The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) has imposed administrative penalties totalling $283,500 on a former insurance agent and his corporation for coercion in selling insurance, which ultimately led to client bankruptcies when premiums became unsustainable.
In a release Thursday, FSRA said Daniel George Gordon and Gordon Wealth Management Ltd. used coercion or undue influence to secure insurance business. Gordon also provided false, misleading, or incomplete information to FSRA when renewing his licence and failed to maintain errors and omissions (E&O) insurance, the regulator said.
FSRA imposed a $133,500 penalty on Gordon and $150,000 on Gordon Wealth Management.
FSRA’s penalty orders followed a proceeding dismissal notice from the Financial Services Tribunal on July 25, 2025, and in accordance with the Tribunal’s reasons dated June 20, 2025. The proceeding was dismissed after Gordon failed to provide requested medical evidence to justify a delay or adjournment or otherwise advance the case.
Between 1997 and 2022, Gordon was a life, accident and sickness insurance agent in Ontario, according to the regulator’s notice of proposal dated July 6, 2022. Beginning in 2015, Gordon was also a registered representative with Harbourfront Wealth Management Inc.
When Gordon joined Harbourfront, the firm told him his role as chief financial officer (CFO) of a Southwestern Ontario pharmacy company was a prohibited outside business activity, FSRA’s notice states. Gordon changed his title to “consultant” without informing Harbourfront about the ongoing relationship, according to the notice.
Gordon was also the insurance agent for the pharmacy company owners — a married couple — and the investment advisor for one of the spouses. Between 2008 and 2020, the company and couple purchased 55 insurance policies from Gordon, with a peak of 42 active policies in early 2019, the notice says.
Before Gordon joined the pharmacy company in 2014, the total annual premiums paid by the company and owners was roughly $329,000, it says. By 2017, premiums exceeded $1 million and by 2019 were nearly $1.8 million, it says.
“The amount, on its own or in conjunction with other financial issues, proved to be unsustainable for the [pharmacy] business, which went bankrupt,” the notice states. One owner, for whom Gordon was an investment advisor, also declared personal bankruptcy.
Gordon earned $900,648 in commissions from policy sales between 2008 and 2020, with roughly $600,000 generated after 2014, the notice says. He also received “considerable” pay as CFO or consultant, up to $320,000 annually, it says.
“As de facto CFO of [the pharmacy company] and trusted advisor, Gordon used his position to inappropriately secure insurance business and sizable commissions,” the notice says.
Gordon also allegedly told a prospective employee that an employment offer depended on purchasing insurance, earning more than $3,500 in commission when the prospect bought a policy.
The regulator said the penalty reflects “the sheer volume of the policies, the dramatic increase in premiums over several years … and the increasing commissions that flowed to Gordon as a result,” which support the conclusion of an intentional scheme for personal financial benefit.
“The fact that Gordon failed to report being a consultant to both Harbourfront Wealth and [regulators] over a period of several years is also consistent with an intentional course of conduct,” the notice says. “This conduct was designed to avoid drawing attention to the conflicts of interest between Gordon’s roles as a financial advisor and insurance agent and his role as a consultant with [the pharmacy company].”
When renewing his insurance licence, Gordon did not inform FSRA of his position with the pharmacy company, which accounted for $10,000 of the $133,500 penalty. He also failed to disclose a related regulatory investigation under the former Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), resulting in a $5,000 penalty. (IIROC settled with Gordon in 2022 with an $80,000 fine and a temporary ban.) Gordon was licensed for two years before retirement without E&O insurance, accounting for another $3,500 of the total penalty.
The pharmacy company and one owner filed a civil claim in 2020 against Gordon, Gordon Wealth Management, Harbourfront, IDC Worldsource Insurance Network Inc., and Sun Life Insurance (Canada) Ltd., seeking $22 million. A pre-trial conference is set for Sept. 17, according to court records.