Proposal to harmonize CIRO CEO programs

Submission – CIRO – Proposal to Harmonize CIRO Continuing Education (CE) Programs

Recipients

Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO)

Industry segments this resource supports

• Wealth management

Summary

Our submission is in response to CIRO’s proposal to harmonize continuing education (CE) requirements for mutual fund and investment dealer members. The proposal seeks to merge and modernize CE frameworks originally developed by the MFDA and IIROC. We support the goal of creating a fair, consistent, and proportionate CE regime but emphasize the need to avoid unnecessary regulatory burden. The submission highlights the importance of technology in delivering CE, the operational challenges of excluding Quebec mutual fund dealing representatives, and the need to ensure that CE obligations align with other regulatory and credentialing requirements.

Why this matters: Continuing education requirements will be standardized across Canada’s investment industry, directly affecting dealers, registrants, and investor-facing professionals.

Key takeaways

• We support CIRO’s objective to harmonize CE rules and create a consistent national framework.
• Continuous learning is recognized as essential to maintaining high proficiency and ethical standards across the industry.
• The submission urges CIRO to design a CE regime that upholds high standards without imposing unnecessary administrative or operational burdens on dealers.
• We stress the importance of integrating technology effectively into the CE program to support efficient delivery and compliance.
• The exclusion of Quebec mutual fund dealing representatives may create complexity and inconsistency for firms operating across jurisdictions.
• We encourage CIRO to address potential overlaps with other regulatory or credentialing bodies to prevent duplicative or conflicting CE requirements.