The Toronto-based Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC) announced the newest honourees for the President’s List on Wednesday.

Candace Gibson, Delta B.C., Blake Martindale, Cranbrook B.C. and Matthew Williams, Taber, AB, were the top three candidates out of the 260 who wrote the Financial Planning Examination Level 2 in June 2013.

The exam takes six hours to complete and was held in 31 writing centres across Canada. The exam had a 65% pass rate with 72.8% of first-time writers making the grade.

To write the exam, candidates must first complete the Financial Planning Examination Level 1 as well as the FPSC-approved Capstone Course, finish one year of qualifying work experience and be an FPSC Registered Candidate. Furthermore, the candidates must also commit to following the FPSC’s Code of Ethics, Rules of Conduct, Fitness Standards and Financial Planning Practice Standards.

There are currently over 17,500 certified financial planners in Canada and almost 150,000 worldwide.