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Studies about investors

We believe that investor education, and research about investor knowledge and attitudes, are essential to effective investor protection. Through research, the BCSC, our partners, and our provincial counterparts are trying to understand Canadians' overall investment knowledge, their understanding of financial concepts like savings and budgeting, and their experience with fraud and unsuitable investments.

The information gathered from these studies helps the BCSC and other provincial securities regulators in their mandate to help:

  • Investors make appropriate investments decisions
  • Investors recognize, avoid and report investment scams
  • People, both young and old, to develop better financial life skills

Visit the sections below to learn more about investor research:  

 

2011 National Report Card on Youth Financial Literacy PDF icon small  

This is the first comprehensive Canadian benchmark study on youth financial life skills. The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) hired Innovative Research Group to assess the effectiveness of secondary school financial education programs - specifically, financial literacy outcomes (knowledge, attitudes and behaviour) - and in preparing young Canadians as financial consumers. The BCSC believes that the information and analysis in this study will help educators and policymakers develop and deliver financial literacy programs for Canadian youth. The survey was conducted between September 7 and 26, 2011 in both English and French. Results are based on 3,006 completed on-line interviews, with 17 to 20 year olds.

Ce rapport est la première étude de référence canadienne à être consacrée à une évaluation détaillée des aptitudes financières des jeunes. La Commission des valeurs mobilières de la Colombie-Britannique (BCSC) a retenu les services de l’entreprise Innovative Research Group pour évaluer l’efficacité des programmes d’enseignement financier offerts dans les écoles secondaires du Canada, tout particulièrement sous l’angle des résultats obtenus en littératie financière (connaissances, attitudes, sensibilisation), ainsi que de la préparation des jeunes Canadiens à devenir des consommateurs de produits et services financiers (comportements). La BCSC estime que les données et les analyses que renferme cette étude aideront les éducateurs et les décideurs à élaborer et mettre en place des programmes propres à améliorer la littératie financière chez les jeunes Canadiens. Le sondage sur lequel repose l’étude , qui a eu lieu du 7 au 26 septembre 2011, s’est déroulé en anglais et en français. Les résultats ont été établis à partir d’interviews menées en ligne auprès de 3 006 jeunes âgés de 17 à 20 ans.

 

2011 Graduate Outcomes Survey PDF icon small  

The BCSC and School District 23 (Central Okanagan) conducted the 2011 Graduate Outcomes Survey. This is their third suvey as partners. The Graduate Outcomes Survey assesses the life skills of recent high school graduates and their high school experience in preparing them to manage their finances. By surveying high school graduates, the BCSC wants to find out if young people in BC are becoming more financially literate. The BCSC has always emphasized education as an important tool of securities regulation.

 

 2010 Canadian Securities Administrators Survey (CSA) on Retirement and Investing PDF document   

In 2010, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) commissioned Ipsos Reid to conduct a survey on attitudes and experiences relating to preparedness for retirement and investing decisions. The survey was released as part of Investor Education Month in October. The online survey asked 2,318 Canadian adults about their financial readiness for retirement and behaviour towards investment opportunities.

 

2009 Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) Investor Index PDF icon small
In 2006, the CSA conducted an inaugural Investor Index, designed to understand Canadians’ knowledge about investments and experience with fraud attempts. A partial follow-up survey was conducted in 2007 and published as the CSA Investor Study. In October 2009, the CSA published the 2009 Investor Index to kick off Investor Education month. This research follows up on the work done in previous research and includes a new section on the importance of education about personal finances and investing for young people.  


2008 Graduate Outcomes Survey PDF icon small
The 2008 Graduate Outcomes Survey identified how well Kelowna-area graduates felt their education had prepared them for life, work, post-secondary education and managing their finances. Graduates from 2006 and 2008 participated in the fourteenth annual survey that includes questions aimed at assessing their financial life skills, which the British Columbia Securities Commission helped to develop.The annual survey is an opportunity for SD No. 23 and the BCSC to work together in order to understand if financial life skills education in high school better prepares youth to navigate through the financial realities of adulthood.


2008 The 21st Century Investor PDF icon small
This research focuses on the “Silver Tsunami”, a large group of Canadians who are currently in transition from working to retiring. The first phase of the on-line study of 1,770 Canadian investors was conducted in July 2008, with a significant sample of investors who are retired or nearing retirement. Following the global financial crisis, a second shorter survey of 1,058 Canadian investors took place between Oct. 16 and 17 to determine whether there has been a shift in investors’ attitudes.


2008 Investment Attitudes: Focus on Chinese-language investors PDF icon small
An investor survey focused on Metro Vancouver’s Chinese-language residents, which found that some of their attitudes toward investing could put them at risk of falling victim to investment fraud.


2007 Graduate Outcomes Survey PDF icon small
The Central Okanagan School District conducts a survey of recent high school graduates to identify how well Kelowna-area graduates feel their education prepares them for life, work, post-secondary education, and managing their finances. The BCSC worked with the school district to develop 13 new questions for the 2007 study aimed at assessing graduates' financial life skills. This work was part of the BCSC's ongoing financial literacy program that provides resources to high school teachers and students, both locally and nationally, to help young people build better financial life skills.


2007 CSA Investor Study: Understanding the Social Impact of Investment Fraud PDF icon small
Following up on its 2006 Investor Index, the CSA conducted a national study in 2007 to assess the impact of investment fraud on Canadian investors. The study showed that investment fraud is a serious problem in Canada that can affect people's trust in others as well as their mental and physical health.


2006 CSA Investor Index PDF icon small 

The CSA released the Investor Index at the beginning of Investor Education month in October 2006. The study was conducted to gauge investor knowledge and skills, their understanding and experience of fraud, and Canadians' awareness and expectations of their securities regulators.


2005 Eron Mortgage Study PDF icon small
The BCSC commissioned Professor Neil Boyd, an Simon Fraser University criminology expert, to conduct a systematic study of the Eron Mortgage fraud that saw thousands of investors lose most of the $240-million invested in the scheme that operated from 1993 to 1997. Boyd and his research team conducted surveys, held focus groups, and interviewed Eron investors.

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