Archives: Grants (page 74)

SEED Winnipeg, in partnership with the Legal Help Centre of Winnipeg, Momentum in Calgary and academics from Menno Simons College and Queen's University, will research the experience of low-income registered education savings group plan subscribers and the regulatory context in which these plans are sold. Based on this research, SEED will develop and pilot public legal education materials on group plans tailored to address the needs of low income investors and community-based service providers.

Osgoode Hall Law School, in partnership with the Canadian Foundation for Advancement of Investor Rights, will develop and operate a pro-bono legal clinic and living lab to assist and educate harmed investors and collect relevant data. The clinic, staffed by law students under the supervision of practicing lawyers, will provide free advice to retail investors on how to proceed when they have suffered a loss due to fraud or other wrongdoing. The data collected will contribute to a better understanding of the issues faced by retail investors and how best to help them. The project will also produce publicly available "self-help" information. This will be the first legal clinic of its kind in Canada.

This project focuses on the way in which the financial sector treats vulnerable investors when regulatory bodies take disciplinary measures against dealers and their representatives. The project will examine the decisions of self-regulatory bodies (IIROC, MFDA and CSF) over the last five years in Ontario and Quebec with a view to determining whether and to what extent vulnerability is taken into consideration in disciplinary proceedings and to making recommendations for stronger vulnerable investor protection.

In this this two-year project, Éducaloi will develop a plain language legal information kit and workshop, in both French and English, to support seniors when making investment decisions. Éducaloi will address three topics dealing with investor rights: the legal duties and responsibilities of financial and investment professionals; investment fraud and legal recourses; and powers of attorney and protection mandates to ensure seniors’ investment decisions are respected.

FAIR Canada will undertake a comparative study of legislative and regulatory approaches that allow financial services firms and investment advisors to take immediate, short-term protective action for the benefit of vulnerable customers who may have lost capacity to give instructions due to dementia or other causes or who may be being subjected to undue influence, including elder financial abuse. FAIR will use the study results to develop a model protocol for taking protective action and, if warranted by the research, a regulatory framework establishing a legal safe harbour or similar mechanism for Canada.

In this two-year research and public legal education project, the Canadian Centre for Elder Law (CCEL) will undertake research to identify the legal issues and barriers affecting vulnerable investors who wish to invest, or continue managing their existing investments, under a Supported Decision Making approach, the aim of which is to maximize access to investment options while minimizing the loss of autonomy. The CCEL will also produce a suite of tools for people with capacity challenges, their supporters and investment industry members.