OSC hosts free informative events for Investor Education Month

TORONTO – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today announced several investor education and outreach events to help people make informed financial decisions as part of its Investor Education Month activities in October.

October is Investor Education Month, an initiative of the Canadian Securities Administrators, the council of the securities regulators of Canada’s provinces and territories. World Investor Week also takes place from October 4 to 10 and is promoted by the International Organization of Securities Commissions.

“People are invited to attend our free online investor education events to learn about investing basics and avoiding fraud,” said Tyler Fleming, Director of the OSC’s Investor Office and a Canadian national co-ordinator for World Investor Week. “I also encourage people to visit our financial education website anytime, GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca. The OSC offers extensive investor education and fraud prevention resources to help people make informed financial decisions.”

The OSC’s Investor Education Month and World Investor Week activities include:

Twitter chat: learn how to avoid online investment scams on October 6 at 1:00 p.m. Special guests will include law enforcement, regulatory partners and community and industry organizations. Follow the conversation on the OSC’s investor Twitter handle, @smarter_money, and use the hashtag #FraudChat.

Telephone Townhall: find out more about investing basics and avoiding fraud on October 6 at 6:30 p.m. Participants can join online or by phone. OSC staff will host discussions, share important information and answer questions. A registration link can be found on OSC.ca.

OSC in the Community events: attend one of nine virtual OSC in the Community events throughout October. It is an outreach program that takes the OSC’s important regulatory mandate from Bay Street to Main Street in communities across the province. OSC staff share the latest updates for investors as well as tips for making informed financial decisions. Find an OSC in the Community event or request a presentation on OSC.ca. 

Check Before You Invest campaign: view a new digital OSC campaign to highlight the importance of checking the registration of any person or business selling an investment or offering investment advice. Registration helps protect investors from unqualified individuals. Visit CheckBeforeYouInvest.ca to learn more.

For more financial education resources, investors can visit GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca or sign-up for the Investor News newsletter.

The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair, efficient and competitive capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, to foster capital formation, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at http://www.osc.ca.

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