How to Choose a Financial Advisor in Canada: Types, Registration and Questions to Ask

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) uses “financial advisor” as a broad label for someone who helps you manage your money, from a bank employee to an investment broker or an insurance agent. Choosing one comes down to three steps: work out the help you want, find the kind of advisor whose registration lets them give it, and check them before you hire. A title alone says little: the FCAC notes that in certain provinces anyone may call themselves a financial advisor or planner, while Ontario and New Brunswick set rules for who may use either title, and Quebec for the financial planner title. People who sell securities or give investment advice must register with a securities regulator unless they are exempt, and the national registration search lists them. What each way of paying an advisor costs is on how much a financial advisor costs.

What help do you want, and do you need an advisor for it?

The FCAC’s starting point is that managing investments can be hard and some people aren’t comfortable investing on their own; an advisor can help assess your situation and suggest products. The Ontario Securities Commission’s investor site says the type of advisor you choose depends on what you want to achieve. The help people look for falls into three kinds:

• A plan, from a financial planner, who may help with retirement, saving on taxes or estate planning. What a plan covers is in our financial planning guide.
• Someone to manage or sell investments, from a dealer’s representative or a portfolio manager (see the table below).
• Insurance, from an insurance agent.

Larger one-time decisions have their own pages: a pension’s commuted value or the pension, a windfall or inheritance and the years before retiring. The alternatives to a full-service advisor are doing it yourself at an online broker, a robo-advisor, or a one-time plan from an advice-only planner that you carry out yourself; robo-advisor vs financial advisor vs DIY compares the three. Whether an advisor is worth it comes down to what you get for what you pay.

What kinds of financial advisor are there, and what can each sell?

A registration category, not a job title, tells you what a firm or person can offer. The Ontario Securities Commission’s investor site says titles such as financial advisor and financial planner aren’t legally defined terms or registration categories.

A mutual fund dealer sells only mutual funds; an investment dealer sells a broad selection of products, among them shares, bonds, mutual funds and ETFs. A dealing representative’s range is set by the registration category of the firm they work for. The FCAC says staff at banks, credit unions and caisses may also help you buy term deposits and GICs. CIRO oversees all investment dealers and mutual fund dealers, and carries on the work of the former IIROC and MFDA. A portfolio manager gives advice and manages your portfolio under your instructions or the discretionary authority you give it, and its advising representatives can trade for you. Insurance company staff are licensed to sell products such as segregated funds and annuities, and in Ontario FSRA licenses life and health insurance agents. Independent planning firms may give advice or may be registered to sell products, and some charge a fee. The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) describe registered portfolio managers working as “online advisers”, which in Ontario manage your portfolio at their discretion, with a human adviser responsible for the decisions. The FCAC suggests asking whether an advisor is licensed to sell any other products.

What’s the difference between a financial planner and a financial advisor?

The FCAC treats a financial planner as one type of financial advisor and notes that an advisor isn’t necessarily a planner.

Ontario. Both titles have been protected since March 28, 2022, when the Financial Professionals Title Protection Act, 2019 took effect. People using them, or a title that could be confused with them, need a credential from a body approved by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA), with minimum education and supervision. FSRA expects a planner to be able to build integrated plans, and an advisor to know at least one common investment product such as mutual funds, stocks, bonds or ETFs. FSRA runs a Check Credentials Tool.

Quebec. The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) says “financial planner”, or “F.Pl.”, may be used by a person who holds a diploma from the Institute of Financial Planning and an AMF certificate to act in financial planning.

New Brunswick. Its title protection Act came into force on January 1, 2026, with transition periods for people already using the titles.

Certified Financial Planner (CFP). The FCAC names the Certified, Personal and Registered Financial Planner designations as common for planners. FP Canada awards the CFP and the Qualified Associate Financial Planner (QAFP). Both need a post-secondary diploma or degree, a program of technical and professional education, a competency-based exam and work experience: three years for the CFP, one year for the QAFP. FSRA approves both for the Financial Planner title in Ontario, as it does the Chartered Financial Planner. FP Canada’s planner search shows its disciplinary history for a planner, where there is one.

How do you check an advisor’s registration?

• Sellers of mutual funds, stocks and bonds must register with a provincial or territorial securities regulator.
• They must complete training to register.
• You can check an advisor's registration with the National Registration Search.
• Ask whether any restrictions, terms or conditions have been placed on their registration, and whether they are licensed to sell other products.
• Anyone offering investment advice must also be registered with a securities regulator, unless they have an exemption.

Registration shows that a person has met the proficiency requirements for their category, and the National Registration Search holds the names of all registered individuals and firms in Canada. The FCAC lists CIRO, the CSA and, in Quebec, the AMF among the places to check for complaints or disciplinary action.

Registration covers advice as well as sales: the Ontario Securities Commission’s investor site says anyone offering investment advice must be registered with a securities regulator unless they have an exemption. Among the FCAC’s questions is whether they’re registered with a securities regulator, and their registration category shows what they’re able to offer.

Registered firms and advisors also follow the client focused reforms, fully in effect in all provinces and territories since December 31, 2021. Under them your advisor must address material conflicts of interest in your best interest, tell you about limits on the products they offer and about fees, costs and risks, and weigh an investment’s costs and risks when judging whether it suits you.

What should you ask a financial advisor before hiring them?

Advisors may be paid by the hour, by commission or by a percentage of the assets they manage; how much a financial advisor costs compares the models. The FCAC notes that commission-paid advisors have a reason to steer you where they earn more, and salaried ones to promote their employer’s products. Its questions fall into three groups:

• Registration and record: are they registered with a securities regulator, are they licensed to sell other products, have they been disciplined, are there terms or conditions on their registration, and are they under investigation.
• Services: what they offer, how they choose investments for clients, and how they will help with your goals.
• The relationship: salary, commission or other fees; how often you’ll meet and how they’ll report to you; references from past clients.

To build a plan, an advisor may ask about your age, income, net worth, dependants, monthly expenses and the income tax you pay, and your investment knowledge, goals, time horizon and risk tolerance.

What can you do if something goes wrong?

The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) looks at complaints about banks and investment firms that take part in its service, after you have first tried to resolve the complaint with the firm. An investment firm has 90 days to help you (60 days for a Quebec resident), and you have 180 calendar days from its final written response to bring the complaint to OBSI. For life and health insurance, the OmbudService for Life and Health Insurance (OLHI) guides consumers through their insurer’s complaint process and helps resolve disputes. In Ontario, FSRA investigates people who use the Financial Planner or Financial Advisor title without an approved credential.