As a new school year begins and students return to class, in person or virtually, take a moment to brush up on your own investor education and become an informed investor with these tips.

Informed investing starts with knowledge. Beginner and experienced investors alike can benefit from staying up to date on the latest investing topics, news and trends. Learn more

Online Investor Education Resources

Improve your knowledge of personal finance and investing from the safety and comfort of your home with these online resources.

GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca - Access hundreds of free articles, tools and calculators to help you with your finances and investments.

InvestingFundamentals.ca - Explore this interactive microsite which explains the 8 investing fundamentals for beginner investors.

Fact Cards - Learn about a range of topics including the red flags of investment fraud, how mutual funds work and why registration is important using these free digital cards.

Investor Knowledge Quiz - Test your knowledge of investment risk, diversification and fraud prevention with this quiz.

Have an investing question? Visit Re: Investing for clear, unbiased answers to your questions about investing, from a trusted source.

Back to School Budgeting 

New clothes, backpacks, notebooks and other school supplies can stretch the family budget. It can be financially stressful spending for the back-to-school season, especially with the added challenges from the pandemic.

Use our Budget Worksheet to help make sure every dollar is spent wisely. Learn more

Money Tips for Post-Secondary Students

The first year of college or university brings a mix of emotions from fear to excitement. As with many students, this could be your first time living on your own and learning how to manage money wisely.

Use our Student Budget Worksheet to plan your spending this semester and develop good financial habits. It can also help you identify expenses that you may not have thought of, such as laundry tokens and the occasional trip home. Learn more

Saving for Your Child's Education 

A Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) helps you save for your child's education by providing special tax treatment for investments in the plan. Your child may also qualify for grants and other programs such as the Canada Education Savings Grant, which provides a lifetime limit of $7,200 for each child.

Use our RESP Savings Calculator to estimate your child's future education costs and whether your planned savings will be enough. 

Unsure how much your child’s college or university program could cost? Use our Education Cost Calculator to estimate the costs for attending a specific college or university program as well as typical food, residence and other living expenses.

In our last issue, we published a new study that explores retail investor responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Investors have been confronted with unprecedented uncertainty and the OSC is closely monitoring retail investor experiences and behaviours during this time to support its investor protection mandate.

The study has several findings, including:

• Investment stress: 47% of investors are experiencing increased levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Holding investments: 85% of investors have held all of their investments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Selling investments: Investors with low financial knowledge were the most likely to sell 20% or more of their investments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full research findings and a COVID-19 summary report. Over the coming weeks we will publish additional summary reports highlighting key findings. Learn more

Applications for Seniors Expert Advisory Committee

The OSC is seeking members for its Seniors Expert Advisory Committee (SEAC). Applications are due September 11, 2020. 

The SEAC advises OSC staff on securities-related policy, operational, education and outreach activities of the OSC designed for older investors. OSC staff recognize the importance of consulting with a multidisciplinary group of seniors’ experts who can provide staff with specialized input to support ongoing efforts and to better understand the unique needs of older investors. Learn more

Investor Education Webinars

Register for our September 15 webinar with the RCMP and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Fraudsters continue to target Canadians during the pandemic. Learn about the latest scams and how to protect yourself. Register today

We've increased online and teleconference events due to the pandemic. Our September 2 "money tips for seniors" webinar featured several special guests including the Hon. Raymond Cho, Minister for Seniors and Accessibility, Daisy Wai, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister for Seniors and Accessibility, Grant Vingoe, Acting OSC Chair and CEO, and Tyler Fleming, Director of the OSC's Investor Office. Find an upcoming event

Osgoode Investor Protection Clinic

The Investor Protection Clinic (IPC), a joint initiative between Osgoode Hall Law School and FAIR Canada that received seed funding from the Law Foundation of Ontario, released its 2020 Annual Report.

In August, the IPC and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) announced a partnership in which IIROC will provide the IPC with major funding annually for the next five years.

The IPC provides free legal advice to people who believe their investments were mishandled and who cannot afford a lawyer. Learn more

OBSI JRC Annual Report

The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) is a free, independent service for resolving investment disputes between participating firms and their clients if they can't solve them on their own.

The Joint Regulators Committee (JRC), the committee of securities regulators that provides oversight of OBSI, recently published its 2019 annual report. Learn about the securities regulatory oversight of OBSI here.

CSA Study on Investor Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviour

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), which includes the OSC, recently published findings from a four-year research study that measured what investors know and think about fees and the performance of their investments, and how they interact with advisers.

The research found improvements between 2016 and 2019 in 40% of the issues examined, particularly in knowledge about fees. Read the full report