Under the Company’s stock option plan, options, rights and other entitlements be granted to directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Company to purchase up to a maximum of of the total number of outstanding common shares, estimated at options, rights and other entitlements as at Options are granted at the fair market value of the common shares on the closing trading price of the Company’s stock on the day prior to the grant if the grant is made during the trading day or the closing trading price on the day of grant if the grant is issued after markets have closed. Options vest at various rates (immediate to years) and have a term of years.

 

Stock option transactions for the years ended and are summarized as follows:

 

Option numbers are in (000’s)
						Year ended December 31, 2017
		Options				Weighted average exercise price
Outstanding, beginning of year			2,005			$	4.31
Granted			826				1.19
Expired			(323	)			4.58
Forfeited			(164	)			3.35
Outstanding, end of the year			2,344				3.46

 

Option numbers are in (000’s)
						Year ended December 31, 2016								Year ended December 31, 2015
		Options				Weighted average exercise price as recast (note 3(b))				Options				Weighted average exercise price as recast (note 3(b))
Outstanding, beginning of year			1,689				4.54				1,374			$	5.13
Granted			382				2.94				478				5.67
Exercised			-				-				(143	)			3.57
Forfeited			(66	)			5.62				(20	)			7.56
Outstanding, end of year			2,005				4.31				1,689			$	4.54

 

 

The following table summarizes information about stock options outstanding at

 

Option numbers are in (000’s)
						Options outstanding								Options exercisable
Range of exercise prices		Options				Weighted average remaining contractual life (years)				Weighted average exercise price				Options				Weighted average exercise price
$1.03-$1.15			241				9.4				1.05				-			$	-
$1.16-$1.86			527				9.2				1.26				7				1.70
$1.87-$4.37			444				7.8				3.11				263				3.30
$4.38-$5.08			614				6.4				4.61				614				4.60
$5.09-$34.37			518				6.9				5.79				409				5.90
			2,344				7.7				3.46				1,293				4.70

 

The following table presents the weighted average assumptions that were used in the Black-Scholes option pricing model to determine the fair value of stock options granted during the period, and the resultant weighted average fair values:

 

		Year ended December 31, 2017				Year ended December 31, 2016				Year ended December 31, 2015
Risk-free interest rate			1.32	%			0.68	%			1.17	%
Expected dividend yield			-				-				-
Expected volatility			98	%			110	%			106	%
Expected life of options (years)			5				5				5
Grant date fair value (2016 and 2015 values have been recast to US dollars -note 3(b))		$	0.87			$	2.30			$	4.36

 

The Company uses historical data to estimate the expected dividend yield and expected volatility of its common shares in determining the fair value of stock options. The expected life of the options represents the estimated length of time the options are expected to remain outstanding.

 

Stock options granted by the Company during the year ended consist of options that vest after year and on each of the next anniversaries, and options that vest after year and on each of the next anniversaries.

 

Stock options granted by the Company during the year ended consist of options that vest after year and on each of the next anniversaries.

 

Stock options granted by the Company during the year ended consist of options that vest and on each of the next anniversaries and options that vest on the anniversary and on each of the next anniversaries (total year vesting).

 

The Company recorded share-based payment expense of thousand ( - thousand, - thousand) related to issued stock options. Refer to note and for a breakdown of stock option expense by function.

 

 

The Company has a stock incentive plan (SIP) pursuant to which the Board grant stock-based awards comprised of restricted stock units or dividend equivalents to employees, officers, consultants, independent contractors, advisors and non-employee directors of the Company. Each restricted unit is automatically redeemed for common share of the Company upon vesting. The following table presents the activity under the SIP plan for the year ended and the units outstanding.

 

		Number				Weighted average grant date fair value
Outstanding, beginning of year			-			$	-
Granted			150				1.14
Redeemed			(150	)			1.14
Outstanding, end of year			-			$	-

On the Company granted restricted share units with a vesting term of months, and accordingly, on all of these restricted share units vested and were redeemed for common shares. During the year ending the Company recorded share-based payment expense of thousand ( – - ) related to the issued RSUs.

 

The grant date fair value was determined as the closing value of the common shares of the Company on the Toronto Stock Exchange on the date prior to the date of grant.