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Strong Professional Standards

FP Canada’s two certifications, Qualified Associate Financial Planner™ certification and Certified Financial Planner® certification, are the standard of excellence for financial planners in Canada.   

Professional financial planners certified by FP Canada must meet and maintain high standards of practice and conduct throughout their careers. Their continued certification depends on it. 

This means they must agree to comply with The Standards of Professional Responsibility that are set, maintained and enforced by the FP Canada Standards Council™, a division of FP Canada™.  These standards protect the public interest and build trust in professional financial planners.  Failure to comply with the standards can result in professional discipline, with sanctions that range from a letter of admonishment to suspension or revocation of certification.


Plan for your Future with Confidence

Earning QAFP certification or CFP certification from FP Canada is a comprehensive process with four compulsory requirements:

 

Education

QAFP professionals and CFP professionals must gain knowledge and skills in six key areas of financial planning, and develop strong communication skills and in-depth understanding of their ethical obligations.

Exam

Passing an FP Canada exam is mandatory to gain certification. The competency-based exam tests whether individuals can apply financial planning knowledge to real-life situations to show they are qualified to provide financial planning services.

Experience

Financial planning work experience is a hands-on demonstration of expert knowledge and skills, and is another required step to certification – one year for QAFP professionals, and three years for CFP professionals.

Ethics

QAFP professionals and CFP professionals must adhere to the principles set out in the FP Canada Standards Council Standards of Professional Responsibility including, for example, to act with honesty and integrity, to respect confidentiality, and to put their clients’ interests first.  

QAFP professionals and CFP professionals must take a required number of Continuing Education courses every year. They must also adhere to the FP Canada Standards Council  Standards of Professional Responsibility, including a Code of Ethics which mandates that CFP professionals place their clients’ interests first. And they must renew their certification annually to retain the right to use the QAFP marks and CFP marks, which only individuals in Canada who are certified by FP Canada and in good standing are allowed to use.

 

Strong professional standards

Canadians should feel confident about the advice they get from QAFP professionals and CFP professionals given the high bar and strong professional standards.

Standards of Professional Responsibility →

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