Martin Dupras, F.Pl., was recognized with the FP Canada Award of Distinction in 2025. He’s proud to have worked on initiatives that have had a positive and practical impact on the financial planning profession.  

Dupras, President of ConFor financiers in Montreal, served on and then chaired the board of the Institute of Financial Planning (formerly IQPF). He then served on and chaired the FP Canada Board of Directors. He’s especially proud of his contributions to the Projection Assumption Guidelines, which help financial planners make realistic financial projections. It’s an initiative that started in Quebec in 2009 and was adopted across Canada in 2015.  

“It’s a sign of maturity of our profession to adopt and prepare and publish such guidelines,” he says. “To prepare calculations using the best practices and the best possible assumptions protects both the consumer and the practitioner.”   

For Dupras, giving back to a profession that has given so much to him just makes sense. He’s aware that the hours invested in elevating financial planning on a volunteer basis aren’t spent working and generating income, but he makes the time. That’s been easier since he started his own practice in 2010, since he answers only to himself.  

Many practitioners get involved in professional associations for business development and networking. He’s found the greatest benefits in the latter. He’s now part of an unofficial network of practitioners who do this type of volunteer work, most of whom he met through his involvement with the Institute of Financial Planning and FP Canada.  

“When there’s a new topic, a new piece of regulation, new legislation, or a new financial product, and we want to wrap our heads around its usefulness, it’s so easy to just contact these people and have those conversations,” he says. “Being able to bounce ideas around with the brightest in my profession—that’s amazing.” 

Ultimately, sharing and refining professional insights benefits Dupras’ clients. It means the most well informed strategies and solutions can be applied to improving their financial well-being.  

Dupras sees volunteers like himself as designing the future of the profession, and he enjoys participating in important discussions that will shape financial planning in the years ahead. While volunteering is its own reward, he adds that recognition is very much appreciated.