Media Kit -
Speech Delivered by
Mr. Donald J. Johnston, President and CEO
Financial Planners Standards Council
University Club, Toronto, Ontario,
January 26, 2006

Celebration of 10 Years of CFP™ certification in Canada:
A journey of many steps and a few leaps of faith.

Thank you. Thank you for joining us this evening. Thank you, particularly, those of you who have traveled so far to be here from other towns, cities, provinces and from the United States.

Your presence here tonight gives testimony to our mutual pride and delight in having come so far in so little time. It’s fitting that you be here, celebrating this first decade of building a foundation on which the financial planning profession can continue to define itself – can continue to mature, grow in stature and recognition – and do so to the benefit of Canadians.

It’s fitting you are here. Because it is you we are celebrating. It has been your efforts … your assistance … your support … your watchful eyes … your criticisms … your encouragement… your friendship… and your faith that has kept Financial Planners Standards Council and CFP certification in Canada moving in the right direction. Without your support, we would have stumbled far more often than we did. Without your faith and conviction that we were on the right track, we would not have had the heart to brush off our knees, stand up and continue on. Without your competition and your vigilance, we may have gotten off track. But I don’t believe we ever did – at least not for very long – thanks to you.

Ann mentioned that the first step we took 10 years ago was a leap of faith. I tell you there were more than one, taken by more than one person and organization then, and each year after. I’m certain there will be many more. That’s how good ideas become realities. That’s how conviction gives birth to action. It takes faith – faith and the roll-up-your-sleeves kind of stellar work that is inspired by doing what one thinks is right … one thinks will make a difference … one thinks is worth the effort.

Thank you all for your part in making sure that what CFP certification has become and will continue to be – what FPSC is and does – makes a difference, and is worthy of all your efforts and support.

Ten years ago, when the Canadian Association of Financial Planners and the Life Underwriters Association of Canada and I incorporated FPSC, we did so with the idea of bringing harmony to the financial planning arena. That harmony, we believed, could come from a cohesive effort to put in place one certification process leading to one designation that would represent a national uniform set of standards – standards that would benefit Canadians seeking financial planning help. This certification was to be built on standards that would advance financial planning towards becoming a true profession. A financial planning profession in which we could all be proud. A profession in which Canadians everywhere could place their trust.

We chose to champion the internationally respected CFP certification because it was rigorous and had all the fundamental elements upon which to build a profession committed to serving the best interests of consumers.

The very first leap of faith was probably the one taken by the U.S. based CFP Board of Standards, at the time, owner of the CFP marks around the world. Our agreement to become the sole licensor of the CFP marks in Canada was predicated on the CFP Board’s faith that FPSC could muster the support, expertise and start-up funds to make it all happen: to develop and offer a made-in-Canada CFP certification that was built on the CFP international platform of requirements in education, examination, experience and ethics.

It did happen. By the end of 1996 we had a seemingly disparate group of key influential organizations in the industry rallying around CFP certification. This certification was to be the foundation upon which we would build the profession of financial planning in Canada.

By the end of 1998, we had our CFP examination development and certification process audited for the first time by an independent certification assessment firm. And we earned their stamp of approval.

By 1999, the number of individuals who had proven their competence in financial planning, committed to abide by the CFP professional Code of Ethics and would keep their skills and knowledge current with continuing education – that is meet all the CFP standards – well, by 1999 that number had grown to an astounding 10,000!

By then, we had a sufficiently large and geographically dispersed body of CFP professionals working in every segment of the financial services industry to meet the needs of Canadians from coast to coast. So by the beginning of the next year, year 2000, we started to launch a number of communications campaigns that would encourage Canadians to seek competent financial planners. Specifically, we began telling Canadians to seek financial planning advice from those who had voluntarily stepped up to what was already becoming the “gold standard” in financial planning professionalism in the industry – the CFP. Our campaigns told and continue to tell Canadians that CFP professionals can help them reach their life goals through the proper management of their financial affairs. We began, then, what was to grow to be a comprehensive consumer education campaign that would move the needle from consumer bafflement and apathy toward professional financial planning, much closer to an enlightened faith in the CFP Brand.

Throughout our first decade of CFP certification in Canada, we’ve encouraged the development of more educational programs qualifying individuals to write the CFP Examination. And now 30 education programs prepare individuals to write the CFP examination. These programs are offered at post-secondary institutions across the country and through national industry educators. And with our initiation of the establishment, in 2004, of the Foundation of Financial Planning Research & Education, we hope to see the birth of centres of excellence that will foster the development of many more educational programs at universities.

As I said, giant leaps of faith have been taken in support of what we were trying to accomplish here in Canada. However, there was one in particular that was taken to solidify our commitment to the global expansion of financial planning professionalism as well. It was our commitment and that of other CFP certifying organizations from around the world.

In 2003, certifying organizations from 17 countries, FPSC included, banded together to negotiate ownership of the CFP marks outside the United States through the new international entity – Financial Planning Standards Board. And with the full and continued active support and participation of the owners of the U.S. CFP marks, the CFP Board of Standards, the Financial Planning Standards Board is determined to guide the worldwide development of professionalism in financial planning through CFP certification.

There are of course many more milestones we are very proud to have reached with your help. You can read about most of them anytime on our website and this evening on the posters at the entrance to this room. There are two that are particularly worthy of note, because they are likely to be the most instrumental in shaping the future of the profession in Canada.

One is the finalization of the CFP Financial Planning Practice Standards and the launch of its implementation in 2005. These CFP Practice Standards give guidance to both planner and client on how a professional financial planning engagement should unfold respecting all the requirements of the CFP Code of Ethics. And they are built on a clear and concise articulation of what professional financial planning is.

The other milestone I am compelled to mention this evening, is the completion of our groundbreaking financial planning competency analysis. This work clearly delineates what professional financial planners must know and know how to do to meet the needs of their clients today and for the foreseeable future. It will help all of us guide the shape of the future profession of financial planning.

In years to come, there will be more milestones to reach, of course. And with your continued engagement, interest, support and faith – faith in what we will accomplish to the benefit of Canadians, faith in the positive effect our almost 17,000 CFP professionals are having on the lives of their clients – we will reach every milestone, one by one.

I’ve said in the past that the movement towards the recognition of financial planning as a profession in Canada – a profession to be proud of, a profession in which Canadians can safely put their trust – is not a foot race. It is, and must be, a steady march. It must be a journey that begins with a single step, after step, after step. Thanks for making everyone of them so fulfilling, so meaningful and for ensuring that they’ve all been in the right direction.