FP Canada is growing its continuing education (CE) business and hiking course accreditation fees for other CE providers. The certification body says the changes are to improve professional development for financial planners, while some education providers say the result will be less choice and educational gaps.
In February, FP Canada acquired Learning Partner’s CE courses and laid out a plan to grow its CE business. At the time, Tashia Batstone, CEO of FP Canada, told Investment Executive that its designation holders want “quality CE” to improve their professional skills. “That’s the reason why we’ve decided to go into this business.”
Newcom Media Inc., owner of IE, also owns CE Corner, which provides CE courses for financial professionals including financial planners.
With the acquisition of the Learning Partner courses, “FP Canada seems to be looking to take more and more offerings in-house,” said Jason Watt, financial services education consultant, in an emailed statement. “It will be interesting to see how they manage their relationships with existing external continuing education providers.”
One week after announcing the acquisition, FP Canada doubled its course accreditation fee and halved the accreditation period, without advanced notice. As a result, the cost for external CE providers to have a one-hour course accredited for two years increased from $100 to $400, according to an email from FP Canada.
In an email announcing its new accreditation policy, FP Canada also informed providers that most courses (except practice management or product knowledge courses) must be accredited by FP Canada — not any other accreditation body — to qualify as CE for its designation holders.
“This is consistent with FP Canada’s prior policy and the certification policies published in October 2024,” FP Canada said in an email to this publication. The certification body said the accreditation fee increase reflects a course accreditation process that “now involves more comprehensive oversight of materials by FP Canada.”
The new policy changes are “aimed at enhancing the quality and consistency of professional development required by and available to financial planners,” FP Canada said in its email to education providers.
John Waldron, founder of education provider Learnedly Canada Inc. in Toronto, which provides courses for planners, said FP Canada is charging “excessive” fees to CE providers. He also said that requiring outside providers to have their courses accredited by the certification body, while FP Canada provides CE itself, is “a direct conflict of interest.”
In an email, FP Canada said, “It is not uncommon for professional oversight bodies/regulators to both accredit and deliver CE courses that meet appropriately high standards.” It also said its own CE offerings are “only a fraction of the many excellent offerings available in the market.”
FP Canada’s accreditation policy may narrow CE options for its designation holders, who “should be very frustrated” with the policy, Waldron said. With the fee increase, “we would expect to see a lot of courses lapse and then not get renewed.”
The Canadian Securities Institute, which also offers CE courses for planners, declined a request for comment.
If less CE material is available, “advisors’ options are limited, and then the client ultimately gets punished,” said Stephanie Holmes-Winton, CEO of Dartmouth, N.S.–based CacheFlo Inc. Her firm offers a designation program with FP Canada–accredited courses. “It’s a best practice to have a third party accredit education,” Holmes-Winton said.
Fee increase ‘shocker’
Holmes-Winton described the accreditation fee increase as “a shocker.” The certified financial planner (CFP) program is “really rigorous,” but FP Canada “can’t provide all things to all financial professionals,” she said. For example, technical skills need to be supplemented with an understanding of client behaviour, and third-party education providers help fill that gap. “Pricing us out of the ecosystem, I think, is dangerous,” she said.
Susan Yates, co-owner of Guelph, Ont.–based CLife Inc., which provides CE to planners, said the fee increase was “a double whammy,” given the accreditation period was cut in half. Smaller education providers will be challenged to absorb the cost, Yates said. “Either we don’t accredit as many courses as we have, which then reduces the choice available [to FP Canada designation holders], or we have to pass along some of that price increase.”
In its email to this publication, FP Canada said it was “confident” its designation holders would “continue to have a multitude of CE programs to choose from, covering a wide variety of topics that meet requirements set by FP Canada and other financial services regulators.” The certification body also said it “remains committed to partnering with CE providers under [its] accreditation program to ensure many CE options remain available.”
And in its email to education providers, FP Canada said its accreditation fees are “in line with industry norms and the norms of related organizations.” The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization charges a flat $300 per course, regardless of length, for a two-year accreditation period.
Waldron is critical of the lack of “reciprocal recognition” among certain accreditation bodies across the country, including FP Canada. It calls into question their intentions, he said.
Holmes-Winton said she was concerned that large firms such as product manufacturers that can afford the increased fee “are usually primarily focused on financial products and sales, so the least likely to produce quality education focused on skill development.”
Michael Thom, managing director of CFA Societies Canada in Toronto, said higher accreditation fees, generally, could help drive out existing low-quality CE that competes purely on price — the kind of CE that allows advisors to complete their CE requirements at the least cost and at the last minute. “It’s on the professions and it’s on the regulators to disincentivize rewarding that behaviour,” Thom said.
Also, if FP Canada’s accreditation changes motivate industry firms to assess their CE to ascertain which courses are worth accrediting because they’re substantive and current, he said, “that’s a pretty healthy process. … There should be a cost of maintenance [and] a cost of updating [courses].”
The CFA Institute requires its members to attest to completing a minimum number of hours of professional learning each year, taking a principles-based approach so that members — who pursue a wide variety of careers — can select relevant activities. “We have to be deferential to our members’ view of what’s right for their career and their view of what’s additive to their professional learning,” Thom said.
While he made clear he wasn’t comparing the model, which does not involve accreditation, to other approaches, he said it works well for the institute’s members. It also doesn’t create a “false economy of hitting the minimum bar” in professional learning.
FP Canada to grow CE biz
FP Canada acquired the seven CE courses of Learning Partner after owner and course developer Roxanne Eszes retired. The organization is building on its current CE offerings, which largely consist of credits through webinars and its annual financial planning conference.
A couple of years ago, FP Canada began providing the full education for its designations. Batstone told IE in February that she envisions the certification body eventually becoming “the one-stop shop for CE for financial planners or for those who are looking to enhance their financial planning capabilities.”
FP Canada will develop its own courses in subjects in which demand isn’t being met and that represent core areas in financial planning, “simply because we are the experts in that field,” Batstone said. “In other areas, I think we’ll be looking to continue to accredit providers that offer high-quality CE.”
FP Canada will round out its CE offering with educational partnerships, potentially with global affiliates under the Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB). “Under the FPSB, we know that we’re all committed to a certain level of quality and relevance to the profession,” Batstone said.
FP Canada has a director of CE and a dedicated CE accreditation staff member. “We will be looking at what else do we need to support … high-quality CE for our certificants,” Batstone said, referring to staff requirements to scale the business.
After FP Canada brought its education in-house, it dropped Advocis and the Canadian Institute of Financial Planning as education providers for its designations.
Advocis declined a request for comment. At a recent fireside chat for members, Advocis CEO Kelly Gorman talked about the potential to collaborate on CE with other organizations, including FP Canada.
Anthony Williams, president and CEO of the Canadian Institute of Financial Planners, which provides CE for planners, said in an emailed statement: “We encourage FP Canada, in addition to expanding their own offerings, to continue to approve third-party continuing education courses so CFP professionals have access to a robust library of professional development activities that minimizes cost and maximizes choice.”