The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) announced January 16 that the regulator’s Annual Information Return (AIR) form for credentialling bodies is now available and must be completed before March 31, 2023.

Credentialling bodies in Ontario are those approved under the Financial Professionals Title Protection Act, 2019, (FPTPA) which governs the use of ‘financial advisor’ and ‘financial planner’ titles in the province. In Ontario, only those with a credential from an approved credentialling body may use either of those titles.

“All FSRA-approved credentialling bodies must complete and submit the AIR,” they write. Currently there are four approved credentialling bodies in the province, including FP Canada, the Canadian Institute of Financial Planning (CIFP), the Canadian Securities Institute (CSI) and the Institute for Advanced Financial Education (IAFE), a subsidiary of Advocis.

“The AIR is an annual questionnaire that will collect information to be used by FSRA to help administer and enforce the FPTPA. This will benefit financial planners and advisors in Ontario, along with their clients,” they write.