Financial advisors in Prince Edward Island will now be on a level playing field with their colleagues in most of the rest of Canada with the recent approval of advisor incorporation in the province, Advocis announced on Wednesday.

As a result of this change, corporations controlled by an individual registered advisor may receive payments of commissions and fees from the advisor’s registered dealer.

“This was too important an issue for our members,” said Peter Tzanetakis, Advocis’ senior director of regulatory affairs, in a statement. “We had to ensure that advisors in P.E.I. had access to the same advantages as those in most other provinces. The last two provinces have yet to make the change are Newfoundland and Labrador and Alberta.”

Advocis has long advocated for advisor incorporation in P.E.I. through dialogue with the province’s Superintendent of Securities. And the P.E.I. securities division of the office of the attorney general recently determined that to permit the payment of commissions or fees to a corporation that is not registered is not “prejudicial to the public interest.”

“This prejudice against individual financial advisors is almost at an end,” Tzanetakis added. “Advocis is continuing to advocate for equity for all advisors. We are hoping for positive outcomes from our representations to regulators in the last two jurisdictions.”