A movement to promote the importance of financial planning and to ensure that the Canadian public is well-served by the industry is rapidly gaining traction, with industry groups and regulators actively co-operating in this pursuit, according to Cary List, president and CEO of the Financial Planning Standards Council.

“These are unprecedented times for the financial services industry, and for financial planning specifically,” List said at the FPSC’s Vision 2020 conference in Toronto on Wednesday. “I’m pleased to see the new reality is that of co-operation amongst all who share a common interest.”

The Vision 2020 conference is part of the FPSC’s annual Financial Planning Week, through which the organization aims to raise awareness of the importance of financial planning in Canada.

List said it’s encouraging to see other groups getting involved in the process of enhancing financial planning across Canada. He noted that industry associations such as Advocis, the Canadian Institute of Financial Planners and the Institute of Advanced Financial Planners have become engaged in this goal, along with the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and other regulatory bodies.

These groups have been co-operating more than ever before, “to find real, lasting solutions to ensure Canadians from coast to coast are well served by competent, ethical financial planners, and that those holding themselves out as financial planners are held accountable as the professionals that they are,” List said.

“I’m pleased to see that the industry is changing, and that more organizations and regulators than ever before are working together in recognition that no single group can make real positive change in the landscape of financial planning advice.”

List said these efforts appear to be resonating with Canadians, who seem to be increasingly recognizing the importance of financial planning.

The FPSC has set a number of goals towards enhancing the state of financial planning in Canada by the year 2020. Some of these goals include:

> incorporating financial planning education into high school curriculums across the country;

> setting a requirement for industry members to earn specific credentials in order to be able to identify themselves as a financial planner; and

> ensuring that Canadians clearly understand the distinction between investment product advice and comprehensive financial planning.

IE