identified by the words assumption, goal, guidance, objective, outlook, project, strategy, target and other similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as aim, anticipate, believe, could, expect, intend, may, plan, seek, should, strive and will. All such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the “safe harbour” provisions of applicable Canadian securities laws and of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Unless otherwise indicated by us, forward-looking statements contained in this Prospectus describe Bell Canada’s and BCE’s expectations, as applicable, as at the date of this Prospectus and forward-looking statements contained in the documents incorporated herein by reference describe Bell Canada’s and BCE’s expectations, as applicable, as of the date of such documents, unless otherwise indicated in such documents. Except as may be required by Canadian securities laws, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Forward-looking statements, by their very nature, are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties and are based on several assumptions, both general and specific, which give rise to the possibility that actual results or events could differ materially from our expectations expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements and that Bell Canada’s and BCE’s business outlook, objectives, strategies, plans, strategic priorities, results of operations and other statements that are not historical facts may not be achieved. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize and we caution prospective investors against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are provided in this Prospectus and in the documents incorporated by reference for the purpose of assisting investors and others in understanding our business outlook, objectives, strategies, plans and strategic priorities as well as our anticipated operating environment. Readers are cautioned, however, that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes.
Forward-looking statements made in this Prospectus and in the documents incorporated herein by reference are based on a number of assumptions that BCE or Bell Canada, as applicable, believed were reasonable on the day they made the forward-looking statements. Refer, in particular, to the section of the BCE 2020 Third Quarter MD&A entitled “Assumptions” on page 6 of BCE’s shareholder report for the third quarter of 2020 (the “BCE 2020 Third Quarter Shareholder Report”), for a discussion of certain assumptions that BCE or Bell Canada have made in preparing forward-looking statements, as such disclosure shall be updated from time to time in BCE’s and Bell Canada’s continuous disclosure documents incorporated by reference herein. If our assumptions turn out to be inaccurate, our actual results could be materially different from what we expect.
Important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this Prospectus or the documents incorporated by reference are disclosed in section 9 entitled “Business risks” of the BCE 2019 Annual MD&A included on pages 93 to 99 of the BCE 2019 Annual Report, as well as in the other sections of the BCE 2019 Annual MD&A referred to therein, as updated in section 6 of the BCE 2020 First Quarter MD&A entitled “Business risks”, on pages 27 to 29 of BCE’s shareholder report for the first quarter of 2020 (the “BCE 2020 First Quarter Shareholder Report”), in section 7 of the BCE 2020 Second Quarter MD&A entitled “Business risks”, on pages 32 to 35 of BCE’s shareholder report for the second quarter of 2020 (the “BCE 2020 Second Quarter Shareholder Report”), and section 7 of the BCE 2020 Third Quarter MD&A entitled “Business risks”, on pages 32 to 34 of the BCE 2020 Third Quarter Shareholder Report, as such disclosure shall be updated from time to time in BCE’s and Bell Canada’s continuous disclosure documents incorporated by reference herein.
Readers are cautioned that the risks referred to above are not the only ones that could affect BCE and Bell Canada. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to BCE or Bell Canada or that BCE or Bell Canada currently deem to be immaterial may also have a material adverse effect on BCE’s or Bell Canada’s financial position, financial performance, cash flows, business or reputation.
Except as otherwise indicated by us, forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any special items or of any dispositions, monetizations, mergers, acquisitions, other business combinations or other transactions that may be announced or that may occur after the date hereof. The financial impact of these transactions and special items can be complex and depends on the facts particular to each of them. We therefore cannot describe the expected impact in a meaningful way or in the same way we present known risks affecting our business.
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