Our survey found that nearly one in three Canadian investors is unsure whether a regulator responsible for overseeing financial investments even exists in their province. For those investors — and for anyone engaging with an advisor they have not worked with before — there is a basic verification step that takes a few minutes and costs nothing.
The CSA’s National Registration Search lets any investor check whether an individual or firm is registered to give investment advice in their province. The search shows the registration category, the province of registration, and the affiliated firm. Registration category matters: someone registered only to sell mutual funds is not legally permitted to advise on individual stocks. Running this check before transferring money is one of the simplest things an investor can do to protect themselves. Access the tool here.
Also, visit us on LinkedIn for more information, including our ‘What to Ask Your Advisor’ series, where we share helpful resources and questions to ask before hiring an advisor.
A word of caution: registration is the floor, not a quality guarantee. A registered advisor can still give unsuitable advice or hold narrower qualifications than the registration record makes obvious. But at least if an advisor is registered, you have a regulator to contact if something goes wrong.