Get the Best of the Best on Your Team

Whether you’re a consumer searching for a trusted financial advisor or an employer hunting for the best financial services staff, look no further than the Fellows of CSI (FCSIs) - the most qualified financial services professionals in the Canadian marketplace.

It takes a high calibre type of person to become an FCSI. Only financial services professionals who have met the highest standards for education, ethics and experience make the grade. This is what distinguishes the FCSI from the bulk of other financial services designations in Canada.

Education
FCSI applicants need to get one of the following CSI designations:

• Canadian Investment Manager (CIM)
• Financial Management Advisor (FMA)
• Derivatives Market Specialist (DMS)

They must also complete one of the following CSI licensing courses:

• Conduct and Practices Handbook (CPH)
• Branch Managers Course (BMC)
• Partners, Directors and Officers Course (PDO)

As well as take an additional CSI course of your choice, unless you take the DMS designation route where the course must be the Canadian Securities Course (CSC), if you haven't taken it already.

In order to qualify as an additional course, the course must have a formal, proctored exam at an approved CSI exam centre.  CSI’s Continuing Education (CE) courses do not qualify as the testing component of these courses is online.  This additional course must also be a course that the student has not already taken as part of another FCSI requirement. 

In order for the Canadian Insurance Course (CIC) to qualify as an additional course, the full CIC exam must be successfully completed.

You'll also have to either complete the CSI Ethics Module and Case Study program (retail or institutional) or attend one of the two CSI Ethics seminars.

Ethics
FCSIs have to follow the FCSI Code of Ethics and set a standard of conduct in their field of expertise. They must also either complete the CSI Ethics Module and Case Study program or attend one of the two CSI Ethics seminars.

Experience
To qualify for the FCSI designation, applicants need to have at least five years financial services experience during the last eight years.

And it doesn’t stop there!
In addition to meeting these stringent education, ethics and experience requirements, FCSI applicants have to include endorsement letters from their direct supervisor and a practicing FCSI with their application.

FCSIs also need to maintain their designation by earning 42 Continuing Education (CE) hours - 30 hours of product knowledge/professional development (PK/PD) and 12 hours of compliance education - during every three year CE cycle. CE hours are required by the Investment Dealers Association of Canada, the national self-regulatory organization of the Canadian securities industry.

There’s an FCSI specializing in every aspect of financial services - investment advice, portfolio management, insurance and estate planning – available to provide you with trusted financial advice or contribute to the ongoing success of your organization.

Every industry has its market leaders - people who go above and beyond to set new standards that others strive for. In Canadian financial services, these people are FCSIs.