Registered Retirement Consultant® (RRC®)

What is the Registered Retirement Consultant (RRC) Designation?

The Registered Retirement Consultant Designation program was established in 2009 and provides the learner with an advanced understanding of financial planning concepts and strategies with a specialization in retirement and estate planning. The program contains technical knowledge to enable a financial planner to speak to clients with confidence and competence.

The RRC designation is approved through FSRA in Ontario as a Financial Planner (FP) Title.

With successful completion of the Registered Retirement Consultant (RRC) program and subject to meeting a qualifying work experience requirement and agreeing to abide by a code of conduct and ethics and standards of practice, the learner has earned the right to use the prestigious RRC certification mark (the individual must satisfy an annual continuing education obligation to maintain RRC certification).

  1. RRC/CR Course Part I

    • Unit 1: Introduction to Retirement Planning
    • Unit 2: Government Sponsored Retirement Income Programs
    • Unit 3: Employer Sponsored Pension Plans
    • Unit 4: DPSPs, RRSPs and TFSAs
    • Unit 5: RRIFs, LIFs, and Locked-In RIFs
    • Unit 6: Education Planning
    • Unit 7: Retirement Savings Plans
    • Final Examination

    Estimated self-study time to complete: 3-6 months

  2. RRC/CR Course Part II

    • Unit 1: Taxation During Retirement
    • Unit 2: Post-Retirement Planning
    • Unit 3: Retirement Decisions
    • Unit 4: Family Relationships and Support Obligations
    • Unit 5: Family Property and Other Issues
    • Unit 6: Wills and Powers of Attorney for Property
    • Unit 7: Living Wills, Forms of Property Interests, Intestacy and Probate
    • Unit 8: Personal Trusts
    • Unit 9: Other Estate Planning Considerations
    • Unit 10: Death and Taxes
    • Final Examination

    Estimated self-study time to complete: 3-6 months

  3. RRC/CR Course Part III

    • Unit 1: Financial Services Marketplace
    • Unit 2: Economics
    • Unit 3: Ethical Practices and Professional Conduct
    • Unit 4: Strategic Investment Planning
    • Unit 5: Financial Management
    • Unit 6: Fixed Income
    • Unit 7: Mutual Funds
    • Unit 8: Equities, Derivatives and Alternative Investments
    • Unit 9: Foundations of Risk and Insurance
    • Unit 10: Disability Insurance and Health Care Insurance
    • Unit 11: Foundations of Tax
    • Unit 12: Basic Income for Tax Purposes
    • Unit 13: Taxation for Investors
    • Final Examination

    Estimated self-study time to complete: 3-6 months

  4. RRC/CR Retirement Plan Course

    Each student must submit a retirement plan to CIFP, based on a sample case study, within the specified timelines. The plan must represent the original and independent work of the student. As in real life and unique to each client, the length of the retirement plan, its content, its format and its degree of complexity are judgment calls each student must make as part of assessing the circumstances of the client in the mock case study.

    Students will submit their Retirement Plan to the CIFP Retirement Institute for grading and maybe required to defend their conclusions, recommendations and strategies by way of a telephone interview.If required, the telephone interview will range from 45 to 60 minutes in duration. As part of the interview, the student will be asked to provide an oral summary of the plan and will be called upon by a member(s) of the CIFP Retirement Institute to explain, justify and/or defend various aspects of the plan. This oral defense of the retirement plan will factor in to the grading of the plan as a whole.

    Estimated self-study time to complete: 1 month

To attain full certification as a Registered Retirement Consultant/Conseillers en Retraite and Conseillères en Retraite licensee, candidates must complete both educational and non-educational components:

Educational Components

  • successful completion of the CIFP Registered Retirement Consultant Program of study which entails:
    • learning the content contained within the education Program
    • submitting all end-of-unit formal assessments
    • attaining a minimum grade of 60% on the proctored final Program examination
    • attaining a minimum cumulative Program grade of 60% (i.e. based on a weighting of 30% for the end-of-unit formal assessments and 70% for the final Program examination)
  • creation and defense of a retirement plan that is evaluated by the CIFP Retirement Institute based on a detailed case study

Annual professional development

Once certified, RRC/CR licensees must, on an annual basis, complete a minimum of 10 (ten) verifiable continuing education activities approved by the CIFP Retirement Institute.

Non-Educational Components

RRC/CR licensees must:

  • have a minimum of one year of qualifying work experience as adjudged by the CIFP Retirement Institute to attain certification
  • following certification, on an annual basis, licensees must:
    • attest to abide by the terms and conditions of the RRC/CR Certification Marks License Agreement
    • attest to abide by the Code of Conduct for RRC/CR licensees
    • attest to abide by the Practice Standards for RRC/CR licensees

As a Registered Retirement Consultant professional, you have an obligation as per the Code of Conduct (Principle of Disclosure of Information and Compensation) to notify clients and prospective clients that you hold the Registered Retirement Consultant credential in good standing. This disclosure must be done in a timely manner:

'A Registered Retirement Consultant licensee is required to disclose all material information to clients, in keeping with relationship disclosure information obligations, that may reasonably be construed to potentially impact the engagement. This includes disclosing to clients and prospective clients, in a timely manner, that the licensee holds the Registered Retirement Consultant designation in good standing (provided such disclosure is factually accurate)…'

CIFP has expanded the learning objectives covered in the program of study for the Registered Retirement Consultant (RRC) designation.

Please read this document carefully to learn how these changes affect you as an existing CIFP credential holder and the timelines involved.

In keeping with our ongoing effort to encourage Financial Planners to provide planning services with the utmost professionalism and competence and most importantly, in a manner that serves the best interests of their clients and the Canadian investing public, CIFP has expanded the learning objectives covered in the programs of study leading to the RRC designations.

As an existing CIFP credential holder, you are responsible for studying this new 'top-up' content and must do so within specified timelines as a condition of your certification or ongoing licensing through CIFP.

Options for Existing CIFP Credential Holders

As a holder of the RRC designation, you are aware that to remain in good standing, you must fulfill continuing education obligations on an annual basis. You can choose to integrate the leaning of the new 'top-up' content into your continuing education requirements for 2022 or possibly, 2023.

Your options as an existing CIFP credential holder are as follows:

  1. You can choose to complete the new 'top-up' content separately from your normal continuing education obligations. In other words, you want to study the new content as a discrete education offering. The deadline for you to successfully complete the 'top-up' course is July 1, 2023.

    NOTE: If you intend to follow this option (i.e. you are opting not to designate the 'top-up' content as part of your mandatory continuing education requirement), you still have a responsibility to complete the normal continuing education requirements that apply to your designation.

  2. You can choose to study the 'top-up' content identified in the revised curriculum for your designation and claim it as your verified continuing education activity for the calendar year in which you complete the 'top-up' course. The deadline for successful completion of this option is July 1, 2023.

    NOTE: If you intend to follow this option, the top-up content can be used to satisfy your CE obligation for 2022 if completed between July 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022; if completed in calendar year 2023, before July 1st of that year, the top-up content can be used to satisfy your CE obligation for 2023.

  3. If you have already completed your continuing education obligation for calendar year 2022 (i.e. prior to July 1st and prior to the launch of the revised curriculum for your designation), you must complete the 'top-up' content identified in the revised curriculum prior to July 1, 2023.

    NOTE: Since you have already completed your mandatory continuing education requirements for 2022, if the 'top-up' content is completed in calendar year 2023, before July 1st of that year, it will satisfy the continuing education requirements for calendar year 2023.

  4. If you attained RRC certification in 2022 but, prior to the official launch of the revised curriculum for your designation (i.e. prior to July 1, 2022), technically, you do not have a mandatory continuing education obligation for 2022 as it is your first year of certification.

    Assuming you do not complete the 'top-up' content independently of your continuing education requirement, you will be required to complete the 'top-up' content as a continuing education course for calendar year 2023. The deadline for successful completion of this option is December 31, 2023.

Format of 'Top-up' Course

The mandatory 'top-up' content as part of the revised curriculum for your CIFP credential will be offered in the same format as the courseware you studied on the path to certification—that is, it will be a self-contained, online, self-study course.

As with other CIFP continuing education offerings, the 'top-up' course will include a formal assessment which must be completed and submitted online. Successful completion of the 'top-up' course requires you to review the course content and attain a minimum grade of 60% on the formal assessment. The course does not have a formal final examination (i.e. your entire grade is based on your mark for the formal assessment).

In addition, to the self-study path, CIFP instructor-led, online training sessions may be available to guide you through the content contained in the 'top-up' course. Contact CIFP for details and availability based on your situation.


Program Fees

RRC Program Enrollment: $599.00 + GST/HST

  • Includes enrolment into all courses within the program and first exam attempt
  • Subsequent exam attempts (maximum of 2): $80.00 + GST/HST
  • Optional Printed Text Material (per course): $80.00 + GST/HST

Designation Yearly Renewal: $149.00 + Applicable Provincial Regulation Fee* + GST/HST

To enrol into the Registered Retirement Consultant (RRC) Program, you can either call the CIFP Education Services Department at 1-866-635-5526 or enrol directly through the CIFP.ca website by creating an account.

*Provincial Regulation fees are only applicable to those who hold a Financial Planner (FP) title in Ontario