Two-thirds of Canadians are using non-certified advisors, according to surveys presented today at the Canadian Institute of Financial Planners (CIFPs) annual conference in Orlando, Fla.

The surveys, conducted for the Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC), revealed some surprising attitudes among investors and trends among planners.

“Canadians understand that financial planning is more than investments,” said Cary List, president and CEO of the FPSC. “But most still associate financial planners with salespeople.”

Overall, 70% of those surveyed said they have used a financial planner and a majority were aware of the services beyond investments that a planner can provide, including tax planning, estate planning and risk management. But, importantly, fewer than 10% claimed to have actually used these other services—including mortgage, insurance or money management advice.

“Financial planners are valued,” List concluded. “But comprehensive financial planning is not so highly valued.”

The results of this survey are contrary to the general thinking that a lack of trust keeps people from using financial plans. In fact, the respondents overwhelming said a lack of need kept them from a comprehensive financial plan, while only 8% cited trust issues.

The survey showed that while 44% said they are working with an advisor, only 18% are (knowingly) working with a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and 27% of those with an advisor don’t know what credential’s that person has, if any.

Interestingly, half of those surveyed said they prefer commission-based fee structures. Of the other half, one-quarter would prefer to pay directly and another quarter would like a combination of the two systems. Consumers value financial planning, but don’t want to pay directly for it, said List. “Because of that, they still associate financial planning with sales. And that leaves you caught in the famous Catch-22,” he told the Orlando crowd.

From 2004 to 2006, the survey showed CFPs have, in fact, been doing less financial planning. Only 59% said they provided the service to over 50% of their clients in 2006, compared with 71% in 2004. He suggested that this is not so surprising, considering that when markets are good clients want to invest and therefore planners are simply fulfilling those desires.

“Can we do something to reverse this trend or do we want to? Do we care?” List asked the conference attendees. “I think we all say that there is huge value in financial planning, but is this a trend that we just have to live with? Perhaps, maybe to some extent.”

The survey showed that 97% of planners do a full financial plan for at least some of their clients, while only 40% do so for “most,” which is down from 53% four years ago. “We’ve seen a real downward trend in the provision of financial plans by the CFP community in general,” said List.

“Maybe that’s not really such an awful thing,” he said. The survey shows that the public is satisfied with the services of planners and respects the CFP designation for reasons beyond just comprehensive planning, so List suggests perhaps it’s “okay” that CFPs are not planning as much.