Canadian investors are twice as likely to believe they will have enough money to meet their retirement needs (62%) as compared to their non-investing counterparts (31%).

This is just one of the findings in the 2010 Canadian Securities Administrators Survey on Retirement and Investing released Tuesday.

The survey was released as part of Investor Education Month in October. Conducted by Ipsos Reid on behalf of the CSA, the online survey asked 2,318 Canadian adults about their financial readiness for retirement and behaviour towards investment opportunities.

Securities regulators say they will use the results of this survey to research, develop and enhance investor tools and resources based on the needs of Canadian investors.

“As securities regulators, our goal is to create an environment where Canadians feel confident to invest in Canada’s capital markets,” says Jean St-Gelais, chairman of the CSA. “We are pleased to see that Canadians are investing as part of their retirement plan.”

The survey also found that 71% of Canadian investors say they’ve done research on their last investment opportunity, either themselves (31%) or through their financial advisor (40%). Furthermore, when it comes to recommendations on high return investments from friends and family most Canadians would do more research before investing.

“We’ve been working hard to provide the tools and resources to help Canadians make important investment decisions,” says St-Gelais. “So we’re encouraged to see Canadians recognize the importance of researching investment opportunities, no matter who makes the recommendation.”

The full 2010 CSA Survey on Retirement and Investing is available at www.securities-administrators.ca.

The survey took place between August 16 and 19, and has an estimated margin of error of +/-2.4 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

IE