Immigrants work so hard to make life more meaningful for themselves and Canada as a whole. Many professionals do one odd job or the other (often called “survival jobs”) to make ends meet, finance children's education, maintain a certain standard, send money home to family members, as well as to have some tidy sum stacked somewhere for any eventuality. Because we are the resilient breed, we often win. 

If it smells fishy,

it probably is fish.

The drive to get ahead however leads many to go into unguarded territories. In one of The Immigrant Life’s podcast episodes, two immigrants who invested their hard-earned money in phony investments without being aware narrated how they fell flat. The truth is most fake investments wear the toga of credibility. However, something is always missing - the missing link. Red flags are lined up, but the unsuspecting still falls anyway. 

Peter Routledge, in the concluding interview, explains how investors can seek some form of protection.

Is CDIC involved in safe keeping of your investments?

The short answer is NO!

The long answer is still NO!

CDIC only insures deposits in CDIC member institutions.

For the avoidance of doubt, the followings are not covered by CDIC:

• Stocks

• Bonds

• Mutual funds

• Digital currencies or cryptocurrencies

• Investments

• Equities

• Exchange credit funds

• Foreign currencies

• Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

• Deposits at non-insured banks

But does it mean that investors are unprotected?

The easy answer is NO! Investors are protected, not by CDIC, but by a sister agency ACAC. 

For more information on investor protection, visit fcac-acfc.gc.ca - the official website of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC). FCAC does consumer awareness and financial literacy programs to ensure your money does not fall into the wrong hands.

Written by Yinka Bakare