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INVESTOR RIGHTS MONITOR
Insights You Can Use, Advocacy You Can Trust.
November 2025
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Welcome, investors! Your feedback inspired this refreshed newsletter. We’ve updated our format and sharpened our focus on the issues that matter most to you. In this edition, we stress the urgent need to reinstate the CIRO client data project. You will also learn about our advocacy to speed up account transfers and reduce transfer fees, share investor protection tools, and how our team is growing. Your input and engagement matter – so please let us know what you think so we can continue to improve how we communicate with you.
JP Bureaud, CEO, FAIR Canada
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CIRO Shelves Client Data Project — A Setback for Evidence-Based Investor Protection
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The Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA), now part of the CIRO, once led the way in understanding retail investor behaviour. Through three major client research studies in 2017, 2020, and 2022, the MFDA provided critical insights into how Canadians invest: their age, wealth, product choices, fee structures, costs, performance and mutual fund holdings. These reports helped regulators and industry participants identify trends, assess risks, and strengthen investor protection in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.
That legacy is now at risk.
FAIR Canada is deeply disappointed by CIRO’s decision to indefinitely pause its client-data collection project. The project would have required all CIRO members to submit anonymized data on retail clients — information essential for understanding investor outcomes and emerging risks. After failing to deliver the research in 2024, CIRO has opted to shelve the initiative entirely.
This is a troubling step backward. Any regulator, including a self-regulatory organization (SRO), operating in the public interest must ground its oversight in robust, reliable data. Without it, CIRO cannot credibly assess investor outcomes, identify systemic issues, or fulfil its public interest mandate. The Client Data Project could have built on the MFDA’s foundation, offering a clearer picture of investor demographics, costs, and activity across firms and channels.
Such data is also vital for evaluating the different advisory channels and understanding investor behaviour. While the initial data collection initiative may require additional effort, routine reporting becomes manageable over time. The payoff is stronger, evidence-based regulation..
We urge CIRO to reconsider its decision. Recommitting to this initiative, publishing a clear timeline, and sharing anonymized, aggregated findings would equip CIRO with the evidence it needs to effectively fulfill its public-interest mandate.
| Empowering Investors: Removing Barriers to Account Transfers | |
At FAIR Canada, we believe investors deserve a financial system that puts their interests first. That’s why we welcomed the federal government’s commitment in Budget 2025 to eliminate account transfer fees for registered and investment accounts – an important and long overdue step toward empowering Canadians with their money.
To make sure these fees are also removed for non-registered accounts between dealers and advisors that fall outside federal jurisdiction, provincial regulators and CIRO need to take similar action. Recently, we submitted comment letters to the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) and CIRO, urging them to make account transfers faster, easier and fairer for everyone.
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Supporting Clear Rules and Timely Transfers
If you’ve ever tried to move your investments from one firm to another, you know it can be a headache. Administrative delays and unexpected complications can lead to missing out on market gains or unexpected tax bills. Surprise fees can make you feel stuck.
We believe moving your accounts should be straightforward, transparent, and free from unnecessary barriers. That’s why we support CIRO’s proposal to set clear standards and timelines for account transfers. We agree that transfers must be completed within a set timeframe, and that clients should be informed up front about any impediments or complications. These changes will help protect you from missed opportunities, unexpected tax consequences, and unnecessary stress.
We also encouraged the AMF to adopt common account transfer rules for all financial institutions it regulates, and to harmonize its rules with CIRO’s proposal.
| | | Spotlight on Barriers and Delays | | |
In our letter to the AMF, we highlighted the significant barriers investors face when transferring accounts between financial institutions. Administrative delays can make you feel like your money is stuck in limbo, leaving you unable to capitalize on market gains or favourable interest rates. Transfer fees add up quickly when transferring multiple accounts and can hit the smallest investors the hardest, especially if they don’t meet the conditions for their new firm to reimburse them. We believe these fees are unfair and, along with the delays, discourage you from moving your assets to institutions that better serve your needs.
We urged the AMF to consider whether a transparent and fair framework is needed to govern account transfer fees so that investors are not unfairly penalized for exercising their right to choose the financial institution that best serves their needs.
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Canada Launches New Financial Crimes Agency and Anti-Fraud Strategy
Last month, Canada’s Minister of Finance François-Philippe Champagne unveiled a new initiative to combat financial fraud and abuse in Canada. The announcement includes establishing a National Anti-Fraud Strategy and a new agency called the Financial Crimes Agency (CFCA) by spring 2026.
The CFCA will investigate and help recover money from complex financial crimes, including fake investment schemes, phishing scams, and online fraud – threats that disproportionately affect retail investors. The aim is to improve coordination, accelerate financial crime investigations, and enhance victim support. The Anti-Fraud Strategy will focus on public education, stronger penalties, and improved data sharing between financial institutions and law enforcement.
Establishing the CFCA is an important step toward faster and more coordinated responses to growing threats that harm investors. We welcome this initiative by the federal government and look forward to seeing the new agency begin its work. We also encourage provincial agencies to work with the CFCA to streamline investigations, share intelligence, and enhance enforcement capacity across Canada’s fragmented regulatory landscape.
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Outsmart Online Scams with Stingray Security – Free Protection for Retail Investors
Stingray Security was named the winner of the ScamShield: Investor Protection Challenge, organized by the Alberta Securities Commission, Edmonton Police Foundation, and Edmonton Police Service.
This free browser extension helps retail investors avoid threats such as fake crypto platforms, phishing websites, and other online scams. Using real-time in-browser technology, Stingray Security flags and blocks risky links before they can cause harm. The tool is available at no cost in the Google Chrome Web Store and is designed for easy use by anyone, whether at home or at work, without requiring technical expertise.
Why it matters: Canadians lost more than $300 million to investment scams in 2024, making tools like Stingray Security an important resource for protecting investors from evolving online threats. Learn more here.
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CIRO Funding Supports FAIR Canada's Investor Protection Initiatives
We were pleased to have been selected as one of seven not-for-profit organizations to receive funding from CIRO. The grant we received is part of CIRO’s broader $1.5 million initiative to strengthen investor protection and financial literacy across Canada. This support will help us in our advocacy for retail investors, advance evidence-based research, and outreach initiatives. We extend our thanks to CIRO and congratulate all the funding recipients.
Meet Naftalia
We’re excited to welcome Naftalia Allison to the FAIR Canada team! With a background in journalism and public administration, Naftalia joins us as a communications specialist, bringing her expertise in advocacy communications and digital media strategy. She previously led bilingual campaigns at Fairtrade Canada, helping connect national audiences with key social issues. At FAIR Canada, she will focus on developing clear, accessible messaging to help the public better understand investor protection and financial fairness issues.
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FAIR Team Hits the Streets for Strategy and Scavenger Fun
Earlier last month, the FAIR Canada team stepped away from our desks and into the heart of downtown Toronto for a day of strategy, connection, and discovery. After a morning of thoughtful discussion on our communications and advocacy goals, we took part in a scavenger hunt that led us through the city’s vibrant art and cultural landmarks.
It was a great way to recharge, learn something new, and strengthen the collaboration that drives our work. Plus, we had a lot of fun along the way!
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Do you have feedback on our newsletter or suggestions for topics you’d like us to write about? Your input is valuable and will help us improve our newsletter content for loyal subscribers like you. Please email us at info@faircanada.ca with your comments and/or suggestions.
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