How FSRA protects consumers

FSRA is committed to protecting consumers who use regulated financial services in Ontario or are beneficiaries of Ontario-registered pension plans. FSRA has a responsibility to:

  • monitor regulated individuals and companies to ensure they uphold the required standard of conduct.
  • take enforcement action if they fail to comply with the law.

Publicly available enforcement actions can be viewed here: enforcement actions.

Enforcement process overview

If a regulated individual or company has not complied with a legal requirement, FSRA may initiate enforcement proceedings.

FSRA issues a notice


FSRA issues a notice proposing a sanction against the regulated individual or company. This is called:

  • a notice of proposal (NOP) in the mortgage broker and insurance sectors
  • a notice of intended decision (NOID) in the pension sector

The notice is an allegation; it has not been proven before a court or tribunal. FSRA will issue a news release to inform the public.

After FSRA issues a notice of proposal or notice of intended decision, the individual or company has 15 days to request a hearing before the Financial Services Tribunal. If a pension sector notice of intended decision does not include a proposed administrative monetary penalty, the individual or company has 30 days to request a hearing.

Hearing requested


Case considered by tribunal

If the individual or company requests a hearing, the Financial Services Tribunal will consider the case. They will convene a hearing to listen to evidence and submissions from both FSRA and the individual or company that is the subject of the proceedings. The entire process can take several months or even years.

Decision by tribunal

The Financial Services Tribunal decides if the proposed sanction or any other sanction should be imposed. The Financial Services Tribunal publishes its decisions on canlii.org.

Final order from FSRA

Once the Financial Services Tribunal has made a decision, FSRA will issue a final order if the tribunal decides an order should be issued. FSRA will also issue a news release. Many Financial Services Tribunal decisions can be appealed to the Ontario Divisional Court.
 

Hearing not requested


If the individual or company does not request a hearing, FSRA will issue an order to impose the proposed sanction.

Final order from FSRA

FSRA will issue a final order and a news release.
 

Settlement


At any stage of the process, the individual or company can settle the enforcement action with FSRA. When there is a settlement, FSRA may issue a final order which may be different from the sanction proposed in the notice of proposal (NOP) or notice of intended decision (NOID). FSRA will issue a news release and publish the minutes of settlement along with the final order.

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