted Award may, (except as expressly provided in the Plan) materially and adversely alter or impair the terms or conditions of the Award previously granted to a Participant under this Plan without the written consent of the Participant or holder thereof. Any amendment to this Plan, an Award Agreement or to the terms of any Award previously granted, is subject to compliance with all applicable laws, rules, regulations and policies of any applicable governmental entity or securities exchange, including receipt of any required approval from the governmental entity or stock exchange. For greater certainty and without limiting the foregoing, the Board may amend, suspend, terminate or discontinue the Plan or any Award Agreement, and the Committee may amend or alter any previously granted Award, as applicable, without obtaining the approval of shareholders of the Company in order to:

For greater certainty, prior approval of the shareholders of the Company shall be required for any amendment to the Plan or an Award that would:

(b)               Corporate Transactions. In the event of any reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, plan of arrangement, take-over bid or tender offer, repurchase or exchange of Common Shares or other securities of the Company or any other similar corporate transaction or event involving the Company, the Committee or the Board may, in its sole discretion, provide for any of the following at the election of the applicable Participant but subject to the approval of the Board or the Committee, as the case may be, to be effective upon the consummation of the event (or effective immediately prior to the consummation of the event, provided that the consummation of the event subsequently occurs), and no action taken under this Section 7(b) shall be deemed to impair or otherwise adversely alter or impair the rights of any holder of an Award or beneficiary thereof:

Section 8.               Income Tax Withholding and Tax Treatment

(a)               Income Tax Withholding. In order to comply with all applicable federal, state, provincial, local or foreign income tax laws or regulations, the Company may take such action as it deems appropriate to ensure that all applicable federal, state, provincial, local or foreign payroll, withholding, income or other amounts and taxes, which are the sole and absolute responsibility of a Participant, are withheld or collected from such Participant. Without limiting the foregoing, for avoidance of doubt, the Committee, in its discretion and subject to such additional terms and conditions as it may adopt, may permit the Participant to satisfy such tax obligation by (a) electing to have the Company withhold a portion of the Common Shares otherwise to be delivered upon exercise or receipt of (or the lapse of restrictions relating to) such Award with a Fair Market Value equal to the amount of such taxes (subject to any limitations required by ASC Topic 718 to avoid adverse accounting treatment) and by the Company selling, or causing a broker to sell, on behalf of the Participant such Common Shares in the open market and use the proceeds from such sale to satisfy the amount of such taxes; (b) delivering to the Company Common Shares other than Common Shares issuable upon exercise or receipt of (or the lapse of restrictions relating to) such Award with a Fair Market Value equal to the amount of such taxes or (c) by any other means set forth in the applicable Award Agreement. For greater certainty, it is the responsibility of the Participant to complete and file any tax returns that may be required under applicable laws within the periods specified in those laws as a result of the Participant’s participation in the Plan or any Award. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Plan, a Participant shall be solely responsible for all tax withholding obligations arising as a result of the Participant’s participation in the Plan or any Award.

(b)               No Guarantees Regarding Tax Treatment. Participants (and their beneficiaries) shall be responsible for all taxes with respect to any Award under the Plan. The Company, the Board and the Committee make no guarantees to any Person regarding the tax treatment in respect of the Awards or payments made under the Plan.

(c)               Other Tax Matters. Each Option granted to a Participant who is a Canadian taxpayer will be construed and administered such that, in the reasonable good-faith determination of the Committee, the Participant qualifies for a deduction under paragraph 110(1)(d) of the Income Tax Act (Canada). Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event will the Company, the Board or the Committee have any liability.

Section 9.               General Provisions

(a)               No Rights to Awards. No Eligible Person, Participant or other person shall have any claim to be granted any Award under the Plan, and there is no obligation for uniformity of treatment of Eligible Persons, Participants or holders or beneficiaries of Awards under the Plan. The terms and conditions of Awards need not be the same with respect to any Participant or with respect to different Participants.

(b)               Award Agreements. No Participant shall have rights under an Award granted to such Participant unless and until an Award Agreement shall have been signed by the Participant (if requested by the Company), or until such Award Agreement is delivered and accepted through an electronic medium in accordance with procedures established by the Company. An Award Agreement need not be signed by a representative of the Company unless required by the Committee. Each Award Agreement shall be subject to the applicable terms and conditions of the Plan and any other terms and conditions (not inconsistent with the Plan) determined by the Committee. The Committee, in its sole discretion, may include such further provisions and limitations in any Award Agreement, as it may deem equitable and in the best interests of the Company that are not inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan.

(c)               Plan Provisions Control. In the event that any provision of an Award Agreement conflicts with or is inconsistent in any respect with the terms of the Plan as set forth herein or subsequently amended, the terms of the Plan shall control.

(d)               No Rights of Shareholders. Except with respect to Common Shares issued under Awards (and subject to such conditions as the Committee may impose on such Awards), neither a Participant nor the Participant’s legal representative shall be, or have any of the rights and privileges of, a shareholder of the Company with respect to any Common Shares issuable upon the exercise or payment of any Award, in whole or in part, unless and until such Common Shares have been issued.

(e)               No Limit on Other Compensation Arrangements. Nothing contained in the Plan shall prevent the Company or any Affiliate from adopting or continuing in effect other or additional compensation plans or arrangements, and such plans or arrangements may be either generally applicable or applicable only in specific cases.

(f)                No Right to Employment or Directorship. The grant of an Award shall not be construed as giving a Participant the right to be retained as an employee of the Company or any Affiliate, or the right to be retained as a Director, nor will it affect in any way the right of the Company or an Affiliate to terminate a Participant’s employment at any time, with or without cause, or remove a Director in accordance with applicable law. In addition, the Company or an Affiliate may at any time dismiss a Participant from employment, or remove a Director who is a Participant, free from any liability or any claim under the Plan or any Award, unless otherwise expressly provided in the Plan or in any Award Agreement. Nothing in this Plan shall confer on any person any legal or equitable right against the Company or any Affiliate, directly or indirectly, or give rise to any cause of action at law or in equity against the Company or an Affiliate. Under no circumstances shall any person ceasing to be an employee or Director of the Company or any Affiliate be entitled to any compensation for any loss of any right or benefit under the Plan which such employee or Director might otherwise have enjoyed but for termination of employment or directorship, whether such compensation is claimed by way of damages for wrongful or unfair dismissal, breach of contract or otherwise. By participating in the Plan, each Participant shall be deemed to have accepted all the conditions of the Plan and the terms and conditions of any rules and regulations adopted by the Committee and shall be fully bound thereby.

(g)               Governing Law. The internal law, and not the law of conflicts, of the Province of Ontario shall govern all questions concerning the validity, construction and effect of the Plan or any Award, and any rules and regulations relating to the Plan or any Award.

(h)               Severability. If any provision of the Plan or any Award is or becomes or is deemed to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction or would disqualify the Plan or any Award under any law deemed applicable by the Committee, such provision shall be construed or deemed amended to conform to applicable laws, or if it cannot be so construed or deemed amended without, in the determination of the Committee, materially altering the purpose or intent of the Plan or the Award, such provision shall be stricken as to such jurisdiction or Award, and the remainder of the Plan or any such Award shall remain in full force and effect.

(i)                 No Trust or Fund Created. Neither the Plan nor any Award shall create or be construed to create a trust or separate fund of any kind or a fiduciary relationship between the Company or any Affiliate and a Participant or any other person. To the extent that any person acquires a right to receive payments from the Company or any Affiliate pursuant to an Award, such right shall be no greater than the right of any unsecured general creditor of the Company or any Affiliate.

(j)                 Other Benefits. No compensation or benefit awarded to or realized by any Participant under the Plan shall be included for the purpose of computing such Participant’s compensation or benefits under any pension, retirement, savings, profit sharing, group insurance, disability, severance, termination pay, welfare or other benefit plan of the Company, unless required by law or otherwise provided by such other plan.

(k)               No Fractional Common Shares. No fractional Common Shares shall be issued or delivered pursuant to the Plan or any Award, and the Committee shall determine whether cash shall be paid in lieu of any fractional Common Share or whether such fractional Common Share or any rights thereto shall be canceled, terminated or otherwise eliminated.

(l)                 Clawback and Recoupment. All Awards under this Plan shall be subject to forfeiture or other penalties pursuant to any Company clawback policy, as may be adopted or amended from time to time, and such forfeiture and/or penalty conditions or provisions as determined by the Committee.

(m)             Headings. Headings are given to the sections and subsections of the Plan solely as a convenience to facilitate reference. Such headings shall not be deemed in any way material or relevant to the construction or interpretation of the Plan or any provision thereof.

Section 10.           Effective Date of the Plan

The Plan was adopted by the Board on April 20, 2021 and approved by the shareholders of the Company at the annual and special meeting of shareholders of the Company held on June 1, 2021, and the Plan shall be effective as of the date of such shareholder approval. An amendment to the Plan was approved by the Board on April 19, 2022 and shall be subject to approval by the shareholders of the Company at the annual and special meeting of shareholders of the Company to be held on May 31, 2022.

Section 11.           Term of the Plan

No Award shall be granted under the Plan, and the Plan shall terminate, on the tenth anniversary of the earlier of the date of adoption of the Plan by the Board or date of approval by the Company’s shareholders or any earlier date of discontinuation or termination established pursuant to Section 7(a) of the Plan. Unless otherwise expressly provided in the Plan or in an applicable Award Agreement, any Award theretofore granted may extend beyond such dates, and the authority of the Committee provided for hereunder with respect to the Plan and any Awards, and the authority of the Board to amend the Plan, shall extend beyond the termination of the Plan.