CIRO’s 2026 Annual Priorities

This bulletin presents the Annual Priorities of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) for our 2026 fiscal year (April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026).

Annual Priorities provide our members, investors and other industry stakeholders with a preview of upcoming CIRO initiatives. By publishing these priorities our aim is to build accountability and transparency while fostering awareness of our work this year, so our stakeholders can engage meaningfully with CIRO.

The Annual Priorities are developed across three key themes: Integration, Regulatory Delivery and Operations and advancing our Strategic Plan, and were developed with the following principles in mind:

• Ability to deliver on the outcomes set out in our three-year Strategic Plan
• Consideration for changes that may require us to pivot and respond as the industry changes, and
• Impacts to members, investors and other stakeholders, including the time and cost that may be involved for them to respond to CIRO initiatives.

CIRO’s Annual Priorities are also grounded in our commitment to deliver efficient and effective regulation, our duty to continuously improve and evolve as the industry changes, and our goal to close gaps, and to reduce duplication and complexity in the system. Our ability to respond quickly to dynamic global factors is central to how we understand our role in creating an efficient regulatory model. In the year ahead, CIRO will remain agile and flexible in our response to the issues of the day, looking for ways to transform challenges into opportunities to improve the system and support efficiencies across the industry.

Update on Last Year’s Annual Priorities and CIRO’s 2025-2027 Strategic Plan

We are proud to report that we have delivered on all 28 Annual Priorities from last year (2025).

CIRO’s 2026 Annual Priorities mark the beginning of the second year of CIRO operations guided by our three-year Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan was the product of significant collaboration with members and other stakeholders on CIRO’s role as a regulator. Through that collaboration, CIRO was able to identify and target areas for enhancement that would address the needs of Canadian investors and the industry of the future.

CIRO’s Strategic Plan includes six strategic objectives:

• Integration
• Regulatory Evolution
• Access to Advice
• Investor Research, Education and Protection
• Registration and Proficiency, and
• Market Regulation

All six objectives are reflected in the Annual Priorities for this year. Integration (as a key component of CIRO’s founding identity following amalgamation) has been treated separately to reflect the heightened level of importance placed on this strategic objective at this time.

Integration Priorities

CIRO was formed through the amalgamation of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and the Mutual Fund Dealers’ Association of Canada. Consolidation has already delivered efficiencies and holds the potential for more value-creation for stakeholders. While many of our Integration objectives have been satisfied, Integration work will continue over the next few years. This year we continue to deliver on our commitment to integration through the following priorities:

• CIRO Rulebook Consolidation
  • Publish the proposed Phase 5 consolidated rules for comment, and
  • Finalize the consolidation of the Investment Dealer and Mutual Fund Dealer Rules and republish the entire consolidated rulebook for public comment.
• Continuing Education (CE)
  • Finalize Phase 1 of CE rule amendments for CSA approval, and
  • Propose and publish for comment rule amendments for Phase 2 of CE harmonization.
• Advance our project to expand the group of Approved Persons that are able to conduct activities for their sponsoring Dealer Member through a corporation by developing proposed rule amendments and obtaining feedback on regulatory and tax compliance matters relating to the proposals.

Priorities focused on Regulatory Delivery and Operations

CIRO is committed to continuous delivery of effective regulation in our day-to-day operations. In the year ahead we will:

• Address public comments received in the proposed enhanced cost reporting rule amendments, make necessary adjustments to the proposed amendments and seek to finalize them.
• Collaborate with the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) to publish the Client Focused Reforms (CFR) Phase 2 Sweep Report, providing comprehensive insights and actionable guidance to enhance regulatory compliance and investor protection.
• Continue to review and evaluate the existing requirements for the custody and segregation of crypto-assets held by CIRO Members who are crypto-trading platforms (CTPs) with the goal of enhancing them.
• Conduct an operational resiliency exercise focusing on CIRO CTP Members’ ability to respond to and recover from potential disruptions while minimizing impacts on clients and the markets.
• Develop tools and processes to identify data quality issues such as incorrect order marking and improper use of client identifiers to improve data quality leading to more efficient and effective regulatory oversight and enable better dealer member compliance processes.
• Evaluate current state and take steps to optimize the operation of both the National and Regional Councils for the benefit of both the participating industry members and CIRO.
• Collaborate with Quebec regulatory authorities and other industry stakeholders to reduce the redundancy and complexity of obligations applicable to firms and representatives with respect to complaints, investigations and litigation, as well as continuing education for the mutual fund industry in Quebec.
• Develop cost recovery models for new and/or expanded mandates so that our fees continue to be proportionate and fair.

Priorities to Advance our Strategic Plan

CIRO is committed to delivering the outcomes laid out in our Strategic Plan over its three-year span. As we enter our second year of the Plan, we will focus on the initiatives set out below, grouped according to the strategic objectives in our Plan.

Regulatory Evolution

The industry continues to evolve rapidly. Our objective is to be an agile regulator that delivers efficient and cost-effective service that reflects investor, dealer and marketplace needs. To achieve this objective, in the year ahead we will:

• Stand up a program to identify opportunities to increase efficiencies for CIRO members relative to current processes and requirements.

Access to Advice

A critical area of focus for CIRO is enabling greater access to advice that can meet the changing needs of investors today and in the future. To enable greater access to regulated advice, this year we have identified the following priorities:

• Assess the feasibility of standardizing and streamlining account disclosures, in relation to specific rule requirements to identify potential to reduce process burden.
• Review and consider current guidance for advisory and managed accounts to explore ways to facilitate access to online advice for these accounts.
• Update existing guidance to clarify that investment dealers offering order execution only account services can provide non-tailored advice to meet the needs of do-it-yourself investors.

Investor Research, Education and Protection

CIRO’s mandate includes protecting investors. To do that effectively, we need to enhance our understanding of Canadian investors, build a robust pan-Canadian approach to investor education, develop ways to assist harmed investors, and stay apprised of emerging trends impacting the industry. To advance these objectives, in the year ahead we will:

• Collaborate and support our Investor Advisory Panel in publishing its first research initiative relating to Women and Investing.
• Develop new partnerships with non-profit organizations across Canada who are focused on improving investor education and protection.
• Publish research relating to DIY investors and their use of social media for investing purposes.
• Move forward with our proposal with respect to returning disgorged funds to harmed investors, subject to feedback from the public consultation and appropriate approvals.
• Continue consultations with key stakeholders to explore how CIRO can help facilitate the adoption of Canada’s Consumer-Driven Banking framework and reduce regulatory duplication, for interested CIRO Members.
• Follow-up on the results of the survey of technology and third-party use at Members, with a view to identifying specific action items, including whether regulatory clarity, support or education is needed in any areas to support CIRO firms in their adoption and use of various technologies like generative AI.

Registration and Proficiency

Our strategic objective is to modernize the registration regime and proficiency standards of registrants. Over the last year, CIRO has been working with the Canadian Securities Administrators to expand the registration functions that are delegated to CIRO to enable a consistent and harmonized approach for all registrants across Canada. CIRO is also working to introduce a new assessment-centred approach to proficiency for all Investment Dealer approved persons. To advance these objectives, in the year ahead we will:

• Conduct additional mutual fund and investment dealer registration function as delegated by each CSA jurisdiction.
• Finalize CIRO's proficiency rules to reflect new Investment Dealer proficiency regime.
• Ensure a smooth transition to the new Investment Dealer proficiency regime to take effect as of January 1, 2026.

Market Regulation

CIRO is committed to providing effective and appropriate market regulation that fosters fair and efficient capital markets and further builds confidence in Canada’s capital markets. In the year ahead, we will:

• Continue our work on strengthening the short selling regulatory regime by conducting robust industry consultation leading to the finalization of the project regarding proposed amendments respecting mandatory close-outs.
• Complete a review of all Market Regulation guidance bulletins to modernize and ensure that they are relevant, understandable and useful to assist Dealers in achieving regulatory compliance.

CIRO is the pan-Canadian self-regulatory organization that oversees all investment dealers, mutual fund dealers and trading activity on Canada’s debt and equity marketplaces. CIRO is committed to the protection of investors, providing efficient and consistent regulation, and building Canadians’ trust in financial regulation and the people managing their investments.

For more information, visit ciro.ca.