Zuckerberg’s Class C is a dual-class refresh: economics detach from votes so he can monetise without diluting control. The private-company equivalent in Canada is well-trodden and does not need a stock exchange. An estate freeze under section 86 or section 51 of the Income Tax Act exchanges your common shares for fixed-value preferred shares that keep the voting rights, while newly issued growth common goes to a family trust. Future growth accrues outside your estate; you keep control of the company today.

The catch is the same one that makes it powerful: a freeze is only worth doing at a low valuation, because it locks in today’s value as the frozen amount. Like every date-based rule in this edition, it cannot be applied backwards.