Six in 10 Canadian financial advisors say they are more bullish on Canada than a year ago, Fidelity poll finds

A new Fidelity Connects Advisor Pulse Poll released Oct. 13 found that six in 10 Canadian financial advisors say they are more bullish on Canada than they were 12 months earlier, according to a Fidelity Investments Canada news release. The survey was fielded Oct. 5 and 6 among more than 1,500 advisors on the Fidelity Connects platform, with sample sizes for the release ranging from 1,509 to 1,544.

The result comes after four months of escalating trade talks and tariffs with the United States. In May, the same Pulse Poll series had already ranked Canada as the most compelling regional opportunity for client portfolios, ahead of emerging markets, the United States and Europe, Fidelity said. “In the last year, we have been watching a big shift in how advisors feel about their home country. The latest results show this optimism is not just transient, but that it is more durable and improving,” said Chris Pepper, vice-president of corporate affairs at Fidelity Investments Canada.

When asked why Canada looks more desirable for client capital, four in 10 advisors pointed to new policy direction and economic initiatives, including the Productivity Mega Deduction, as the primary driver, the release said. That measure was unveiled at the federal government’s Canada Investment Summit in mid-September. According to a Prime Minister’s Office release, the deduction is meant to let businesses write off a broader range of assets immediately, and Ottawa said it would cut Canada’s marginal effective tax rate on new business investment from roughly 13 per cent to 6.4 per cent.

The Investment Summit also produced nearly $500 billion in investment and financing commitments, the PMO said, including nearly $100 billion from pension funds, insurers and institutional investors and nearly $325 billion in bank financing pledges. Fidelity said the latest advisor optimism sits “on the heels of the Canada Investment Summit and the federal government’s new policies, aimed at catalyzing investments in nation building projects and enhancing productivity over the long-term.”

Fidelity’s Toronto-based Global Asset Allocation team, which manages $127.9 billion across 33 strategies for more than one million Canadian investors as of Sept. 30, said it has shifted its stance. Lead portfolio manager David Wolf, a former Bank of Canada adviser, said the team had long been underweight Canadian assets because of housing dependence, household debt and underinvestment, but now sees “a generational, multi-faceted policy response” and is “overweight the domestic market for the first time in over a decade.” The firm said Fidelity-related entities worldwide hold more than $380 billion in Canadian equities and bonds.

Cantech Letter carried the same Oct. 13 release. Fidelity Connects was ranked the top webcast and podcast among Canadian financial advisors for a sixth year in the 2026 Environics Advisor Digital Experience Study, the company said. Fidelity Investments Canada reported $428 billion in assets under management as of Sept. 30.

This article is general information and is not financial or investment advice.

Sources: Fidelity Investments Canada via CNW (Oct. 13, 2026); Cantech Letter (Oct. 13, 2026); Prime Minister of Canada, Canada Investment Summit (Sept. 15, 2026).