In the late 1990s, Carolyn Fallis, CFP^®, who trained as an accountant, decided she wanted to pursue a career as a wealth consultant. FP Canada™, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, was still very young, and she hadn’t heard about the CFP^® credential. But the positions she was applying for often required it. She listened to the feedback of her interviewers and became both a CFP professional and a strong advocate for the profession of financial planning.  

Fallis, who was awarded FP Canada™ Fellow distinction in 2011, has now been honoured with the Donald J. Johnston Lifetime Achievement Award. A professor of financial planning at George Brown College’s School of Accounting and Finance, she sat on the FP Canada Board of Directors before moving over to the Canadian Foundation for Financial Planning’s board of directors. She now chairs that non-profit’s board. Fallis also chairs the academic advisory committee for the international Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB).  

“When you give back, it goes beyond you,” she says. “By providing motivation and inspiration to others, by helping not only spread the word but spread the outcomes of the great work that we do all the time—that builds a strong profession and will ultimately allow us to meet the goal of helping Canadians with their financial wellness and making good decisions.”  

She believes financial planning is not necessarily about making someone rich. Rather, it’s about helping people meet life goals—whether that includes travel, education savings for children, retirement, or something else. The best way to achieve that is to take an integrated approach that factors in all the pillars of financial planning. Credentials help ensure that Canadians are getting sound and comprehensive advice. 

As a teacher, Fallis enjoys creating a pathway for high school graduates and career changers to pursue financial planning as a career, and she encourages them to pursue the CFP^® designation or QAFP^® designation. It’s another way she amplifies her efforts, contributing to both individual success and the development of the profession.  

“I’m passionate about financial planning as a profession,” she says. “I’m so motivated and pleased to be involved as a volunteer. You just make time when asked to be on a committee, board, or to give back in another way. It becomes a priority.”