Investment dealer reps of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), who must take conduct training before the end of 2026, and prospective investment dealer reps can soon log in to the regulator’s new proficiency portals.
CIRO, in partnership with global financial education provider Fitch Learning, opens the portals to its exam-based proficiency regime on Jan. 2. The regulator provided the media with a preview of the portals on Tuesday.
Efficiency, flexibility and automation underlie the educational portals, said Kevin Poulton, managing director of product strategy with Fitch Learning, during the preview.
“We know the expectations of all regulatory markets,” Poulton said, which are “fast-moving” and comprise busy professionals, who don’t need “operational challenges when it comes to taking exams.”
Portal users will have access to a dedicated support site, including a Canada-based in-person support team as well as self-service tools and resources. “We’re confident in the ability to operationally support the service at the scale we expect,” Poulton said.
In the candidate portal, exam writers can choose how and when to write exams and also make last-minute changes to their scheduling.
For exam delivery, Fitch partnered with Maryland-headquartered Prometric, owned by EQT Group, a private equity firm. Prometric also provides exam delivery for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in the U.S.
Candidates can write exams online or in-person at Prometric test locations across Canada. Online, exams can be written “at any time of [candidates’] choosing,” Poulton said. Tech tools and location security checks will be employed to prevent cheating, he said.
Exam writers will receive a pass/fail grade.
Fitch Learning will also provide an optional portal for firms, to support bulk enrolments.
The CIRO–Fitch Learning partnership, announced in 2024, represents the end of the Canadian Securities Institute’s (CSI) long-standing position as the sole provider of industry education for licensing. CIRO’s contract with the CSI is set to expire at the end this year. The CSI will continue to provide mutual fund proficiency, which isn’t part of CIRO’s new regime.
On Friday, Fitch Learning said in a release that its previously announced acquisition of Moody’s-owned CSI and Moody’s Analytics Learning Solutions (MALS) was completed.
“The CSI brand will continue, as will its stewardship of the industry’s renowned certifications and designations,” Friday’s release said. The MALS brand will be retired and its offerings incorporated into Fitch Learning’s portfolio.
During Tuesday’s portal preview, Sherry Tabesh-Ndreka, vice-president of proficiency with CIRO, said the regulator’s proficiency model is “based on best practices that recognize the importance of separating the preparation and learning component from the assessment.” CIRO made a similar statement when Fitch Learning first announced the Moody’s acquisitions.
Learnedly Inc. is among the industry’s education providers that have decided not to develop curriculum for CIRO’s proficiency exams.
In an email, Learnedly founder John Waldron cited a compressed time period, uncertainty related to the CSI acquisition and a lack of clarity from the regulator, which he described on LinkedIn.
“For more than a year, we and other educators have attempted to engage meaningfully with CIRO to ensure course providers can develop accurate and high-quality content that supports candidates and dealer members,” Waldron wrote on LinkedIn. “Despite our repeated attempts to clarify contradictions in the competency profiles and exam syllabi, CIRO has not meaningfully addressed our questions or concerns.”
As such, educators can’t develop “accurate curriculum that ensures full alignment with CIRO’s proficiency exams,” Waldron wrote.
Tabesh-Ndreka said via email that the regulator was “committed to fostering a healthy market of education providers and [has] had continued positive dialogue with most of them.”
The regulator held information sessions and also published syllabi and practice exams, she noted. Those publications’ “usefulness can be demonstrated by the number of providers that are working on their plans to be a preparatory provider for one or more CIRO exams,” she said.
She encouraged any education providers considering exam prep to “reach out to us to discuss.”
Tabesh-Ndreka also said via email that the regulator would collect information about exam candidates and their experience as a way “to ensure the new model is being delivered effectively and to improve where necessary.” The regulator is “finalizing the details of this to ensure appropriate collection of the information.”
Potential data points include a candidate’s years of experience, years in current role, educational background, sponsoring firm and type of study (self-directed, preparatory course or a firm’s training), Tabesh-Ndreka said.
When asked if CIRO would provide insights to education providers based on exam results, she said the regulator was reviewing how to use any information it collects.
Education providers that entered the market for CIRO proficiency exam prep include FP Canada and SeeWhy Financial Learning Inc.
In an email, FP Canada said that its educational arm, the FP Canada Institute, “regularly collects feedback directly from our students, and we use this to guide improvements to our educational offerings.” As such, “FP Canada would defer to CIRO for details on the nature of information that it plans to collect and provide.”
SeeWhy Financial Learning said in an email that certain data points would help education providers “strengthen instructional design without compromising exam security.”
These include performance indicators for each of the broad syllabus elements within an exam, candidates’ distance from the passing score, general trends for repeat exam writers and annual updates to exam blueprints, such as any changes in syllabus weightings or the relative emphasis of key topics.
“Given that many students will personally invest hundreds or even thousands of dollars in their education, it is both fair and appropriate to provide meaningful exam feedback, which is widely recognized as a best practice and standard by many regulatory bodies and professional designation providers,” SeeWhy said in its email.
Newcom Media Inc., owner of Investment Executive, also owns continuing-education website CE Corner. “CE Corner is weighing the potential benefits of having both exam prep and continuing education,” said Joe Glionna, the company’s president.