CIRO Sets 2027 Annual Priorities to Strengthen Investor Protection and Advance Regulatory Evolution

Priorities continue to focus on areas of highest impact to stakeholders, including completing integration activities, strengthening cyber resilience, and reviewing complaint handling practices

April 7, 2026 (Toronto, Ontario) - The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) released its Annual Priorities for fiscal year 2027 (April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027), outlining a focused set of actions to strengthen investor protection, enhance market integrity and support confidence in Canada’s capital markets. Fiscal year 2027 marks the final year of CIRO’s 2025–2027 Strategic Plan.

CIRO’s Annual Priorities give members, investors, and industry stakeholders clear, actionable themes and initiatives that strengthen transparency, provide regulatory direction, and support accountability. Consistent with prior years, the Annual Priorities were developed with the following principles in mind:

• Ability to deliver on the strategic objectives 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 2027 Annual Priorities demonstrate how we continue to deliver on our strategic priorities while demonstrating how we are forward-looking and responsive to a rapidly changing environment,” said Alexandra Williams, Senior Vice-President, Strategy, Innovation, and Stakeholder Protection at CIRO. “As the regulatory environment continues to evolve, CIRO will remain agile and responsive to emerging risks and changing market conditions. We are focused on delivering value in areas that matter to stakeholders, including strengthening cyber resilience and ensuring investors are protected.”

2027 Annual Priorities Highlights

CIRO will continue advancing initiatives across its six strategic objectives identified in the Strategic Plan, with a focus on delivering tangible outcomes for investors and the industry.

Integration - CIRO will wrap up key integration initiatives to reduce regulatory complexity and improve efficiency, including publishing a final harmonized rulebook consolidating investment dealer and mutual fund dealer rules and advancing reforms to registration and continuing education frameworks.

Investor Research, Education and Protection - CIRO will also take important steps to advance investor protection initiatives, including efforts to remove fraudulent websites, improve account transfer processes and deepen research into investor behaviours.

As part of this work, CIRO will review the complaint handling resolution timelines. This work builds on recent and ongoing initiatives to strengthen the overall complaint handling framework. CIRO has proposed a harmonized complaint reporting and handling rule, issued for comment as the latest phase of its Rule Consolidation Project, with the goal of creating more consistency and clarity across the industry.

Regulatory Evolution - CIRO will continue to modernize its regulatory approach by enhancing operational efficiency through technology and automation, expanding its regulatory sandbox, InnovateSafe, and strengthening cyber resilience across the industry through new data frameworks and targeted exercises. Cyber resilience will remain a priority area given its vital role in investor protection and maintaining confidence in the financial system.

Access to Advice – Access to advice remains a top priority, with a focus on assessing and refining the regulatory framework for tailored online advice, to better support the evolving needs of Canadian investors.

Registration and Proficiency - CIRO will also modernize its registration framework by operationalizing delegated registration responsibilities across Canada, improving efficiency and consistency in how registrants are overseen.

Market Regulation - CIRO will enhance transparency and effectiveness in market oversight by publishing its first annual Market Regulation report and reviewing Universal Market Integrity Rules (UMIR) to better support smaller dealers and junior issuers.

For more information, read the full 2027 Annual Priorities.

Media Contact

Joanna Nicholson
Manager, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
[email protected]