Financial sector credentials

The most enduring and valuable gift a person can give themselves is an education. After leaving Ontario provincial politics, and making the decision late in 2020 that I would not seek to be re-nominated to run in Mississauga-Streetsville, the next milestone was where life might lead next. In the autumn of 2019, which means pre-COVID, I had finished the last exam for the Canadian Securities Course (“the CSC”), offered by the Canadian Securities Institute (“CSI”). This was a part of my education to which I had long wanted to treat myself, and finally had the time to absorb. With my math and science background, MBA, professional work and political experiences with accounting and finance, plus some buy-and-hold experience as an investor, the CSC was well within my grasp. I set out to redefine my professional career path, and make myself savvier around money.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, I value-added the CSC with another cornerstone course from the Canadian Securities Institute: Wealth Management Essentials, or “WME”. I was surprised at how broad the WME scope is, and how many areas of not merely one’s finances, but a person’s life journey that the program touched. I spent lots of quality time at home during the pandemic digesting a person’s financial journey through life. The WME content is a deep dive into things I thought I knew, and other aspects of financial life I had not experienced. WME is a surprisingly broad and deep curriculum,and a real challenge to absorb and give back in two comprehensive exams that together total six hours! Yeah. You read that right.

In late June 2021, I wrote – and passed – the last of the two WME exams. Now I have two of the Canadian Securities Institute’s foundational programs among my lifetime credentials. See the footer at the bottom of this web page.

And by the way, a buy-and-hold strategy made up of a diverse and balanced portfolio of quality securities has always been near the top of successful investment strategies.