RE:RE:Canada needs to toughen short selling rulesIt has been some years since I dealt with securities cage, but typically any unallocated shares (not on an active order) are available to lend, its called stock loan. An order to sell short goes into your broker, he will call his cage to find out if there are shares available for loan in house, and then with the other shops. Typically the loan is very cheap and will only marginally move your cost needle. This is not typically a "brokered" trade, and the owner of the shares is not aware that they are out. People worry about the "uptick" rule, to beat that I just offer below the bid so my offer gets lifted, it is niot a magic pill and would not stop me from executing, it is only a matter of price. I rarely short anymore, buying VIX calls or Puts on individual stocks works much cleaner for me.