Before starting Element 1, let’s quickly understand the RSE exam and how to use this course effectively.

1️⃣ What Is the RSE? 🇨🇦

RSE stands for:

• 👉 Retail Securities Exam

It is a proficiency exam offered by CIRO for candidates pursuing retail securities advisory roles at a CIRO Investment Dealer.

The RSE focuses on understanding clients, assessing investments, making suitable recommendations, and maintaining client relationships.

For example:

• ➡️ Investment Representative (IR): The CIRE is the foundational exam for this role.

• ➡️ Registered Representative (RR) – Retail Securities: The CIRE and RSE form part of the proficiency requirements for this role.

• ➡️ Registered Representative (RR) – Institutional Securities: The institutional pathway includes the CIRE and ISE.

Think of RSE as:

• 👉 Building on your regulatory foundation so you can apply investment knowledge to retail client situations.

Your exact requirements depend on the approval category and any applicable exemptions or transition provisions.

🔗 Official RSE Page

2️⃣ RSE Exam Format & Registration 📝

The RSE exam has:

• ➡️ 120 multiple-choice questions
• ➡️ 3 hours
• ➡️ Proctored exam
• ➡️ Remote or in-person testing
• ➡️ Up to 3 attempts within a 12-month enrolment period
• ➡️ Passing grade: CIRO does not publish a single fixed passing percentage

With 120 questions in 3 hours, you have an average of:

• 👉 1 minute and 30 seconds per question

Some questions will take less time, allowing you more time for calculations and detailed scenarios.

For our mock exams, we recommend aiming for at least:

• 👉 65% or higher

This is our practice target, not an official CIRO passing grade or a guarantee of passing.

How to Register 🖥️

• Step 1: Go to the CIRO Exam Hub.
• Step 2: Open the Enrolment Portal.
• Step 3: Find Retail Securities Exam (RSE) in the exam list and select Enrol.
• Step 4: Follow the account instructions and confirm that you meet the enrolment eligibility requirements.
• Step 5: Complete your enrolment and pay the CAD $475 first-attempt fee + applicable tax.
• Step 6: After enrolling, access the Candidate Portal to schedule your exam.
• Step 7: Choose an available remote-proctored or in-person exam appointment.

If you need another attempt:

• ➡️ The second and third attempts cost CAD $300 each + applicable tax.
• ➡️ Failing three times within six months triggers a six-month cooling-off period.

3️⃣ How Is the RSE Divided? 🧩

The exam contains 9 Elements and 120 questions.

The indicative number of questions and approximate percentage for each element are:

Element	Official Element	Indicative Questions	Percentage
1	Know-Your-Client (KYC) & Suitability	27	22.5%
2	Fixed Income	10	8.3%
3	Equities	12	10.0%
4	Securities Analysis	14	11.7%
5	Managed Products and Other Investments	16	13.3%
6	Portfolio Construction	13	10.8%
7	Investment Recommendations	14	11.7%
8	Execution and Market Integrity	7	5.8%
9	Monitoring, Reporting and Maintaining Client Relationships	7	5.8%
TOTAL		120	100%

 

4️⃣ What Kind of Questions Should I Expect? 🧠

According to the official syllabus, questions can test your ability to:

• ➡️ Remember — recall a fact, rule, definition, or principle.
• ➡️ Understand — explain or recognize a concept.
• ➡️ Apply — use what you know in a client situation or calculation.
• ➡️ Analyze — compare information and determine an appropriate conclusion.

For example, you may need to:

• Assess whether an investment fits a client’s circumstances.
• Interpret how interest-rate changes affect fixed-income investments.
• Compare investment products and their risks.
• Calculate investment returns or other financial measures.
• Evaluate portfolio choices and investment recommendations.

So don’t focus only on memorization.

• 👉 Try to understand the logic behind each concept and how it applies to a client.

That’s why this course combines simple explanations + examples + games + questions.

5️⃣ How Should I Use This Course? 🎯

There are two ways to use this course:

🌱 Starting From Scratch

• If you haven’t studied the RSE material before:
• 👉 Start with the first lesson and continue in order.
• We have organized the material logically so you can build your understanding step by step.
• If a foundational concept feels unfamiliar, take time to review it before moving into more complex examples.

📚 Already Studied RSE

• If you already know the material and mainly need a review and summary:
• 👉 Use the Summary at the end of each Element, complete the games, and test yourself with the questions.
• Return to the detailed lessons whenever your practice results reveal a gap in your understanding.

6️⃣ Official CIRO Practice Questions 📝

At the end of each Element, we have included and analyzed relevant questions from the official RSE practice exam published by CIRO.

For each question, we explain:

• ➡️ Why the correct option is correct.
• ➡️ Why the other options are incorrect.
• ➡️ What concept is being tested.

👉 Study the reasoning behind each answer, rather than memorizing the answer choice.

This helps you apply the same concept when the exam presents a different client, investment, or scenario.

7️⃣ Our RSE Exam Resources 🚀

Our goal is to give you a clear preparation path:

• 👉 Learn the foundations → Understand the concepts → Review → Practice → Prepare for the exam

The course explains concepts in depth and gives you repeated opportunities to apply them.

• 👉 You may feel prepared for more than you encounter on exam day — and that is intentional.

We want you to develop a strong understanding, rather than rely on remembering a few familiar questions.

Our practice questions are designed to be challenging, with detailed scenarios and tempting answer choices.

👉 The goal is to prepare you for tougher situations, strengthen your reasoning, and help you approach unfamiliar questions with confidence.

This knowledge also supports your future work with clients and further investment studies.

📚 Your RSE Learning Resources

• ➡️ RSE Interactive Exam Notes — This is the course you’re currently taking. Learn through simple explanations, examples, games, summaries, and official CIRO practice-question analysis.
• ➡️ Element Summaries — Review the important points at the end of each element.
• ➡️ Interactive Games and Practice Exercises — Apply concepts and identify areas that need more attention.
• ➡️ Official RSE Practice-Question Analysis — Understand the reasoning behind correct and incorrect options.
• ➡️ CIRO RSE Study Materials — Access the official syllabus, study guide, and practice exam.

8️⃣ Before You Start — Promise Me These! 🤝

• ➡️ Don’t skip lessons or games if you are learning from scratch. They build and reinforce your knowledge step by step.
• ➡️ Don’t get stuck on one term. If something doesn’t completely make sense yet, continue. Important concepts will appear again through explanations, examples, games, summaries, and questions.
• ➡️ Try every game yourself first. Make your choice before checking the answer.
• ➡️ Understand instead of memorizing. Focus on why something works, not just remembering the words.
• ➡️ Practise calculations yourself. Work through the steps before reading the solution.
• ➡️ Read client scenarios carefully. Small details can change which recommendation is appropriate.
• ➡️ Don’t worry about getting questions wrong. Mistakes during practice show you exactly what you need to review.
• ➡️ Follow the process:
  👉 Learn → Practice → Review → Test Yourself

You don’t need to understand everything at once.

• 👉 Keep moving forward, and let the repetition, examples, games, and questions reinforce the concepts as you progress.

Now let’s start with Element 1 — Know-Your-Client (KYC) & Suitability! 🚀