Ontarians and the Financial Professionals Title Protection Act

In January 2020, Advocis commissioned Hill+Knowlton Strategies to survey 997 Ontarians in an online Leger Opinion (LEO) panel with the aim of better understanding their awareness and perceptions of Ontario’s Financial Professionals Title Protection Act.

The Act requires all financial advisors and financial planners in the province to hold an approved professional credential from a recognized body.

Key findings from the report include:

• 65% are unaware of Ontario’s Financial Professionals Title Protection Act, with only 11% saying they were “definitely aware” of it. Awareness was also lower among women, as well as individuals who do not work with a financial advisor/planner.
• 33% felt they could name an existing professional designation specific to financial services.
• In a striking lack of consensus, most Ontarians estimated that somewhere between 26% and 75% of advisors/planners hold a professional designation.
• Among the Ontarians surveyed who do work with a financial advisor/planner, half (50%) believe they hold a professional designation, while 44% do not know.
• 72% feel that regulations which require professional designations would help protect them. This same proportion also feels that other provinces should adopt similar regulations to better protect all Canadians.
• 75% feel Ontarians need more information about which professional designations to look for when seeking out financial advisors/planners.

For more information on this research, please contact:

Julie Martini
Advocis, The Financial Advisors Association of Canada
416-342-9864
JMartini@advocis.ca