Use this syllabus as your checklist for CSC Exam 1. The topics and weightings are aligned to CSI’s official CSC blueprint, and sections map 1:1 to the CSI curriculum chapters used for Exam 1 (Chapters 1–12).
Official sources (CSI):
Official topic weightings (Exam 1)
| Topic | Weight | Target questions (of 100) |
|---|
| The Canadian Investment Marketplace | 15% | 15 |
| The Economy | 13% | 13 |
| Features and Types of Fixed-Income Securities | 12% | 12 |
| Pricing and Trading of Fixed-Income Securities | 11% | 11 |
| Common and Preferred Share | 13% | 13 |
| Equity Transactions | 10% | 10 |
| Derivatives | 10% | 10 |
| Corporations and their Financial Statements | 8% | 8 |
| Financing and Listing Securities | 8% | 8 |
What’s covered
The Canadian Investment Marketplace (15%)
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Chapter 1 - The Canadian Securities Industry
- Describe the overall structure of the Canadian securities industry and how participants interact.
- Identify major participants in the Canadian securities industry (issuers, investors, dealers, advisers, regulators, SROs, exchanges, clearing organizations) at a high level.
- Explain how funds flow between savers/lenders and borrowers/issuers through financial intermediaries.
- Describe the investment dealer's role as a financial intermediary and the core services provided to issuers and investors.
- Identify major functional areas within investment dealers (sales/advising, trading, underwriting, research) conceptually.
- Differentiate investment dealers from other financial intermediaries in terms of roles and typical products/services.
- Describe the roles of financial intermediaries other than investment dealers (banks, trust companies, insurance companies, investment fund managers) at a high level.
- Recognize how intermediation affects liquidity, price discovery, and transaction costs conceptually.
- Identify common ways investors access markets (direct trading, managed products, advice) and how this affects distribution.
- Describe financial market trends and how they can influence products, distribution, and client expectations (conceptual).
- Recognize how technology and globalization can affect market structure and competition among intermediaries (conceptual).
- Describe how changes in investor preferences and demographics can influence market products and advice models (conceptual).
- Identify common conflict-of-interest risks associated with intermediation and why supervision and disclosure matter (conceptual).
- Recognize how information (research, disclosure, market data) supports investment decisions and market efficiency (conceptual).
- Differentiate primary market financing activities from secondary market trading activities at a high level.
- Given a description of a market role, identify which type of intermediary is most likely involved (investment dealer vs other intermediary).
Chapter 2 - The Capital Market
- Define investment capital and explain why it is needed by governments and corporations.
- Identify common sources of investment capital (households, institutions, foreign investors) conceptually.
- Describe why investors supply capital and how risk/return trade-offs influence capital allocation (conceptual).
- Differentiate major categories of financial instruments (equity, debt, derivatives, managed products) at a high level.
- Describe how financial instruments transfer cash flows and risks between parties (conceptual).
- Differentiate the primary market from the secondary market and describe the purpose of each.
- Explain how primary market issuance supports capital formation for issuers.
- Describe how secondary markets provide liquidity and price discovery for investors.
- Differentiate auction markets from dealer markets at a high level.
- Describe electronic trading systems used in equity and fixed-income markets at a conceptual level.
- Identify common market venues/structures (exchanges, ATSs, dealer/OTC markets) and where different instruments typically trade (conceptual).
- Recognize how market microstructure and order handling can influence execution quality and transaction costs (conceptual).
- Explain the role of clearing and settlement infrastructure in financial markets conceptually.
- Differentiate money markets from capital markets at a high level.
- Identify how retail and institutional participants can differ in market access and typical trading mechanics (conceptual).
- Given a scenario, identify whether an activity is primary market financing, secondary market trading, or market infrastructure/processing.
Chapter 3 - The Canadian Regulatory Environment
- Identify the main regulators and self-regulatory organizations relevant to Canadian securities markets at a high level.
- Describe the purpose of regulation in supporting fair and open capital markets and protecting investors.
- Explain the difference between rules-based and principles-based regulation conceptually.
- Describe how regulation and supervision are applied to market participants (dealers, advisers, exchanges) at a high level.
- Identify common compliance themes: suitability/KYC, disclosure, conflicts, market integrity, and recordkeeping (conceptual).
- Describe how SRO and member-firm supervision complements securities administrator oversight conceptually.
- Recognize the role of internal policies, procedures, and supervisory controls within firms (conceptual).
- Identify remediation options available to clients who feel they have not been well served (complaints and dispute resolution) at a high level.
- Describe the typical lifecycle of a complaint and why documentation matters (conceptual).
- Recognize the importance of ethical standards in maintaining trust and market integrity.
- Identify common ethical risks (misrepresentation, conflicts, misuse of non-public information) and expected responses (conceptual).
- Explain why disclosure and informed consent are central to ethical conduct (conceptual).
- Recognize when escalation to compliance/supervision is appropriate in ambiguous or higher-risk situations (conceptual).
- Differentiate suitability issues from market integrity issues in scenario prompts (conceptual).
- Identify key record types used in supervision and investigations (KYC forms, notes, communications, trade records) conceptually.
- Given a scenario, choose the action most consistent with investor protection, ethical standards, and supervision expectations.
The Economy (13%)
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Chapter 4 - Overview of Economics
- Define economics and distinguish microeconomics from macroeconomics at a high level.
- Describe how economic growth is measured conceptually.
- Identify common indicators used to assess economic growth and activity (conceptual).
- Describe the phases of the business cycle and how they can relate to market conditions (conceptual).
- Identify labour market measures (employment, unemployment) and why they matter to the economy (conceptual).
- Explain the role of interest rates in borrowing, saving, and investment decisions conceptually.
- Describe how changes in interest rates can affect bonds, equities, and the economy at a high level.
- Define inflation and describe how it affects real purchasing power and investment returns.
- Differentiate nominal returns from real returns conceptually.
- Recognize how inflation expectations can influence interest rates and yield curves (conceptual).
- Describe international finance and trade at a high level and why global conditions affect domestic markets.
- Identify exchange rate impacts on trade, inflation, and investment outcomes (conceptual).
- Recognize how economic indicators are used in investment decision-making (conceptual, not forecasting).
- Explain why central banks monitor growth, inflation, and employment when setting policy (conceptual).
- Given a macro scenario, identify the most relevant economic concept (cycle, inflation, rates, labour, trade).
- Describe how diversification across countries can reduce exposure to single-economy risk (conceptual).
Chapter 5 - Economic Policy
- Define fiscal policy and identify common fiscal tools (taxation and government spending) conceptually.
- Explain how fiscal policy can influence economic growth, employment, and inflation (conceptual).
- Describe the role of the Bank of Canada in the Canadian economy at a high level.
- Define monetary policy and identify common monetary tools used by central banks (conceptual).
- Explain how monetary policy transmits to interest rates and financial markets (conceptual).
- Differentiate fiscal policy from monetary policy in objectives and tools.
- Describe how policy changes can influence bond yields and equity valuations at a high level (conceptual).
- Recognize policy trade-offs (growth vs inflation, employment vs price stability) conceptually.
- Identify challenges governments face in setting economic policies (lags, uncertainty, constraints) conceptually.
- Recognize how coordinated or conflicting fiscal and monetary policy can affect outcomes (conceptual).
- Describe how central bank communication can influence expectations and markets (conceptual).
- Identify why government borrowing levels can influence fixed-income markets (conceptual).
- Explain how inflation targeting frameworks influence policy decisions (conceptual).
- Given a scenario, identify whether fiscal or monetary policy is the main lever being described.
- Given a scenario, identify likely market-sensitive channels (rates, currency, growth expectations) conceptually.
- Recognize the limits of policy in controlling shocks and why risk management matters for investors (conceptual).
Features and Types of Fixed-Income Securities (12%)
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Chapter 6 - Fixed-Income Securities: Features and Types
- Describe the fixed-income marketplace and why issuers and investors use fixed-income securities.
- Identify the basic features of fixed-income securities (par, coupon, maturity, yield, price, payment frequency).
- Explain key fixed-income terminology (coupon rate, yield to maturity, current yield, premium/discount) conceptually.
- Differentiate bonds and debentures conceptually and identify how security/priority affects risk.
- Identify Government of Canada securities and their typical risk characteristics (conceptual).
- Differentiate federal, provincial, and municipal government securities at a high level.
- Identify types of corporate bonds and describe common credit-risk considerations (conceptual).
- Recognize how credit ratings relate to default risk and required yield (conceptual).
- Identify other fixed-income securities (including money market instruments) at a high level.
- Explain how to read basic bond quotes (price/yield conventions and settlement) conceptually.
- Interpret bond ratings and identify what a rating change implies for credit risk (conceptual).
- Differentiate investment-grade and higher-risk corporate debt conceptually.
- Recognize key fixed-income risks: interest rate risk, credit risk, reinvestment risk, and liquidity risk.
- Given a scenario, identify the most relevant fixed-income risk for the investor and instrument.
- Describe how yield curves and issuer credit quality influence relative yields across bonds (conceptual).
- Given a bond description, identify whether it is a Government of Canada, provincial/municipal, corporate, or other fixed-income type.
Pricing and Trading of Fixed-Income Securities (11%)
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Chapter 7 - Fixed-Income Securities: Pricing and Trading
- Calculate the price and yield of a bond using basic present-value intuition (conceptual level).
- Calculate current yield from coupon and market price.
- Explain how the term structure of interest rates (yield curve) relates to bond yields across maturities.
- Identify common yield curve shapes (normal, flat, inverted) and what they may signal about expectations (conceptual).
- Describe fundamental bond pricing properties, including the inverse relationship between price and yield.
- Recognize how coupon and maturity affect bond price sensitivity to yield changes (conceptual duration intuition).
- Explain clean price vs dirty price and the role of accrued interest in settlement.
- Describe how bonds trade in the bond market (OTC structure, dealers, spreads) at a conceptual level.
- Identify common trading mechanics: quotation conventions, settlement procedures, and transaction costs (conceptual).
- Recognize how credit spreads change with market conditions and issuer credit quality (conceptual).
- Describe the purpose of bond indexes and how they are used for benchmarking.
- Recognize limitations of bond index comparisons (duration/credit differences) conceptually.
- Given a yield change, estimate the direction of bond price change and relative sensitivity (long vs short, low coupon vs high coupon).
- Given a quote, identify whether it represents a price or yield quote and interpret it correctly.
- Differentiate price return from total return for fixed-income investments conceptually.
- Given a scenario, choose bond characteristics that best match an objective (income vs stability vs interest-rate sensitivity).
Common and Preferred Share (13%)
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Chapter 8 - Equity Securities: Common and Preferred Shares
- Describe common shares as equity ownership and identify key shareholder rights at a high level.
- Describe preferred shares and identify common preferred share features conceptually.
- Differentiate common shares from preferred shares in risk, return, and interest-rate sensitivity.
- Recognize why preferred shares can behave differently in stress compared with bonds and common shares (conceptual).
- Identify common share valuation drivers at a high level (earnings, growth expectations, risk).
- Recognize common corporate actions affecting shares (dividends, splits) at a conceptual level.
- Identify reasons firms issue common versus preferred shares and the financing trade-offs (conceptual).
- Explain how stock indexes and averages are constructed at a high level and why they are used.
- Differentiate broad-market indexes from sector/style indexes conceptually.
- Recognize how a price index differs from a total return index conceptually.
- Describe why index movements can differ from the average performance of individual stocks (concentration effects) conceptually.
- Identify how common shares trade in equity markets and the role of liquidity and spreads (conceptual).
- Given a scenario, identify whether common or preferred shares better match a stated income or growth objective.
- Given a scenario, identify the key risk to highlight for preferred shares (rate sensitivity and issuer risk).
- Recognize how dividend characteristics differ between common and preferred shares (conceptual).
- Given an index description, identify what it is measuring and how it might be used as a benchmark (conceptual).
Equity Transactions (10%)
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Chapter 9 - Equity Securities: Equity Transactions
- Differentiate cash accounts and margin accounts and identify when each is used.
- Describe long and short positions and how they differ in risk and payoff.
- Explain margin account transactions at a high level, including borrowing and collateral concepts.
- Identify how margin requirements and margin calls can arise (conceptual).
- Describe short selling mechanics and key risks (loss potential, buy-ins, borrowing costs) at a conceptual level.
- Recognize how leverage amplifies gains and losses in margin accounts (conceptual).
- Describe trading and settlement procedures for equity transactions at a high level.
- Identify key settlement concepts (trade date vs settlement date) and why settlement matters.
- Describe how securities are bought and sold using common order types (market, limit, stop, stop-limit) conceptually.
- Recognize risks of different order types (execution uncertainty vs price uncertainty) conceptually.
- Identify the roles of dealers, exchanges, and clearing agencies in executing and settling trades (conceptual).
- Explain why trade confirmations and statements are important records for clients and firms.
- Given a scenario, select the order type that best fits a client instruction (price control vs immediacy).
- Given a scenario, identify whether a transaction is more appropriate for a cash or margin account (conceptual).
- Recognize how settlement failures and corrections are handled conceptually and the need for documentation.
- Given a scenario, identify the primary risk of a short position versus a long position.
Derivatives (10%)
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Chapter 10 - Derivatives
- Describe the role of derivatives and why they exist (hedging, speculation, arbitrage) conceptually.
- Identify common underlying asset types for derivatives (equity, interest rates, commodities, FX).
- Describe typical users of derivatives (hedgers, speculators, arbitrageurs) and their motivations.
- Differentiate exchange-traded and OTC derivatives at a high level (standardization and counterparty risk) conceptually.
- Describe options and identify basic terms (call/put, strike, expiry, premium) conceptually.
- Distinguish option buyer rights from option writer obligations at a conceptual level.
- Describe forwards and futures contracts and how they are used to hedge price risk conceptually.
- Differentiate forwards from futures conceptually (standardization, daily settlement/margin).
- Describe rights and warrants and how they relate to underlying shares conceptually.
- Recognize how leverage affects derivative positions and suitability considerations (conceptual).
- Identify basic option payoff intuition (calls benefit from upside; puts benefit from downside) conceptually.
- Recognize how derivatives can be used to manage interest rate and currency exposures (conceptual).
- Given a scenario, identify whether a derivative use-case is hedging or speculation.
- Given a scenario, choose which derivative instrument best fits the stated objective (option protection vs futures hedge).
- Recognize key derivative risks: leverage, liquidity, volatility, and counterparty risk (conceptual).
- Given a scenario, identify the information needed before using a derivative (exposure, horizon, risk capacity) conceptually.
Corporations and their Financial Statements (8%)
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Chapter 11 - Corporations and their Financial Statements
- Identify the three types of business structures and recognize key differences at a high level.
- Describe corporate structure concepts (share classes and limited liability) and why corporations issue securities.
- Identify the main financial statements of a corporation (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement) and what each describes.
- Describe the purpose of the annual report and what investors use it for (conceptual).
- Interpret the basic relationship between profitability, cash flow, and financial position using financial statement intuition (conceptual).
- Describe public company disclosure requirements and why disclosure supports market fairness (conceptual).
- Identify statutory rights of investors at a high level (conceptual).
- Recognize how corporate events (earnings and disclosures) can affect equity and debt prices (conceptual).
- Describe takeover bids and insider trading concepts and why they are regulated (market integrity rationale).
- Identify behaviours that create insider trading risk and appropriate "do not trade / escalate" responses (conceptual).
- Describe forwards and futures at a high level in the context of corporate risk management (conceptual).
- Recognize how derivatives may be used by corporations to hedge exposures (conceptual link).
- Given a scenario, identify which financial statement is most relevant to answer the question (profitability vs liquidity vs solvency).
- Given a scenario, identify whether a disclosure issue is likely material and why accurate disclosure matters (conceptual).
- Given a scenario, identify the corporate action or regulatory concept being tested (takeover bid, insider information).
- Recognize why governance, disclosure, and market integrity are foundational for investor confidence (conceptual).
Financing and Listing Securities (8%)
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Chapter 12 - Financing and Listing Securities
- Describe government and corporate finance needs and common reasons issuers raise capital.
- Describe the corporate financing process at a high level (planning, underwriting, distribution, aftermarket support).
- Differentiate debt financing from equity financing in terms of issuer obligations and investor claims.
- Describe how securities are brought to market, including prospectus concepts (conceptual).
- Recognize the role of underwriters and dealers in distributing new issues (conceptual).
- Identify the concept of aftermarket stabilization and why it occurs (conceptual).
- Differentiate distribution through exchanges versus other methods of distribution (conceptual).
- Identify common non-exchange distribution methods and why they might be used (conceptual).
- Describe the listing process and why issuers list securities (liquidity, visibility, access to capital) conceptually.
- Identify potential disadvantages of listing (costs and disclosure burden) conceptually.
- Recognize circumstances under which trading privileges can be withdrawn and the market integrity rationale (conceptual).
- Describe the role of regulatory approvals and disclosure in public offerings (conceptual).
- Given a scenario, identify whether the issuer is raising funds through debt, equity, or hybrid securities.
- Given a scenario, identify where the security is likely to be distributed (exchange vs OTC/other method) conceptually.
- Recognize how issuance and listing choices affect investors (liquidity, transparency, risk) conceptually.
- Given a scenario, choose the next step in a financing/listing process in an exam context (conceptual sequencing).
Tip: Treat every learning objective as a “can I answer a question about this in 60 seconds?” test. If not, add it to your miss log and drill it again in 48–72 hours.