A survey of Canadian investment professionals released Tuesday reveals that three-quarters of those polled expressed a strong preference for a single, national regulator to replace the current provincial system.

The member survey was conducted by the Association for Investment Management and Research and its results were presented recently to a provincial Steering Committee of Ministers by AIMR’s president and CEO, Thomas Bowman, and David Yu, co-chair of AIMR’s Canadian Advocacy Committee.

“Our members clearly feel that continuing the current level of provincial harmonization, while a step in the right direction, simply does not go far enough,” said Yu, who also recently presented a statement to the federal Wise Persons’ Committee.

“Furthermore, the proposed passport model contains serious shortcomings that render it a stop-gap measure as opposed to a real, long-term solution. Convergence and standardization must be the guiding principles leading any reform,” said Yu.

“There is a strong consensus among our Canadian members that the status-quo is no longer viable and that a single, national regulator — whether a federal or inter-provincial entity — offers the best alternative to the current structure,” said Bowman. “This view is consistent across the provinces and reflects the informed opinions of investment professionals who are the key users of the system.”

The web-based survey consisted of more than 600 AIMR members active in the investment industry in Canada.

Among the key findings, more than three-quarters of those surveyed want a single national regulator. Nationally, 60% favour a federal regulatory authority while another 16% (28% in Quebec) favour an inter-provincial body overseen by the provinces with uniform regulations.

Only 11% thought the proposed Uniform Securities Legislation (USL) or provincial passport model should be adopted, even with regulatory harmonization. The passport system ranked a distant third behind both centralized models.

Just 6% are in favour of maintaining the current system while continuing to harmonize efforts between provinces.

Only one in 10 feel that reform should be led primarily by the provinces and territories. Most would prefer reforms to be led by a federal-provincial partnership, by the national self-regulatory organizations or by the federal government.

Almost 90% cite the duplication in the current system (reporting, registration, fees, etc.) as the major reason to institute reform. Eighty per cent cite the high cost of compliance in terms of money, time and effort.

“Canada is still the only major country not to have a national securities regulator,” added Bowman. “Yet the trend is toward uniform regulation not just within countries, but across national borders as we are beginning to see in Europe. The more convergence there is at the multi-national level, the more antiquated the Canadian system will appear within the global capital markets. It is time to set aside differences and build a more consistent, efficient system that better serves Canadian investors, issuers and other market participants.”