The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) announced in December that it was giving industry participants that use the title of "financial advisor" or "financial planner" more time to comply with its Financial Professionals Title Protection Framework. As most recently reported in our March 2022 bulletin, individuals operating in Ontario can not use those titles, or any title that can reasonably be confused with those titles, without holding a recognized credential from a FSRA approved credentialing body. FSRA indicated it was currently focused on approving credentialing bodies and expects that this will continue until the end of June 2023. The announcement stipulated that FSRA's enforcement activities with respect to non-compliant title users will involve requesting such persons to voluntarily cease the use of such titles within 30 days. FSRA noted that it is in discussions with the New Self-Regulatory Organization of Canada and the Ontario Securities Commission about an oversight framework, should the New SRO apply to become a credentialing body. Further, FSRA intends to publish a summary of approval terms and conditions for all approved credentialing bodies early in 2023.
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