Almost a year after President Obama signed the JOBS Act into law, crowdfunding for equity is still not legal … at least for the 99 percent of people that are not accredited investors. But there is at least one place in North America where crowdfunding for equity has been legal for a decade.

That’s British Columbia, just north of Washington State in Canada, where Vancouver ranks as the ninth top startup ecosystem globally.

“BC has had legalized crowdfunding for a decade,” super-angel Mike Volker said last night at the Vancouver Enterprise Forum event on crowdfunding. “It’s the only place in North America, and there are no restrictions, no limits.”

Volker has been an angel for 30 years and currently runs two mutual-fund like investment pools that invest in startups. One is set up “normally” for accredited investors, and one uses a unique instrument to British Columbia: an “offering memorandum,” which allows a startup to sell its securities to anyone, regardless of their relationship, wealth, or minimum value of securities being purchased.

Crowdfunding for startups is now legal in the U.S., and you can actually market your equity online now, but only to accredited investors. The Crowdfund Act opened some doors, but only that one percent of the population can participate. That’s an unfortunately small crowd.

Mike Volker on a panel at VEF (second from left)