In Canada, forex brokers are overseen by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). Unlike the situation in many other countries, the IIROC is the industry’s own self-regulatory organization. The organization is recognized by the separate financial regulators that exists in all of the Canadian provinces, such as the British Columbia Securities Commission and the Ontario Securities Commission.
Because of the Canadian government’s strict financial regulations, many international forex brokers refuse to accept Canadian residents as clients. As such, many Canadian traders are forced to sign up with a forex broker that is based in Canada. Many international forex brokers have therefore chosen to set up a local presence with legal business entities registered in Canada to better serve the local Canadian traders.