Volunteer Opportunities

FP Canada's Board of Directors works to ensure that FP Canada’s purpose—to champion better financial wellness for all Canadians by advancing professional financial planning—is realized. The Board is composed of at least 10 individuals with varied backgrounds that are relevant to achieving FP Canada’s purpose. The Board’s role is to establish the strategic direction for the organization, in conjunction with the President & CEO.

Career Recruitment Ambassadors visit college and university classrooms and career events across the country to discuss the day-to-day life of a CFP professional and offer a first-hand perspective on a career in financial planning to prospective candidates. Volunteers are added to a roster of available ambassadors that are called on to attend events in their area.

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Media Ambassadors are approached when FP Canada gets requests for media interviews about the specifics of financial planning. Volunteers must be comfortable speaking with the media and need to be available on short notice. Media Ambassadors also provide expertise for content for the Canadian public through FinancialPlanningForCanadians.ca and other consumer-facing platforms. To learn more, please email pr@fpcanada.ca.

The Certification Exam Item Writer plays a vital role in shaping the next generation of FP Canada certificants. With training and support, item writers research and develop examination questions based on the Competency Profile, and review and provide feedback on questions developed by other item writers on various scenarios and topics. Item-writing workshops are hosted throughout year, with each workshop running between two to four days.

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Certification Mock Exam Writers ensure the validity of the content and development of the QAFP examination or the CFP examination. Volunteers write the exams in a mock test environment and, directly following the writing of the exam, are required to provide feedback on exam questions, structure, time provisions, format, exam day-procedures, and more. Sessions are held twice a year, with participation for the QAFP exam for a half-day, and the CFP exam for a full day.

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Following each CFP exam administration, Certification Exam Markers play a key role in evaluating the knowledge and readiness of the next generation of CFP professionals. Scorers are trained by FP Canada staff and then work within assigned teams of other CFP professionals from across Canada. They rigorously score a specific set of candidate responses in the CFP examination, a competency-based examination comprised largely of constructed-response questions. Each session runs for a five-day period.

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The Conduct Review Panel is an independent panel composed of CFP professionals and members of the public that reviews staff reports and directs the appropriate outcome of complaints against FP Canada certificants, in the public interest. The panel’s membership reflects significant diversity of experience as well as geographic diversity. The panel convenes every two months or as often as necessary, through a combination of in-person and conference call meetings.

The Hearing Panel Roster is composed of CFP professionals and lawyers with diverse experience and national representation. These professionals—many whom bring compliance or experience in professional discipline—play a critical role in ensuring the integrity of the profession by enforcing the high professional and ethical standards embodied in the FP Canada Standards Council Standards of Professional Responsibility. Members serve on an as-needed basis on Hearing Panels and Appeal Panels and, on average, will serve on between 1 and 10 panels per year.

As a marker, you’ll work closely with a team of other CFP professionals from across Canada. You’ll score the practice assignments and/or final assessment for the CFP Professional Education Program, QAFP Professional Education Program and/or QAFP-to-CFP Certification Bridge Program. FP Canada staff will train and effectively prepare you to conduct this rigorous and important work.

As a Part-time Faculty, you will provide support for students working through the programs, in the form of webinar or email responses to course or assignment content. FP Canada staff will provide training and guidance to effectively prepare you for this important role.

The FP Canada Research Foundation is an independent registered charity that funds, promotes and disseminates research to help financial planners meet the increasingly complex needs of today’s client. Its research priorities include technical and behavioural research geared toward enhancing the practice of financial planning delivered to Canadians and research that reflects the impact of financial planning in the lives of Canadians.

The Board helps to establish the vision, mission, purpose and ends of the FP Canada Research Foundation and has oversight responsibilities for the Research Committee.