A Canadian planner choosing where to be found has three different kinds of option. FP Canada’s Find a Planner is the official registry of everyone who holds the CFP or QAFP, and it comes with certification. The Globe and Mail’s Find an Advisor is a free, fact-checked directory with paid priority placement for advisors who buy an enhanced package. Wellspent is a verified record for fee-only and advice-only planners in the public graph, which AI assistants and search read, for $89 a month (billed in US dollars). Neither FP Canada nor the Globe lets a client filter by how a planner is paid. On Wellspent, being fee-only is the entry rule.
The short version
| FP Canada Find a Planner | Globe and Mail Find an Advisor | Wellspent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A registry confirming who holds current CFP or QAFP certification | A newspaper’s directory of vetted advisors | A verified record in the public graph AI assistants and search read |
| Price | Comes with certification; no listing fee mentioned | Basic listing free; enhanced packages paid, prices not published | $89 a month ($890 billed yearly), US dollars |
| Who’s in it | Current CFP and QAFP holders, plus former holders and FP Retired | Advisors who pass the Globe’s vetting; not a complete list | Fee-only and advice-only planners |
| What’s verified | Certification, status and FP Canada discipline; contact details self-reported and unverified | Everything submitted, against CIRO, CSA and FSRA records, at application and after six months | Fee-only status; firms tied to an investment or mutual fund dealer are left out of fee-only lists |
| Fee-only filter | No | No | The entry rule |
| Search | Certification, distance, currently working with clients | Province, language, services | Specialty, region, fees and the clients served, plus AI assistants and search |
| Paid placement | No | Yes: enhanced packages get priority placement | No; lists rank on fit |
| Extras | None | Paid Client Approved badge | Introductions, a monthly AI visibility report, quarterly press placement |
FP Canada Find a Planner
Find a Planner exists to confirm credentials. FP Canada describes it as a way to confirm holders of current QAFP or CFP certification, and each result shows name, certification, status, location and any disciplinary history with FP Canada. Results also include people who used to hold a certification and those with FP Retired status, which is useful to a client checking someone out.
What it doesn’t do is describe a practice. Contact details are “provided by the individual planner and it is not verified by FP Canada.” Search filters cover certification, distance and whether the planner is currently working with clients. There’s nothing on fees, specialties or how a planner is paid. About 17,600 CFP professionals and 1,197 QAFP holders were certified in Canada in early 2026, according to Advisor.ca, so a fee-only planner shares the registry with every other kind.
If you hold the CFP or QAFP, you’re already in it. Check that your contact details are current.
Globe and Mail Find an Advisor
The Globe’s directory carries a national newspaper’s name and does real vetting. Its researchers fact-check what advisors submit, once at application and again six months after publication, against CIRO’s My Advisor Report, the CSA’s National Registration Search and FSRA records, and look for a clean record with regulators and professional bodies over up to 10 years.
A basic listing is free. Advisors who buy an enhanced package get priority placement in search results and are marked “Paid Profile.” A separate paid “Client Approved” badge requires at least 30 clients to answer a third-party survey and an approval rating of 80% or more. The Globe says its directory isn’t a ranking and isn’t a complete list of Canadian advisors. Clients search by province, language or services. There’s no fee-only filter, and the Globe doesn’t publish its package prices.
How AI assistants answer in Canada
Canadian clients increasingly ask an AI assistant first, and the answers look different from American ones. In our study of 600 AI answers, which covered 15 Canadian cities:
Source: Wellspent AI recommendations study, October 31, 2026
Canadian answers named fewer firms and cited firms’ own websites far less often. They leaned on Canadian sources instead: MoneySense, fee-only directories such as feeonlyfinancial.ca and maketheswitch.ca, and the public graph. For a Canadian fee-only planner, that means the lists and directories assistants read matter more than your own site does. A firm that isn’t in them is harder for an assistant to name.
What Canadian fee-only planners charge
The median ongoing fee among Canadian fee-only firms that publish one is C$2,300 a year (middle half C$1,200 to C$4,000, 21 firms). A one-time plan runs a median C$1,900 and hourly work C$250 (fee report). One ongoing client at the median pays for more than a year of Wellspent. Publishing your own price matters for the same reason it does in the US: assistants quote prices they can find, and a client comparing advice-only planners usually starts with cost.
Where FP Canada is the better choice
- Proof of certification. It’s the official check, and clients who know to look will look there. It costs you nothing beyond certification.
- Discipline history. A clean record on FP Canada’s own registry carries weight a commercial directory can’t.
Where the Globe and Mail is the better choice
- A national brand that checks. Fact-checking against CIRO, CSA and FSRA records is real verification, and a basic listing is free.
- You aren’t fee-only. The Globe lists registered advisors however they’re paid. Wellspent doesn’t.
- You want a client-satisfaction badge. Client Approved, a paid service, shows survey results from at least 30 clients.
Where Wellspent is the better choice
- Fee-only and advice-only is the point. On FP Canada and the Globe, a fee-only planner sits next to dealer-affiliated advisors with no filter to separate them. On Wellspent, firms tied to an investment or mutual fund dealer are left out of fee-only lists.
- No paid placement. The Globe sells priority. Wellspent lists rank on fit to the question, with no paid boosts (methodology).
- AI assistants already read it in Canada. The public graph was cited in 39% of Canadian answers in our study. Your record carries your fees, specialties, the clients you serve and credentials, with sources, in formats assistants read directly.
- More than a listing. Prospects write to you directly, with no lead fees. A monthly report shows who AI assistants recommend when your ideal clients ask, and each quarter members are matched to stories by specialty with media partners.
Using all three
These don’t compete. Keep your FP Canada contact details current, take the free Globe listing, and add a Wellspent record if you’re fee-only or advice-only. Use the same firm name, fees, specialties and service area everywhere, including your own site. Assistants check one source against another, and in Canada they lean on outside sources more than in the US. Advice-only planners can also look at FPAC’s adviceonlyplanners.ca.
Bottom line
FP Canada’s Find a Planner proves you’re certified. The Globe and Mail’s Find an Advisor puts a checked listing under a national brand for free, and sells placement above it. Neither tells a client who’s fee-only. A Wellspent record does, in a source Canadian AI answers already cite, with introductions, a monthly AI report and press, for $89 a month. For the full field, see the best financial advisor directories and Wellspent vs the Advice-Only Network.