About a third of Canadians are taking financial advice from “finfluencers.” Golfdale Consulting’s Gary Edwards warns that this is a recipe for disaster for a demographic that can’t afford to gamble with their retirement funds. He offers two solutions.
by Pierre-Carl Michaud and Bernard Morency Canadians are managing more money and more financial decisions than ever. Over the past 30 years, household wealth has more than doubled, while traditional supports like workplace pensions have faded. With fewer defined benefit plans and limited growth in public retirement benefits, people have to make more choices on […]
November 11, 2025 – Earlier generations of retirees fared well despite limited financial literacy thanks to simpler pension systems. But what used to be a relatively simple flight plan has turned into a far more complicated journey for today’s Canadians, who face a self-directed financial landscape, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe […]
Published in The Hill Times. Privately-issued stablecoins—digital tokens designed to maintain a fixed value relative to a fiat currency—are often hailed as the next big leap in payments technology. They promise cheaper, instant, cross-border transfers, 24/7 settlement, and the efficiencies of blockchain infrastructure. But like any critical financial sector infrastructure, they need a regulatory framework […]
From: Eloise DuncanTo: Policymakers and Financial InstitutionsDate: October 28, 2025Re: Renters Becoming More Financially Vulnerable: Emerging Implications Changes in the household financial resilience of Canadians nationally, measured through the Financial Resilience Institute’s Financial Resilience Index Model and published reports, highlight the increasing financial vulnerability of renters compared to mortgage-holders over the past two years: a […]
Published in Financial Post. As Canadians focus on the harmful economic effects of tariffs, taxes and trade, a quieter drag on our productivity hides in plain sight: how we regulate financial services. Regulation has expanded all across the financial sector. Rules are obviously necessary. They protect consumers, ensure stability and build trust. But rules accumulate, forming a dense regulatory […]
October 16, 2025 – Canada’s weak growth, low investment and lagging innovation point to the need for a more modern regulatory philosophy that balances both protection and progress, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Pruning the Rulebook: Canada’s Financial Regulatory Scorecard, Year Two,” Gherardo Caracciolo’s updated findings revealed similar results […]
In the second year of our regulatory scorecard paper, results continue to show the need for a more balanced approach to financial oversight, one that explicitly incorporates innovation and competition alongside traditional stability and consumer protection goals. Newly issued and updated regulatory documents did not change previous results. The imbalance reflects the mandates of Canadian […]
October 7, 2025 – With about one in three now turning to online influencers for investment decisions, fragmented regulation and rising costs may be pricing Canadians out of direct access to personal financial advisors, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Regulatory Reset: A Policy Roadmap for Expanding Financial Advice to […]
Reduced access to financial advice is closely linked to lower participation in tax-advantaged savings and investment programs. This is largely due to limited financial literacy and behavioural inertia – barriers that financial advisors are uniquely positioned to help Canadians overcome. Limited financial participation at the individual household level has broader economic consequences: lower household financial […]
September 25, 2025 – Rising geopolitical tensions may make it more challenging for Canadian authorities to repatriate foreign assets of financial institutions that have large international operations if any of them were ever to fail in the future, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe Institute. The report warns of this growing risk, […]
by Mark Zelmer Rising geopolitical tensions may make it more challenging to facilitate an orderly recovery or resolution of internationally active Canadian financial institutions in the event they encounter distress. Foreign authorities are likely to continue to prevent the repatriation of surplus assets from their jurisdictions in times of stress until their own creditors have […]
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About a third of Canadians are taking financial advice from “finfluencers.” Golfdale Consulting’s Gary Edwards warns that this is a recipe for disaster for a demographic that can’t afford to gamble with their retirement funds. He offers two solutions. 
by Pierre-Carl Michaud and Bernard Morency Canadians are managing more money and more financial decisions than ever. Over the past 30 years, household wealth has more than doubled, while traditional supports like workplace pensions have faded. With fewer defined benefit plans and limited growth in public retirement benefits, people have to make more choices on […] 
Published in The Hill Times. Privately-issued stablecoins—digital tokens designed to maintain a fixed value relative to a fiat currency—are often hailed as the next big leap in payments technology. They promise cheaper, instant, cross-border transfers, 24/7 settlement, and the efficiencies of blockchain infrastructure. But like any critical financial sector infrastructure, they need a regulatory framework […] 
From: Eloise DuncanTo: Policymakers and Financial InstitutionsDate: October 28, 2025Re: Renters Becoming More Financially Vulnerable: Emerging Implications Changes in the household financial resilience of Canadians nationally, measured through the Financial Resilience Institute’s Financial Resilience Index Model and published reports, highlight the increasing financial vulnerability of renters compared to mortgage-holders over the past two years: a […] 
Published in Financial Post. As Canadians focus on the harmful economic effects of tariffs, taxes and trade, a quieter drag on our productivity hides in plain sight: how we regulate financial services. Regulation has expanded all across the financial sector. Rules are obviously necessary. They protect consumers, ensure stability and build trust. But rules accumulate, forming a dense regulatory […] 
October 16, 2025 – Canada’s weak growth, low investment and lagging innovation point to the need for a more modern regulatory philosophy that balances both protection and progress, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Pruning the Rulebook: Canada’s Financial Regulatory Scorecard, Year Two,” Gherardo Caracciolo’s updated findings revealed similar results […] 
In the second year of our regulatory scorecard paper, results continue to show the need for a more balanced approach to financial oversight, one that explicitly incorporates innovation and competition alongside traditional stability and consumer protection goals. Newly issued and updated regulatory documents did not change previous results. The imbalance reflects the mandates of Canadian […] 
by Mark Zelmer Rising geopolitical tensions may make it more challenging to facilitate an orderly recovery or resolution of internationally active Canadian financial institutions in the event they encounter distress. Foreign authorities are likely to continue to prevent the repatriation of surplus assets from their jurisdictions in times of stress until their own creditors have […]