Canada’s

big banks

are “not interested” in putting clients’ financial security ahead of profits by addressing “predatory” sales practices at their branches, says the head of the country’s largest advocacy group for seniors.

Anthony Quinn, chief executive of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP), is calling out the banks for inaction following a regulatory review of “the sales culture and environment within five bank-affiliated

mutual fund

dealers” in Ontario. “It’s going to take regulators and likely legislators to make the change because we know just how much influence the banks have on our lives in Canada,” Quinn told the Financial Post.

Quinn said he is speaking out after trading letters with the industry trade group

Canadian Bankers Association

(CBA) about some of the findings published in a July 2025 report by the 

Ontario Securities Commission

 (OSC) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). The OSC regulates the province’s capital markets, while CIRO is a self-regulatory body overseeing investment dealers, mutual fund dealers and trading activity on the country’s equity and debt markets.

Their joint review was initially prompted by a 2024 CBC Marketplace investigation into the “enormous sales pressure” bank branch financial advisers face, which they said leads to selling potentially unsuitable products to customers.

Quinn said he shared CBA’s reply on CARP’s website last week because “the indication, as I read the letter, was that the status quo was satisfactory to the banks.”

The report is based on responses to a voluntary, anonymous survey of 2,863 mutual fund advisers about their perspectives on the sales environment, sales pressure, range of products and knowledge in specific areas of their jobs. The respondents work in bank branches at one of five dealers: Royal Mutual Funds Inc., Scotia Securities Inc., BMO Investments Inc., TD Investment Services Inc. and CIBC Securities Inc.

The regulators pointed to a “key observation” from the survey: 25 per cent of mutual fund dealers said clients were recommended products or services that were not in their interests at least “sometimes.”

The report also noted that “representatives’ experiences of sales pressure are pervasive” and said most agree that the use of scorecards to set targets and measure performance metrics may influence their job behaviours.

“Collectively, these factors may pose risks that Canadian retail investors’ interests are not being sufficiently prioritized,” the report said.

OSC and CIRO suggested the five bank-affiliated dealers “carefully consider” what their employees reported in the survey, assess how compensation, incentives and performance metrics affect their sales environment and make “changes and enhancements” where needed.

In November, Quinn sent a letter to CBA chief executive Anthony Ostler raising the report’s findings. The CBA represents more than 60 domestic and foreign banks operating in Canada.

“These are systemic failures that disproportionately harm older Canadians, many of whom have been loyal to the same bank for 50, or even 60-plus years,” Quinn said in his letter.

In his letter, Quinn called on banks to voluntarily make changes, including adopting a higher fiduciary duty standard for financial advisers; allowing branch-level employees to offer non-bank-affiliated investment products and increasing internal accountability for sales practices.

“True leadership means doing the right thing because it is right, not because a regulator compels it,” Quinn said in the letter.

Quinn told the Financial Post that receiving sound financial advice is important for both seniors, who have a shorter runway for investment success, and younger people, who should be aware of the “compounding losses” of bad financial advice over time.

“The clients of in-branch advisers … shouldn’t be beholden to the bank’s sales culture,” he said. “And the imperative of every adviser, to use the word ‘adviser’ properly, should be to have the best possible outcomes for their clients.”

In a Dec. 9 response signed by Ostler, the CBA said it takes the survey’s feedback seriously.

“At the same time, it’s important to understand that the survey reflects the sentiment of a select group of respondents in Ontario only; it does not verify behaviours identified through a formal review or investigation,” Ostler said in his letter.

Addressing sales practices, Ostler said banks’ codes of conduct set “clear expectations related to integrity” and that bank-owned dealers must put their clients’ interest firsts when making investment decisions and are “required to identify and resolve any conflicts of interest.” CBA’s letter also highlights its financial literacy resources and the senior-focused policies, services and products offered by Canadian banks.

In an email to the Financial Post, CBA declined to comment.

“As we noted in our letter to Mr. Quinn, we would welcome the opportunity for further dialogue with CARP’s leadership should they wish to engage with us,” the organization said in a statement.

The next phase of the OSC and CIRO’s review is ongoing and involves gathering information and data about sales practices directly from each of the five bank-affiliated mutual fund dealers. When the regulators finish the analysis, they will “consider our regulatory tools available and determine whether further action is required to ensure ongoing compliance with securities laws,” according to the report.

Quinn said he has not spoken with Ostler since receiving his reply last month, but said CARP will continue to work with the CBA and encourage banks to see the issues raised in the report from their customers’ point of view.

“The institutions are doing very well, thank you very much, but we’re looking for them to see it from the investors’ side,” said Quinn.

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• Email: jswitzer@postmedia.com