Deep discount for ferry fares as PM Mark Carney makes good on election promise
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Globe and Mail
30 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
As finances improve, Advocis head focuses on regulation and new advisors
After two years in the red, Advocis, the Financial Advisors Association of Canada, reported a net surplus of $1.8-million for 2024 in its annual report. Advocis president and chief executive officer Kelly Gorman attributes the turnaround mainly to cost-cutting and the commitment of its 7,400 members (including full-paying, retired and student members). She notes that 91 per cent renewed their memberships last year, seeing that as a sign the association is moving in the right direction. Ms. Gorman joined Advocis last September and previously worked in senior regulatory and enforcement roles at CPA Ontario and the Ontario Securities Commission, where she was deputy director for enforcement and chief of the whistleblower office. In the coming year, Ms. Gorman says Advocis is focused on regulatory issues such as removing barriers to insurance licensing between provinces (with a white paper coming this fall) and expanding title protection for financial advisors and planners across the country. 'There's a big opportunity with interprovincial barriers coming down,' she says. Globe Advisor spoke with Ms. Gorman about upcoming initiatives. How do you see title protection evolving? I believe we're eventually going to have title protection across Canada. It's important that consumers receive advice from somebody who has been credentialed and completed the right kind of educational requirements. I give a lot of credit to Ontario for going first, and I understand that everybody would say something different about the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario's (FSRA) model. I appreciate that as a former regulator. FSRA now has a few years under their belt. We need to stay tuned with respect to title protection evolution as it moves across Canada. I know that they're talking to other provinces. We're a credentialing body under FSRA so we have a complaints and discipline process. We're going to be looking at our procedures to make sure they're exceeding best practices. You attribute Advocis's consolidated net surplus this year to cost savings. How, specifically? Some cost savings are a function of doing more with our own internal resources – particularly from an education and technical content perspective – as opposed to paying for external expertise. We are also looking at how we can use technology to better service our members. We're going to be launching an online member community, a platform for advisors to connect and mentor. Our younger advisors really want this type of platform. In terms of revenue, professional development course fees rose, with the life licence qualification program (LLQP) accounting for 87 per cent of the increase. Why the interest in LLQP? For many people, the LLQP is the starting point of becoming a financial advisor. They may start there and go on and do other designations. Our focus is on bringing in the next generation of financial advisors. You just established a new emerging leaders committee. Is that its goal? Yes, we want to hear the voice of young advisors. Young advisors think about things differently. They interact with their clients differently. They have different expectations of us as a membership body and how we are there to support them. If we want to attract the next generation of young advisors, we better understand what that's going to take. So the purpose of that committee is to provide that feedback and input. How would you summarize this year's turnaround? I haven't even been here for a year. My focus is just moving forward and making sure we are doing the best we can for our members in our chapters. We've had some past challenges, but our membership is very committed. This interview has been edited and condensed.
Globe and Mail
30 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
After retiring at 52, this former IT worker took on a volunteer leadership role at her church
In Tales from the Golden Age, retirees talk about their spending, savings and whether life after work is what they expected. For more articles in this series, click here. Angie Beynon, 62, Nanaimo, B.C. I retired in January, 2015 at 52 years of age after working in information technology (IT) for 30 years. My last job was working for a company that supplied the IT infrastructure for a bank. It was the best job I'd ever had – and it paid well – but I just stopped having fun. Time is my most precious commodity, not my finances, and I felt there must be a better way to use my time. My second husband is a lay minister, and we both hold active volunteer leadership roles in our church. I wanted to do more of that. The first few weeks of retirement felt like an extended vacation. We travelled to Maui, which was wonderful. Then I got busy in our ministry. I got a theology diploma and took several courses on marriage and financial coaching because we began to realize that, as people were recovering from issues such as addiction, they needed support in these areas. We had a daughter pass away tragically in May, 2018 and wanted a fresh start, so we moved from Edmonton to Nanaimo in September, 2020. The first year was challenging because of the pandemic shutdowns. It took us longer than expected to find activities and establish relationships. But we're settled now and consider Nanaimo our home. We enjoy a healthier outdoor lifestyle here and see each day as a gift. When I retired, I had a gut feeling that I would be okay financially, as I always earned more money than I spent. As a teenager, my dad taught me to save and invest my money, and I maxed out my RRSPs and TFSAs throughout my working years. When I started working at 24, my goal was to retire at 40. Then, I got married and had two kids and realized that might've been too ambitious, so I pushed my goal to 50. I got divorced at 48 and wasn't ready to retire at 50. I wasn't sure what I was going to do and didn't want to quit without a plan. I realized a few years after retiring at 52 that I probably should have had a financial plan before I stopped working. About three years into retirement, my now husband and I consulted with an advisor, who confirmed that we have more than enough money to live comfortably, based on our lifestyle and expenses. We also started a budget for the first time. At the beginning of each year, we first decide how much we want to give to various charitable causes and then how much we want to spend on things such as vacations. We then allocate the remaining funds for everyday expenses. Having a good budget means we don't have to worry about money. We are not planning to take CPP or OAS until age 70, but we will revisit that decision when we turn 65. I encourage people to start thinking about retirement years in advance, starting in their 30s and 40s. Budgeting is a big part of that plan; it feeds into the dream of retirement. I also think that if people can afford to retire, they should do it. You only need so much money. As told to Brenda Bouw This interview has been edited and condensed. Are you a Canadian retiree interested in discussing what life is like now that you've stopped working? The Globe is looking for people to participate in its Tales from the Golden Age feature, which examines the personal and financial realities of retirement. If you're interested in being interviewed for this feature and agree to use your full name and have a photo taken, please e-mail us at: goldenageglobe@ Please include a few details about how you saved and invested for retirement and what your life is like now.
Vancouver Sun
an hour ago
- Vancouver Sun
Five auto CEOs warned Carney in May that EV mandate would 'inflict serious damage' across industry
OTTAWA — Less than two weeks after the Liberal cabinet was sworn in, the presidents of the five major automakers appealed directly to Prime Minister Mark Carney, requesting him to 'urgently' repeal the federal zero-emission vehicle sales mandate, warning of industry-wide repercussions if it is not. More than two months later, and with no public indication as to whether the government will listen, frustration is only building, says Brian Kingston, president and CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, which sent the May 26 letter and represents Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. The letter was signed by Ford Canada CEO Bev Goodman, General Motors Canada President Kristian Aquilina, Honda Canada President and CEO Dave Jamieson, as well as Stellantis Canada CEO Jeff Hines and Toyota Canada President and CEO Cyril Dimitris. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'If the mandate is not urgently repealed, it will inflict serious damage on automakers, the dealership network, and the hundreds of thousands of Canadians employed in the sector,' the letter reads. Kingston said the fact that all five CEOs signed their names was noteworthy and speaks to how pressing they view the matter. 'When all five CEOs of the (original equipment manufacturers) that build and employ Canadians write in on a single issue, that signifies the level of urgency regarding the (electric vehicle) mandate.' A response from the Prime Minister's Office has not yet been returned. Back in July, Carney met with several of the auto CEOs to discuss the ongoing trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has targeted the auto industry with tariffs. During the meeting, they raised the need to revoke the mandate. In the private letter, which was sent to other ministers and government officials, and released to National Post under federal access-to-information legislation, the five automakers outline their commitments to electrification and cite the 'tens of billions' of investments announced in Canada. It points out that Canadians have access to more than 100 different types of zero-emission vehicles and that Transport Canada's figures show the availability of these vehicles to be 'meeting or exceeding' consumer demand. The letter states that despite these efforts, electric vehicle sales have plummeted, referencing the latest available Statistics Canada figures for March, which showed sales fell to around 6.5 per cent of total vehicle sales. In the first quarter of this year, Statistics Canada recorded zero-emission vehicle sales in Canada, representing 8.7 per cent of new vehicle registrations, down 23 per cent from the previous year. The CEOs said the drop was 'in direct response' to the federal and provincial governments either 'weakening or eliminating purchase incentive programs that had been supporting demand.' Ottawa ended its program back in January, as did Quebec, which has since introduced a rebate. Flavio Nienow, a spokesman for Transport Canada, the department responsible for developing the rebate, said in a statement that the government ' understands that the higher purchase price of (electric vehicles) remains a key barrier to mass zero-emission vehicle adoption.' Laura Scaffidi, a spokeswoman for Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland, said the government was looking at ways to reintroduce a rebate of up to $5,000, but did not provide a timeline. In their letter from May, the CEOs cast doubt on the ability of a new rebate to cause electric vehicle sales to make a turnaround, citing other challenges such as 'natural consumer demand,' as well as the lack of infrastructure and challenges around affordability and slow adoption by commercial and government sectors. These factors combined 'make the current targets unrealistic and unattainable.' The letter requests that the mandate be repealed, given there was 'no longer a pathway' to reach its first target of seeing 20 per cent of new vehicle sales be zero-emission vehicles by 2026. Transport Canada defines a zero-emission vehicle as a fully electric, plug-in battery hybrid, or one powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The mandate, which the federal government formalized in 2023 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the transportation sector, sets out sales targets companies must hit, beginning with 20 per cent in 2026 and then rising to 60 per cent by 2030 before hitting 100 per cent by 2035. 'Given the impending 20 per cent requirement for 2026, the federal mandate is already forcing automakers to either limit combustion engine (ICE) and hybrid vehicle sales in Canada, or purchase credits from automakers like Tesla that do not produce vehicles in Canada,' the letter reads. It warns that the regulation would result in lower vehicle sales and fewer jobs in the sector and higher prices for consumers. 'This will undermine consumer affordability and choice at a time of rising costs, limited demand, and growing uncertainty about infrastructure readiness.' It argues that existing regulations for greenhouse gas emissions would drive the transition to electric vehicles and provide more flexibility. Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin and other ministers have been meeting with industry to discuss their concerns, with Dabrusin's office saying it was exploring 'flexibility.' Spokeswoman Jenna Ghassabeh reiterated that position in a new statement, saying the government was engaging with industry to ensure measures 'reflect times we are in.' Kingston, who met with Dabrusin last month, said the minister appears committed to the policy. He said some at Environment Canada have been 'pushing back' against their concerns that the matter is urgent. 'We need a clear public signal that it will be repealed, or automakers are going to continue to have to make disastrous choices, which is restricting vehicle sales and buying credits from Tesla.' National Post Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here .
