RE:HelpALA is listed on the list of eligible securities for reduced margins provided by IIROC, as far as I know it always has been...
I know Scotiabank's terms of eligibility have always allowed for 70%, but I've held it in a TFSA therefor no Margin ability so I cannot confirm at the moment that it has that allowance.
I will put a bullshit purchase order in tomorrow in my margin account and when it calculates the purchase order it should show me the margin movement right away as it does with others and I'll try and get back to you ASAP
For those that don't know how to do this to check for themselves, if you put an order in worth $1000 your margin allowance afterwards should only be $300 less than before the confirmed order, if the allowance is 50% obviously $500 comes off...
Banks do set thier own margin rules above IIROC's in Scotiabank's case the company's share price on the TSX has to be above $5, if it is below $5 but above $2 it is a 50% margin, IIROC requires a company to be above $2 and hold a certain Market Cap for 3 consecutive months before eligibility (and a few other company trading metric requirements). Scotiabank’s list recalculated daily, where as IIROC's is sent out quarterly, the current list was calculated Ending Dec 31st but took effect March 3rd, they are due to announce the June list in the next week or so.
TSX.V stocks are not marginable for Scotiabank (or IIROC as far as I know but I can't find that statement listed)
If you trade with a margin account you should find your bank's margins standards and also review the quarterly list for changes that affect your holdings or things your interested in. Also the IIROC guidelines are listed at the bottom of the last page.
https://www.iiroc.ca/news/Pages/Dealer-Notices.aspx (LSERM is the code you look for on notices)