11. STOCK OPTIONS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Notes to Financial Statements

11. STOCK OPTIONS

11.         Stock Options

The Company adopted a stock option plan ("Plan").  The purpose of this Plan is to  provide  additional  incentives  to  key  employees, officers, directors and consultants  of  the  Company  and its subsidiaries in order to help attract and retain  the  best  available  personnel  for  positions  of  responsibility  and otherwise promote the success of its business.  It is intended that options issued under this Plan constitute non-qualified stock options. The general terms of awards under the option plan are that 100% of the options granted will vest the year following the grant.  The maximum term of options granted is 5 years.

The Company may issue stock options to provide incentives to directors, key employees and other persons who contribute to the success of the Company. The exercise price of all incentive options are issued for not less than fair market value at the date of grant.

The following table summarizes the Company’s stock option activity for the year ended December 31, 2016 and the three-month period ended March 31, 2017:

	Number of shares			Exercise price per share		Weighted average exercise price
Balance, December 31, 2015		1,190,000		$	0.75 - $2.45	$	1.34
Granted		168,000		$	1.42	$	1.42
Cancelled or expired		(515,000	)	$	0.75 – 2.45	$	1.61
Exercised		(30,000	)	$	1.00 – 1.21	$	1.09
Balance, December 31, 2016		813,000		$	0.75 – 2.22	$	1.19
Cancelled or expired		(84,000	)	$	1.00 - 2.22	$	1.99
Exercised		(3,000	)	$	0.75	$	0.75
Balance, March 31, 2017		726,000		$	0.75 – 2.00	$	1.10
Exercisable, March 31, 2017		560,000		$	0.75 – 2.00	$	1.01

The fair value of each option grant is calculated using the following weighted average assumptions:

	2016
Expected life – years		3.0
Interest rate		1.37	%
Volatility		75.64	%
Dividend yield		--	%
Weighted average fair value of options granted	$	0.7073

The Company did not grant any options during the three months ended March 31, 2017 or 2016. Options granted in previous quarters resulted in expenses in the amount of $5,658 for consultants (2016 - $2,970) and $17,824 for employees (2016 - $8,760) during the quarter ended March 31, 2017. There were 3,000 employee stock options exercised during the during the three months ended March 31, 2017 (2016 – nil).

As of March 31, 2017, there was approximately $70,447 of compensation expense related to non-vested awards. This expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 0.75 years.