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Free CIRE study guides

Explore practical guides to understand the CIRE syllabus, organize your study time and practise key concepts. Developed around the official exam syllabus, our resources are available in English and French.

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CIRE exam guide 2026: format, syllabus and study plan

Who has to write the CIRE, what's on it, how its 110 questions split across nine elements, and a step-by-step way to prepare.

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  Study plans

  CIRE study plan: 30, 60 or 90 days

  Three week-by-week plans, 30, 60 or 90 days, to prepare for the CIRE while you work: how to split your time across the nine elements, a typical week and five study habits.

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  Syllabus elements

  CIRE Element 1 explained: who regulates what in Canada?

  Who regulates what in Canada? How the CSA, CIRO, CIPF, OBSI and FINTRAC fit together for CIRE Element 1, the distinctions that matter, and how to study them.

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  Syllabus elements

  CIRE Element 7: securities, managed products and mutual funds

  Element 7 has the CIRE's highest indicative weighting: about 21 of its 110 questions. The key ideas in plain English, the distinctions to understand and three practice questions.

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  Syllabus elements

  CIRE Element 3: scope of client relationships

  Element 3 accounts for about 17 of the CIRE's 110 questions. What each representative may do, account appropriateness versus suitability, and three questions to test yourself.

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  Syllabus elements

  CIRE Element 9: conflicts of interest and ethics

  Element 9 accounts for about 16 of the CIRE's 110 questions. How conflicts of interest are managed, what you can't do with clients' money, and three questions to test yourself.

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  Syllabus elements

  CIRE Element 6: market integrity, trade execution and settlement

  Element 6 accounts for about 13 of the CIRE's 110 questions. The market integrity rules, the main order types, how a trade settles, and three questions to test yourself.

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  Syllabus elements

  CIRE Element 2: prospective client relationships

  Element 2 accounts for about 11 of the CIRE's 110 questions. Who counts as an institutional client, what to learn about a retail client, how costs reduce returns, and three questions to test yourself.

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  Syllabus elements

  CIRE Element 4: client complaint handling and reporting

  Element 4 accounts for about 6 of the CIRE's 110 questions. How dealers handle and report complaints, where a dissatisfied client can turn, and three questions to test yourself.

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  Syllabus elements

  CIRE Element 5: market and company analysis

  Element 5 accounts for about 9 of the CIRE's 110 questions. How economic news moves the markets, how analysts read an industry and a company, and three questions to test yourself.

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  Syllabus elements

  CIRE Element 8: derivatives

  Element 8 accounts for about 6 of the CIRE's 110 questions. Options and other derivatives, how they are used, the derivatives account rules, and three questions to test yourself.