During the pandemic, Canadian financial services and institutions were forced to adapt to the work-from-home lifestyle as the country witnessed a nationwide spread of COVID-19. At first, this proved to be quite difficult, as until the lockdown, most of these services operated in-person and in-office. The drastic change in the work environment called for quick and swift adoption of technology, allowing banks and financial institutions to continue providing essential services to the public.
Despite the rapid adoption of technology by the Canadian financial industry during the pandemic, there is still one large issue. A majority of the technological tools used in the industry range between 10-20 years old. Outdated tech from the early-mid 2000s hinders the efficiency of the finance industry, a barrier that must be broken to better serve the public and clients. When looking at the technology used by advisors and financial services in Canada vs. the U.S., the Canadian side is falling well behind compared to their American counterparts. This is particularly odd considering that Canada has more advisors per capita than the Americans.
The technological overhaul must start with advisors, or the firms they work for. Independent advisors who have their own company may be hesitant to make the switch, as they have built their business around a process that they are familiar with. Firms, on the other hand, are perhaps hesitant to change their technology due to many factors, including cost and the time it takes to fully migrate to a new system. These obstacles may seem intimidating at first, yet new technology can indeed prove to be more efficient, both from a time and cost perspective.
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