Financial advisors looking to stress the importance of legitimate financial advice to clients may find October, which is Investor Education Month, a good time to do so as they have the backing of industry groups and regulators that are promoting educational resources to help investors learn more about the financial services sector.

One example is the Toronto-based Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC), which recently launched a new website (www.financialplanningforcanadians.ca) specifically for consumers. The goal of the website is to inform investors on the importance of financial planning and having legislated standards for financial planners, according to a media release from the FPSC.

The website also includes a survey (www.financialplanningforcanadians.ca/campaign) for investors, which will gather information about Canadians’ knowledge of the unregulated use of the label “financial planner” outside of Quebec. The FPSC is also looking for Canadians’ opinions on whether they believe there should be more rules surrounding the ability of an advisor to adopt that title.

The FPSC will present the results of the survey to provincial governments, regulators and media in time for Financial Planning Week, which takes place Nov. 15 – 21. A panel of experts that the Ontario government has appointed will be reviewing comments regarding the possible regulation of financial planning around that same time, according to the FPSC’s release.

“The new site will not only arm consumers with critical information, but it gives consumers a chance to help us advocate for stronger government protections,” says Cary List, president and CEO of FPSC, in a statement.

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) is also encouraging investors to confirm the registration of any advisor or firm that sells securities, which can done through its National Registration Search website (www.aretheyregistered.ca) or by calling investors’ provincial securities regulator. (For the full list of CSA member regulators, see www.securities-administrators.ca/aboutcsa.aspx?id=99).