A Denver, Colo.–based education provider has acquired SeeWhy Financial Learning Inc., saying the acquisition comes at an important time for Canada’s financial services sector as it navigates proficiency changes.
Career Certified provides licensing education, exam preparation and continuing education (CE) to various sectors — including financial services and insurance — under several brands in the U.S. The company’s acquisition of Ontario-based SeeWhy “highlights Career Certified’s commitment to growth across multi-vertical education, not by simply investing in new career pathways, but by optimizing them through an integrated and scalable platform,” a release said on Tuesday.
Together, Career Certified and SeeWhy “will expand opportunities for learners at a critical moment for the Canadian financial services industry,” the release said — a reference to the closing of the IFSE Institute, the educational arm of the former Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).
IFIC closed IFSE in June after it rebranded as the Securities and Investment Management Association with an expanded mandate — beyond representing mutual fund managers and mutual fund dealers — to include capital markets and investment dealers. With the closure, IFIC offloaded students taking IFSE’s mutual funds course to the Canadian Securities Institute (CSI), making CSI the sole provider of mutual fund proficiency.
IFSE’s life license qualification program (LLQP) business went to SeeWhy. SeeWhy also provides exam prep and CE courses.
In an emailed statement, SeeWhy said it now has the capital and resources “to accelerate development, expand learner support and serve more students.”
SeeWhy is currently developing proficiency courses. The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) moves to exam-based proficiency for investment dealer personnel on Jan. 1, 2026, ending the long-standing relationship between CIRO (and CIRO’s predecessors) and the CSI for industry education.
CIRO’s new proficiency regime not only represents a business opportunity for education providers but a growing one if mutual fund proficiency is eventually rolled into the regime, as is generally expected. Mutual fund proficiency is under the purview of the Canadian Securities Administrators.
Global education provider Fitch Learning, CIRO’s service provider for exam design and delivery in the new proficiency regime, said in August it was acquiring Moody’s-owned CSI, along with Moody’s Analytics Learning Solutions, a global provider of credit training. The announcement garnered both optimism for industry education and concern that Fitch — as administrator of CIRO’s proficiency exams — would also potentially provide related curriculum or exam prep. CIRO responded that its proficiency was based on best practices that “include separation from preparatory courses.”
Under Career Certified’s ownership, SeeWhy’s management team and employees will remain in place. “Career Certified celebrates this acquisition as an opportunity to elevate Canadian-born education, leadership and market growth with expanded resources,” the release on Tuesday said.
SeeWhy and Advocis are in an ongoing legal dispute over breach of contract, related to SeeWhy’s learning materials used by Advocis for its LLQP course. Advocis settled a similar claim with SeeWhy in 2024, paying the education provider nearly $100,000.
Referring to the current claim, “we remain confident in our position,” SeeWhy’s email said.