Title protection was supposed to ensure that anyone calling themselves a financial planner or financial advisor meets a minimum standard of competence. Instead, the framework allows multiple credentialing bodies with widely varying standards to issue credentials to people who want to use these titles.
The result? — Someone with limited education and who only took a course to sell life insurance or mutual funds can call themselves a “financial advisor.”
Although investors ultimately pay for the framework, they get very little in return. We raised the same concerns with Ontario’s proposal, including exposing how little consumer protection the framework actually delivers.
FAIR Canada will continue to advocate for meaningful change to proficiency standards so they genuinely align with what investors expect from those calling themselves advisors.
Read the comment letter here.