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Canadian Investment Regulatory Exam

CIRE syllabus and exam structure

Review the nine published CIRE elements, organize what you need to revisit and keep the official CIRO sources close as you prepare.

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Source: CIRO CIRE Syllabus, January 2025

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1. Canadian securities regulatory framework

11 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 4

  1. 1.1: CSA and provincial or territorial regulator roles
  2. 1.2: CIRO role, authority, rules and enforcement
  3. 1.3: Dealer registration and individual approval requirements
  4. 1.4: Functions of Canadian investment marketplaces
  5. 1.5: Functions of clearing agencies
  6. 1.6: Purpose and operation of CIPF
  7. 1.7: Other investment-industry regulators and agencies
  8. 1.8: Bank Act and securities-firm insolvency provisions
  9. 1.9: Criminal Code application to financial crime
  10. 1.10: Anti-money-laundering legislation and controls
  11. 1.11: Confidentiality, privacy, anti-spam and disclosure laws
2. Prospective client relationships

11 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 5

  1. 2.1: The client relationship model
  2. 2.2: Requirements for institutional-client classification
  3. 2.3: Retail and institutional client distinctions
  4. 2.4: National Instrument 45-106 exemptions
  5. 2.5: Investment Dealer onboarding process
  6. 2.6: Required retail-client information
  7. 2.7: Third parties and professionals in a client's life
  8. 2.8: Role of cost in product selection
  9. 2.9: Effect of fees, turnover and taxes on returns
  10. 2.10: Account-agreement and welcome-package documents
  11. 2.11: Client-record documentation and maintenance
3. Scope of client relationships

17 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 6

  1. 3.1: Registered Representative client-service role
  2. 3.2: Investment Representative client-service role
  3. 3.3: Trust, agency and fiduciary duty
  4. 3.4: Purpose and content of relationship disclosure
  5. 3.5: Typical retail Investment Dealer services
  6. 3.6: Typical institutional Investment Dealer services
  7. 3.7: Account-appropriateness obligations
  8. 3.8: Product due-diligence obligations
  9. 3.9: Know-your-product obligations
  10. 3.10: Appropriateness versus suitability
  11. 3.11: Retail-client suitability requirements
  12. 3.12: Institutional sophistication and suitability exemptions
  13. 3.13: Suitability-determination exemptions
  14. 3.14: Escalation to internal subject-matter experts
  15. 3.15: Systematic investment-management approaches
  16. 3.16: Use of investment-performance benchmarks
  17. 3.17: Serving clients in foreign jurisdictions
4. Client complaint handling and reporting

6 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 7

  1. 4.1: Regulator roles in complaint handling
  2. 4.2: Client complaint and dispute recourse
  3. 4.3: Client issues that may create liability
  4. 4.4: Complaint-reporting obligations and penalties
  5. 4.5: Dealer obligations to clients
  6. 4.6: Complaint policies, procedures and records
  7. 4.7: Prohibited settlement practices
5. Market and company analysis

9 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 8

  1. 5.1: Basic economic theories
  2. 5.2: Factors influencing the macroeconomy
  3. 5.3: Economic information sources and indicators
  4. 5.4: Macroeconomic effects on financial markets
  5. 5.5: Industry-performance analysis
  6. 5.6: Company-performance analysis tools
  7. 5.7: Rules affecting companies and investors
  8. 5.8: Stock-market behaviour theories
  9. 5.9: Technical-analysis tools and information sources
6. Market integrity, trade execution and settlement

13 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 9

  1. 6.1: Universal Market Integrity Rules
  2. 6.2: UMIR gatekeeping obligations
  3. 6.3: Gatekeeping requirements in market-abuse scenarios
  4. 6.4: Investment banking, research and corporate finance
  5. 6.5: Order entry, settlement and delivery
  6. 6.6: Features of order types
  7. 6.7: Order variations, cancellations and corrections
  8. 6.8: Order-confirmation requirements
  9. 6.9: Features of account types
  10. 6.10: Margin requirements
  11. 6.11: Derivative-account trading agreements
  12. 6.12: Reporting obligations to firms and regulators
7. Securities, managed products, mutual funds and other investments

21 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus pages 10–11

  1. 7.1: Asset classes traded by Investment Dealers
  2. 7.2: Equity features, risks and returns
  3. 7.3: Considerations for equity investors
  4. 7.4: Fixed-income features, risks and returns
  5. 7.5: Considerations for fixed-income investors
  6. 7.6: Purpose and uses of market indices
  7. 7.7: Types of pooled products
  8. 7.8: Managed-product features, risks and returns
  9. 7.9: Considerations for managed-product investors
  10. 7.10: Considerations for mutual-fund investors
  11. 7.11: Considerations for ETF investors
  12. 7.12: Other investment types and disclosures
8. Derivatives

6 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 12

  1. 8.1: Features of option contract types
  2. 8.2: Features of other derivative contracts
  3. 8.3: Basic uses of derivatives
  4. 8.4: Futures and options transaction mechanics
  5. 8.5: Listed and over-the-counter markets
  6. 8.6: Single- and multi-leg derivative strategies
  7. 8.7: Derivative-trading administration
  8. 8.8: Prohibited derivative-trading practices
9. Conflicts of interest and ethics

16 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 13

  1. 9.1: Importance of managing conflicts of interest
  2. 9.2: Conflict-identification and management process
  3. 9.3: Ethical and legal responsibilities to clients
  4. 9.4: Relationship between ethics and rules
  5. 9.5: Ethical principles and standards of conduct
  6. 9.6: CIRO and other conduct standards
  7. 9.7: Prohibited personal financial dealings
  8. 9.8: Requirements for positions of influence
  9. 9.9: Requirements for outside activities
  10. 9.10: Client-confidentiality policies and procedures
  11. 9.11: Information-control methods
  12. 9.12: Cybersecurity and confidential information

Published syllabus map

Nine elements, with CIRO's indicative question distribution.

Use the element titles and published outcomes to organize what you need to study. The counts describe the syllabus structure, not the importance of any one topic or a result guarantee.

1. Canadian securities regulatory framework

11 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 4

  • 1.1: CSA and provincial or territorial regulator roles
  • 1.2: CIRO role, authority, rules and enforcement
  • 1.3: Dealer registration and individual approval requirements
  • 1.4: Functions of Canadian investment marketplaces
  • 1.5: Functions of clearing agencies
  • 1.6: Purpose and operation of CIPF
  • 1.7: Other investment-industry regulators and agencies
  • 1.8: Bank Act and securities-firm insolvency provisions
  • 1.9: Criminal Code application to financial crime
  • 1.10: Anti-money-laundering legislation and controls
  • 1.11: Confidentiality, privacy, anti-spam and disclosure laws
2. Prospective client relationships

11 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 5

  • 2.1: The client relationship model
  • 2.2: Requirements for institutional-client classification
  • 2.3: Retail and institutional client distinctions
  • 2.4: National Instrument 45-106 exemptions
  • 2.5: Investment Dealer onboarding process
  • 2.6: Required retail-client information
  • 2.7: Third parties and professionals in a client's life
  • 2.8: Role of cost in product selection
  • 2.9: Effect of fees, turnover and taxes on returns
  • 2.10: Account-agreement and welcome-package documents
  • 2.11: Client-record documentation and maintenance
3. Scope of client relationships

17 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 6

  • 3.1: Registered Representative client-service role
  • 3.2: Investment Representative client-service role
  • 3.3: Trust, agency and fiduciary duty
  • 3.4: Purpose and content of relationship disclosure
  • 3.5: Typical retail Investment Dealer services
  • 3.6: Typical institutional Investment Dealer services
  • 3.7: Account-appropriateness obligations
  • 3.8: Product due-diligence obligations
  • 3.9: Know-your-product obligations
  • 3.10: Appropriateness versus suitability
  • 3.11: Retail-client suitability requirements
  • 3.12: Institutional sophistication and suitability exemptions
  • 3.13: Suitability-determination exemptions
  • 3.14: Escalation to internal subject-matter experts
  • 3.15: Systematic investment-management approaches
  • 3.16: Use of investment-performance benchmarks
  • 3.17: Serving clients in foreign jurisdictions
4. Client complaint handling and reporting

6 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 7

  • 4.1: Regulator roles in complaint handling
  • 4.2: Client complaint and dispute recourse
  • 4.3: Client issues that may create liability
  • 4.4: Complaint-reporting obligations and penalties
  • 4.5: Dealer obligations to clients
  • 4.6: Complaint policies, procedures and records
  • 4.7: Prohibited settlement practices
5. Market and company analysis

9 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 8

  • 5.1: Basic economic theories
  • 5.2: Factors influencing the macroeconomy
  • 5.3: Economic information sources and indicators
  • 5.4: Macroeconomic effects on financial markets
  • 5.5: Industry-performance analysis
  • 5.6: Company-performance analysis tools
  • 5.7: Rules affecting companies and investors
  • 5.8: Stock-market behaviour theories
  • 5.9: Technical-analysis tools and information sources
6. Market integrity, trade execution and settlement

13 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 9

  • 6.1: Universal Market Integrity Rules
  • 6.2: UMIR gatekeeping obligations
  • 6.3: Gatekeeping requirements in market-abuse scenarios
  • 6.4: Investment banking, research and corporate finance
  • 6.5: Order entry, settlement and delivery
  • 6.6: Features of order types
  • 6.7: Order variations, cancellations and corrections
  • 6.8: Order-confirmation requirements
  • 6.9: Features of account types
  • 6.10: Margin requirements
  • 6.11: Derivative-account trading agreements
  • 6.12: Reporting obligations to firms and regulators
7. Securities, managed products, mutual funds and other investments

21 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus pages 10–11

  • 7.1: Asset classes traded by Investment Dealers
  • 7.2: Equity features, risks and returns
  • 7.3: Considerations for equity investors
  • 7.4: Fixed-income features, risks and returns
  • 7.5: Considerations for fixed-income investors
  • 7.6: Purpose and uses of market indices
  • 7.7: Types of pooled products
  • 7.8: Managed-product features, risks and returns
  • 7.9: Considerations for managed-product investors
  • 7.10: Considerations for mutual-fund investors
  • 7.11: Considerations for ETF investors
  • 7.12: Other investment types and disclosures
8. Derivatives

6 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 12

  • 8.1: Features of option contract types
  • 8.2: Features of other derivative contracts
  • 8.3: Basic uses of derivatives
  • 8.4: Futures and options transaction mechanics
  • 8.5: Listed and over-the-counter markets
  • 8.6: Single- and multi-leg derivative strategies
  • 8.7: Derivative-trading administration
  • 8.8: Prohibited derivative-trading practices
9. Conflicts of interest and ethics

16 indicative questions · CIRE syllabus page 13

  • 9.1: Importance of managing conflicts of interest
  • 9.2: Conflict-identification and management process
  • 9.3: Ethical and legal responsibilities to clients
  • 9.4: Relationship between ethics and rules
  • 9.5: Ethical principles and standards of conduct
  • 9.6: CIRO and other conduct standards
  • 9.7: Prohibited personal financial dealings
  • 9.8: Requirements for positions of influence
  • 9.9: Requirements for outside activities
  • 9.10: Client-confidentiality policies and procedures
  • 9.11: Information-control methods
  • 9.12: Cybersecurity and confidential information

Source: CIRO CIRE Syllabus, January 2025 · Structure last verified August 22, 2026

Use the map

Build your study decisions from the published scope.

CIRO describes CIRE as the first of nine proficiency exams. Confirm the exams and other requirements for your intended approval category under current rules and, where relevant, with your sponsoring firm.

  1. 01

    Start with the exam facts

    Note the format, duration, delivery method and published element distribution.

  2. 02

    Work through each outcome

    Use the published learning outcomes as a checklist for organizing your own preparation.

  3. 03

    Return to official sources

    Use CIRO's current materials and rules when a requirement or exam detail affects your next decision.

Official sources

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CIRE Exam Hub

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Independent preparation

Official requirements stay with the official source.

Registration boundary

Official exam requirements, enrolment and fees remain with CIRO and other applicable authorities. Confirm the requirements for your intended approval category under current rules and, where relevant, with your sponsoring firm.

Official CIRE Exam HubCIRO rules and guidanceOur methodology

CIRE questions

Exam and source boundaries, answered plainly.

How is the CIRE structured?

CIRO's January 2025 syllabus describes a 110-question, two-hour, multiple-choice exam organized into nine elements. The question counts by element are indicative.

What does ExamPrep Canada provide on this page?

A clear map of the published exam structure, the nine syllabus elements and direct links to official CIRO sources.

Is ExamPrep Canada affiliated with CIRO?

No. ExamPrep Canada is independent preparation and is not affiliated with or endorsed by CIRO or any examination administrator.

Where should I confirm enrolment and approval requirements?

Official exam requirements, enrolment and fees remain with CIRO and other applicable authorities. Confirm the requirements for your intended approval category under current rules and, where relevant, with your sponsoring firm.

Published CIRE syllabus

Use the official structure to plan what to study.

Review the nine elements, then continue to CIRO for current official materials and requirements.

Build your CIRE study mapOpen the official CIRE Exam Hub →