In the ongoing contract dispute between Advocis and a Burlington, Ont.–based cybersecurity firm, the national association for financial advisors alleges that certain cybersecurity work — work that the association didn’t need — was done to inflate costs.
Net-Patrol International Inc.’s “characterization of the services it rendered, functions it performed, and the alleged need for those functions is inaccurate,” Advocis pleads in a statement dated Dec. 2 and filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto.
Specifically, Advocis denies needing a cybersecurity-related framework as assessed by Net-Patrol. “[T]he purported work [Net-Patrol] did was not in line with its scope of work proposal or the amounts billed,” Advocis alleges in its statement.
Legal counsel for Net-Patrol didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Advocis’ December statement is a reply to Net-Patrol’s defence against a counterclaim filed by Advocis last year.
In February 2025, Net-Patrol had sued Advocis and its for-profit subsidiary, Advocis Broker Services Inc. (ABS), for more than $560,000 for breach of contract, and a member of its executive management team for the same amount for inducing breach of contract. The claim arose after Advocis terminated its contract with Net-Patrol in the last quarter of 2024 after Kelly Gorman was appointed CEO.
In April 2025, the association filed a counterclaim for breach of contract and unjust enrichment, alleging Net-Patrol’s services were deficient and overpriced, and seeking nearly $185,000 in damages. In defending against Advocis’ counterclaim, Net-Patrol alleged that Advocis was motivated to end the contract as part of the association’s cost-cutting efforts.
Following deficits of $766,426 and $2.7 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively, Advocis posted a consolidated surplus of $1.8 million in 2024, largely achieved by cost cutting. ABS had a loss of more than $68,000.
SeeWhy Financial Learning Inc. also filed a suit against the association in February 2025 alleging breach of contract. Advocis filed a defence and counterclaim last July alleging it was overcharged. The case is also ongoing.
Dennis Touesnard, counsel for SeeWhy and a partner with Waterous Holden Amey Hitchon LLP in Brantford, Ont., said in an email on Thursday that when Advocis announced its new board last year, “my client emailed the chair to inquire as to whether Advocis had reconsidered [its] position and if there was a pathway to settlement.”
Curtis Kimpton, previously an Advocis board member, was appointed board chair in 2025.
“Unfortunately, the chair did not respond,” Touesnard said. “As a result, my client intends on fully proceeding with the matter.”
An emailed statement on Thursday from Advocis said that, when the board chair received SeeWhy’s “correspondence,” it was “appropriately responded to by the CEO as the operational authority for these matters, consistent with Advocis’ governance structure and decision-making processes. Management responded and advised that any further correspondence should be directed through legal representatives in the appropriate manner.”
Examination for discoveries have been scheduled, Touesnard said. “Given the heart of the dispute is the interpretation of the contract, we look forward to examining the sole remaining Advocis employee who was directly involved in the negotiation and signing of the agreement,” he said. Touesnard didn’t confirm the name of the employee to whom he referred.
“There are no current employees who were signatories to, nor negotiated, the current agreement,” Advocis’ statement said.
The 2022 agreement with SeeWhy was amended in April 2023, according to court filings.
“As this issue is currently before the courts, it would be inappropriate for us to comment on the specifics of the case or the claims being advanced by any party,” Advocis’ statement said. “As members know, we are taking a disciplined approach to managing legacy contracts and ensuring that all expenditures and vendor relationships are aligned with the long-term interests of our members.”
Regarding both the SeeWhy and Net-Patrol cases, “Advocis remains committed to respecting the legal process and will not be making further comment while these matters are before the court,” the statement said.
Advocis settled a similar case with SeeWhy in 2024 for nearly $100,000 for non-payment of SeeWhy’s learning materials, and also that year settled a couple of wrongful dismissal cases, including with former longtime CEO Greg Pollock. Last September, Advocis told this publication that an additional possible legal claim had been resolved.
A human rights complaint filed in February 2025 by a laid-off former employee is ongoing. As of Tuesday, the case remains “before an adjudicator for consideration of next steps,” a Tribunals Ontario spokesperson said in an email on Wednesday.