CIRO is the national self-regulatory organization that oversees Canada's investment dealers and mutual fund dealers, and the advisors who work for them.
CIRO began operating on January 1, 2023, when the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA) combined. It took the CIRO name on June 1, 2023. It also oversees trading on Canada's debt and equity marketplaces.
CIRO writes and enforces rules for its member firms, under the oversight of the provincial and territorial securities regulators that make up the CSA. If your advisor works at a bank-owned brokerage, a full-service investment dealer or a mutual fund dealer, CIRO is the regulator behind their firm.
Not every advisor is under CIRO. Portfolio managers register directly with a provincial securities regulator, and advice-only planners who don't recommend specific investments may not be registered at all, so a missing CIRO record doesn't by itself mean someone is unregulated.
How to check
CIRO's AdvisorReport shows the approval categories, past firms, courses and disciplinary history of advisors currently approved at a CIRO-regulated investment dealer. It doesn't cover mutual fund dealer representatives, so for them, and for anyone else, use the CSA's National Registration Search.
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