You don’t need a financial advisor if your money is simple: a salary, an RRSP and a TFSA in a few low-cost funds, no pension to decide on and no business to sell. You likely do need one, at least for a one-time plan, when decisions get large or hard to undo, such as when to start CPP and OAS, how to draw down an RRSP, or whether to take a pension’s lump sum. That help needn’t be expensive: Canadian fee-only planners who publish prices charge a median C$1,900 for a one-time plan or C$250 an hour.
There’s a second question many Canadians skip: whether you’re already paying for advice. If you bought mutual funds through a bank branch or a mutual fund dealer, part of each fund’s yearly cost is usually a trailing commission to the firm that sold it. So the real choice is often not advisor or no advisor. It’s which kind of advice, and how you pay for it.
This guide covers the Canadian side. For the general case, see do I need a financial advisor.
Signs you can manage on your own
- Your income is mostly a salary, and your tax return is simple.
- You already save into a TFSA, an RRSP or both, in low-cost index funds, ETFs or a robo-advisor account.
- No big decision is due in the next few years: no pension choice, no business sale, no inheritance, no move across the border.
- You follow through. You rebalance, you don’t sell in a panic, and you’d notice if something stopped working.
If that’s you, a robo-advisor or a self-directed account will usually do. Our guide to robo-advisors vs fee-only planners in Canada compares the two.
The Canadian decisions where advice pays
Most of the money mistakes that are hard to fix in Canada come from a short list of decisions. Each is permanent or close to it, and they affect each other.
| Decision | What makes it hard |
|---|---|
| When to start CPP | You can start from 60 to 70. Each month before 65 cuts the pension by 0.6%, up to 36% at 60. Each month after 65 adds 0.7%, up to 42% at 70. The choice is for life. |
| When to start OAS | You can start at 65 or as late as 70. Each month you wait adds 0.6%, up to 36% at 70. |
| The OAS clawback | You repay 15% of net income above a threshold, C$93,454 for 2025 income. RRIF withdrawals count toward it; TFSA withdrawals don’t. |
| Turning 71 | In the year you turn 71 you have to cash out your RRSPs, buy an annuity or move them to a RRIF, which has minimum withdrawals taxed as income. |
| A pension’s commuted value | Taking the lump sum gives up a lifetime pension, and you can’t reverse it. |
| A business sale, an inheritance, a separation or a move to the US | Large sums, tax rules that change the answer, and little room for a second try. |
The links between them are where planning earns its fee. Delaying CPP can mean drawing more from an RRSP in your 60s, which can lower RRIF withdrawals later and keep you under the clawback. Working that out once, before you start any pension, is exactly what a one-time plan is for.
You may already be paying for advice
Every Canadian mutual fund charges a management expense ratio, or MER, taken from the fund each year. The Ontario Securities Commission says MERs range from less than 1% to more than 3%. For funds sold through an advisor, the MER usually includes a trailer fee, a commission of typically 0.25% to 1.5% of your investment a year, paid to the firm that sold you the fund.
You never see it on a bill. On C$300,000 in funds with a 1% trailer, that’s C$3,000 a year going to the selling firm, more than the median a fee-only planner charges for a full year of ongoing planning.
A trailer isn’t wrong in itself. If the advisor behind it gives you real planning, it may be fair. The question is whether you’re getting advice worth the dollars. Your dealer’s annual report on charges and other compensation lists the trailing commissions paid on your accounts. Our guide to mutual fund fees in Canada shows where else to look.
The kinds of advisor in Canada
“Financial advisor” is a loose label. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada puts it plainly: the terms financial advisor and financial planner “don’t always mean that a person has specific qualifications, expertise or certifications.” What matters is what the person is registered to do and how they’re paid.
| Who | Usually registered as | Usually paid by |
|---|---|---|
| Bank branch or mutual fund advisor | A dealing representative at a mutual fund dealer, overseen by CIRO | Trailers inside the MER, or salary and bonus |
| Investment advisor at a brokerage | A dealing representative at an investment dealer, overseen by CIRO | Commissions, trailers or a percentage of assets |
| Portfolio manager | An advising representative at a firm registered with a provincial securities regulator | A percentage of assets, often with a minimum |
| Robo-advisor | A portfolio manager firm working online | About 0.20% to 0.50% a year plus fund costs |
| Advice-only planner | Often not registered, if they don’t recommend specific investments; check their credential | A plan, an hourly rate or a yearly fee |
The Financial Consumer Agency is direct about the trade-offs: advisors “paid by commission have an incentive to encourage you to invest where they’ll earn more,” and “those on salary may have an incentive to promote the products and services their employers offer.” A fee-only planner is paid only by you, which removes both.
Registered advisors also have to follow the Client Focused Reforms, which require them to put your interest first when deciding what suits you, based on the know-your-client information they collect. An unregistered planner isn’t covered by those rules, which is why their credential matters.
What it costs to try
Canadian fee-only planners who publish prices charge a median C$1,900 for a one-time plan (middle half C$950 to C$3,000, from 46 firms), C$250 an hour (15 firms) or C$2,300 a year for ongoing planning (21 firms). The samples are small, so compare at least two quotes. Our guide to what fee-only advisors charge in Canada explains how to read them, and advice-only financial planning covers how that model works.
How to start small
- Book a one-time plan before the big decision, not after. The years before 60 are the time to plan CPP, OAS and RRSP drawdown together.
- Pay for an hour’s second opinion on the mutual funds you already hold. Bring your annual fee report and your Fund Facts.
- Split the jobs. Let a robo-advisor or a few ETFs handle the investing, and pay a planner by the plan or the hour for the decisions around it.
Before you hire anyone, check them. Our guide to how to check a financial advisor in Canada takes about 15 minutes per person. In Ontario, the titles themselves are regulated: see financial planner vs financial advisor in Ontario.
Browse fee-only planners by province in the public graph, starting with Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec, or see retirement planning and pension planning specialists.