Activities to be reported Outside activities

“Representative” here means any trainee or representative pursuing activities in a sector or sector class governed by the Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services This link will open in a new window, CQLR, c. D-9.2 (the “Distribution Act”).

The term “firm” is used solely for ease of reading. It covers all registrants, including independent partnerships and independent representatives.

The Regulation respecting the pursuit of activities as a representative This link will open in a new window sets out rules relating to the pursuit of outside activities.

The firm is responsible for knowing the obligations of its attached representatives.

For the representatives obligations, please, see this page.

Firm's obligations

General obligation

The rules stem from the general obligation for firms to oversee the conduct of their attached representatives and ensure that they comply with the Distribution Act This link will open in a new window and its regulations.

To satisfy this general obligation, it is good practice to put a compliance program into place (Refer to the Governance and Compliance Guide for registrants) (pdf - 25 MB)This link will open in a new windowUpdated on June 1st, 2021 that includes:

  • Hiring policies that include matters relating to outside activities
  • Annual follow-up meetings to review the situation
  • Annual general compliance training
Insight

The general obligation does not apply to independent representatives.

End of the insight

Obligation to keep a record

Firms are required to keep a record on outside activities in respect of their attached representatives. For each outside activity a representative engages in, the record must include, without limitation:

  • A description of the representative’s outside activity
  • The representative’s written document informing the firm of the outside activity (not applicable in the case of an independent representative)
  • The start date and end date (if known) of the outside activity
  • The actions taken, if applicable, by the firm to ensure that the representative acts in accordance with the Distribution Act and its regulations.

This record must be preserved for a period of at least five years from the date the representative ceases to act on the firm’s behalf or as an independent representative.

Outside activities declared to the AMF prior to December 2, 2023 do not have to be declared again. The firm must however keep a record on such activities and file the forms in it that were signed by its responsible officer when the activities were declared.

Representatives must report/declare their outside activities when they switch firms, even if they had previously reported them to another firm or declared them to the AMF.

Analysis tool

A good practice is to document in the record:

  • The verifications performed
  • The result of the analysis of the situation
  • Corrective action follow-up, if applicable
  • The decision (authorization or refusal) regarding the outside activity

Of the outside activities they are required to report to their firm, representatives are required to declare only the following to the AMF:

An analysis tool to help you

The AMF has developed a tool (pdf - 171 KB)This link will open in a new windowUpdated on September 7, 2023 to help firms comply with the regulatory obligations relating to the outside activities of representatives.

It is better to download the PDF file in Acrobat Reader to take advantage of all the form features.

The tool does not have to be submitted to the AMF. Once completed, it can be filed in the representative’s outside activity record to document the actions taken by the firm to ensure that the representative complies with the Distribution Act and its regulations.

Representative's obligations in respect of the pursuit of an outside activity

Representatives are responsible for reporting their outside activities in writing to the firm. The firm will not be held responsible for a representative’s failure to report an activity.

For more information about the obligations of representatives, see this page.