An FP Canada hearing panel has ruled that a former financial planner can’t apply for recertification because his LinkedIn posts called into question his professional integrity.
In August, a disciplinary hearing panel of the FP Canada Standards Council accepted a joint settlement agreement between the council and a former certified financial planner (CFP) in Ontario. In the agreement, the former planner admitted to posting comments on LinkedIn, since at least 2022, that would be “considered by readers to be hurtful, demeaning, discriminatory and/or unprofessional,” the decision and reasons document states. The posts targeted transgender activists and feminists, among others, it says.
The case is “factually novel,” the decision says. “[T]here has not been a case considered by the FP Canada disciplinary hearing panel … involving social media posts that could be viewed as hurtful, demeaning and discriminatory.”
The former CFP professional — he let his certification lapse this past March following FP Canada’s allegations against him in November 2024 — had held himself out as a CFP professional on LinkedIn.
“Each of the posts included [the former planner]’s name and the CFP certification mark, which made clear that [he] was a CFP certificant,” the decision says. “Until June 2025, the posts also included his title ‘Senior Financial Planner’ and were intermingled with those relating to financial planning and/or the financial industry.”
In making the LinkedIn posts and leaving them up alongside his CFP certification mark until March, the former planner failed to act with professionalism and engaged in conduct that reflected adversely on his integrity or fitness as a CFP professional, on the FP Canada certification marks or on the profession, the decision says.
The conduct was thus contrary to the FP Canada standards of professional responsibility — specifically, principles 8 (professionalism) and 2 (integrity), and rule 2 (conduct that reflects adversely on integrity, including conduct outside of a practice).
The panel ordered that the former planner can’t apply for recertification or any other certification status with FP Canada or hold himself out as a CFP professional. He also received a letter of admonishment and had to pay $2,000 in costs to FP Canada.
The former planner had no prior disciplinary history with the certification body and cooperated with the investigation, the decision says. A factor in establishing the penalty was that the former planner admitted he “displayed a lack of understanding of the broader impact of his social media posts and, relying on his entitlement to express his viewpoints freely, he downplayed the effect and seriousness of his social media posts,” the decision says.
The FP Canada Standards Council reviews and initiates complaints, which ultimately could be escalated to a hearing panel. The council’s 2024 annual report said hearing panels have been increasingly considering cases involving conduct outside of a financial planner’s professional practice.
As detailed in guidance, a financial planner’s integrity could be called into question because of off-duty conduct, including social media posts.
FP Canada doesn’t monitor financial planners’ social media accounts, and in this case, the certification body was “advised’ of the posts, the decision says.
The former planner has changed his title to “Senior Financial Consultant,” the decision says. The “financial planner” title is protected in Ontario, and derivations such as “senior financial planner,” which the former planner in this case previously used, are offside.
The former planner hasn’t been securities-registered since 2015, according to the Canadian Securities Administrators’ registration database.