Advisors in each of this year’s Report Card series were asked to indicate which of the six category groups measured in each study should be the top priority for their firms or banks, in terms of supporting their business needs.
The top choice by retail branch advisors and planners working across the Big Six was the pay group, comprising “compensation structure” and “bonus structure.”
Just under one third (32.1%) felt maintaining pay clarity, consistency and fairness was crucial. While we don’t ask questions about compensation levels, it’s clear from the verbatim responses we receive that this also factors into advisors’ responses and perceptions.
“[Supporting] our livelihood is important,” said one planner with BMO’s Financial Planning division in Ontario. “The cost of living is not going down.”
Fair, competitive pay means being “able to serve my clients well,” explained one retail branch advisor with Scotiabank in Alberta.
“We need to make a living,” said a planner in Ontario with RBC Financial Planning. “We have to work hard to maintain and grow our clients,” they added.
For an advisor in Ontario with CIBC Imperial Service, motivation was key. A good payday with room for growth leaves advisors “feeling good,” letting them know they’re “doing a good job [and] being recognized.”
Advisor pay results
Looking across banks’ ratings for the advisor pay categories, the results are generally positive. For compensation structure across the Big Six’s retail branch businesses, the average performance rating was 8.5 from 8.0, over 2024. For bonus structure, the average result was 8.0, up marginally from 7.9 a year ago.
The importance averages also were similar to 2024, at 9.4 from 9.3 for compensation structure and 9.1 (unchanged) for bonus structure. An importance average reflects how crucial the average retail branch advisor feels a category is to their daily work.
Despite the higher ratings in 2025, both pay categories remained on the list of the 10 with the largest satisfaction gaps. A satisfaction gap is measured as the difference between a category’s performance and importance rating.
Out of the two pay areas, the gap in 2025 was largest (at 1.1) for bonus structure. BMO and RBC both saw a significant decline in their performance results for that category.
One planner with BMO (rated 6.8 from 8.0 a year ago) in Ontario, said, “The commission [structure] is good, but the bonus [structure] is bad. … I’m used to not having it. It’s a very small percentage of our compensation.” On the flip side, they were happy with their salary.
In an emailed statement, the bank said, “The structure has evolved over the last few years, with new reward components introduced to support our strategic growth goals.”
Tony Tintinalli, head, specialized sales group with BMO, noted in the statement that planner compensation includes base pay as well as “components reflecting client relationship management, retention and growth.” He added that pay is continually reviewed and no additional changes are planned.
At RBC (rated 7.4 from 8.0), planners’ views were varied. While a portion said the bonus structure was fair, others sought greater consistency. For instance, one planner with the bank said they were clear on the metrics, but added, “Bonus benchmarks and [the] application of evaluation processes is inconsistent year to year.”
Also in an emailed statement, RBC said, “We review our mandates and compensation programs annually,” and that enhancements are coming for fiscal year 2026 that place an “an increased focus on what’s best for the client.”
“We agree that pay structure consistency is important, and [the pay structures for] most roles are remaining consistent in fiscal year 2026,” said Jodi Wright, senior director and head of financial planning and mass affluent client strategy, with RBC. “However, in the case of one of our Financial Planner roles, we had not made material changes in many years, so we made some compensation changes … to align to and reinforce the strategic intent of the role.”
The other four
The remaining big banks had advisor pay rating results that were similar to or improved from a year ago. While Scotiabank had the most improved results over 2024 (with 8.9 for the compensation category and 9.0 for the bonus category, both up from 6.7), advisors and planners at all four institutions were generally satisfied with the clarity of their grids.
Leaders with these four banks also cited regular pay structure reviews, and two said tweaks have been made in recent years.
“We’ve made consistent investments in both base salary and incentive pay opportunities over the last number of years,” said Rory Mitz, senior vice-president, CIBC Imperial Service. “We’re always in touch with external factors such as cost of living, inflation and keeping an eye on the market to ensure that our compensation programs are competitive.”
At TD Bank, the pay grid for branch planners with TD Wealth Financial Planning was “refreshed” a year ago, said Franceen Bernstein, head of financial planning with TD Wealth. The bank said in an emailed statement that time was invested in planner education and change management, an effort that’s helped TD Wealth planners “see a clearer connection between performance and pay.”
Even so, there were pockets of advisors who still sought improvement and who felt it takes a lot of hard work to get recognition. For instance, a planner with National Bank of Canada in Quebec said, “There are a lot of factors that are not taken into account,” including the time it takes to properly get to know new clients and regularly meet with them, especially when you’re new in the role. “We don’t get paid to work [over]time.”
National Bank’s Tony Scalia, vice-president, investments, said regular reviews are made to ensure pay is in line with industry standards and peers.
Others keep an eye on inflation and their bottom lines. A Scotiabank advisor in Ontario said it can be hard for annual raises to keep pace with high-inflation environments.
No matter how the Big Six choose to adjust pay, retail branch advisors and planners will always want transparent compensation structures that allow for progression.
“In the banking business, [pay] is a strong motivating component for our job,” acknowledged a BMO planner in British Columbia.
