CARP Takes Action Against Banks’ Lack of Choice and Sales Culture with in-branch Investment Advice: Escalating to the Competition Bureau
Member Update: CARP met with representatives from the Competition Bureau, March 5th, 2026.
Over the past few months, CARP has raised concerns with Canada’s major banks about the way investment advice is provided to seniors. Despite multiple attempts to engage in meaningful discussions with the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) and individual banks like TD, it’s clear that they are satisfied with the current system. The way investment advice is structured at Canadian banks directly affects retail investors, especially seniors, who make up a large portion of the market.
The root issue lies with the incentive structure for the bank’s in-branch advisors. Unlike independent financial advisors, or the banks’ own wealth-division advisors, who succeed when their clients’ investments perform well, bank branch advisors are often focused on meeting sales targets tied to internal products. Their function within the big banks is to sell, almost exclusively, proprietary products, with no mandate to prioritize the best outcomes for their clients. The sales-driven culture, where advisors are incentivized by commissions and product quotas, rewards asset gathering and cross-selling internal products, which often does not align with clients’ financial best interests.
Branch advisors are typically limited to recommending products from their own bank. For example, if TD Bank offers a category-leading mutual fund, an ‘advisor’ working in an RBC branch cannot recommend it for their client. This creates a situation where investors are not getting advice based on the best available options but are instead restricted to the bank’s own products. In short, banks are not competing on the quality of their products; they are competing for client relationships within a limited set of offerings. This lack of competition distorts the market and limits the choices available to Canadian investors.
This lack of product competition is alarming. In other parts of banking, like mortgages, loans, and credit cards, banks fiercely compete for customers. But when it comes to investment advice in branches, competition is virtually nonexistent. Banks don’t compare their mutual funds to other banks’ funds or claim their products outperform others. Instead, each bank simply promotes its own offerings to a large and trusting client base numbering in the millions, with little incentive for clients to explore other options.
The absence of competition in the investment advice market is particularly harmful to seniors. Many older Canadians expect that the banks’ advisors are acting in their best interests, but the incentive structure within the banks and the lack of choice and competition for their investment dollar prioritizes sales over client outcomes. For seniors, who often have limited options to recover from poor financial decisions, this is an especially serious concern.
CARP has been outspoken about these problems since the report from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), but the responses we’ve received have been vague and lacking in meaningful commitment. TD Bank’s recent letter spoke about their commitment to serving seniors, but it didn’t offer any concrete steps to address the core issues of product limitations, sales pressures, and misaligned incentives. The Canadian Bankers Association’s response was similarly vague, with little more than assurances that the current system is fine as it is.
Therefore, CARP is now bringing these concerns to the Competition Bureau. The lack of competition in the investment advice market needs to be closely examined, and financial institutions should be held accountable for a system that prioritizes their interests over those of their clients’. The reason why we escalated our concerns to the Competition Bureau at this time rests in their relatively new powers from this federal government to tackle harmful conduct and competitive markets, and they should put these powers to good use.
Prime Minister Carney, Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, and Industry Minister Melanie Joly have all also called for more competition in the banking sector.
Canadians investing through their corner bank branch remains among the most common, if not the most common, way to invest – particularly for seniors. Policymakers and the Competition Bureau could make the biggest difference in their financial success and security by focusing on improving choice and competition at bank branches.
CARP will not tolerate a two-tiered banking system that limits choice and competition for average Canadians and seniors who trust their bank advisors to act in their best interests, while wealthier clients at bank brokerages receive the best investment options. We are committed to holding financial institutions accountable for practices that prioritize sales over the needs of their clients. Now is the time for real change: greater transparency, genuine competition, and better financial outcomes for all investors. CARP will continue to advocate fiercely for seniors, pushing for regulatory reforms that create a fairer, more transparent investment advice market. Our goal is clear: to ensure that Canadian seniors can confidently rely on their financial advisors to secure their futures, free from the influence of the banks’ interests.
