Paul Thorne, named an FP Canada Fellow in 2024, has been volunteering in ways that advance FP Canada’s mandate since before he became a CFP® professional.
“I’m getting recognized for doing something that is enjoyable to me, but that also allows me to further my profession because I get to see things that I wouldn’t normally see in my role at work,” says the Director of Advanced Planning for Estate & Financial Planning Services at Sun Life in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Through his volunteer work, Paul says, “I get to work with CFP professionals from every type of practice and from across Canada. That furthers my own understanding so I can improve my practice.”
In his previous career as a lawyer, Paul specialized in tax planning, estate planning, trusts and corporate structures. The content of his work was highly technical and, he acknowledges, boring even to clients in need of expertise. So, he made it a mission to make these complex but vital topics more accessible.
Through nonprofits, he would deliver presentations to new immigrants about corporate structures to give them a foundation on which to build new businesses and new lives. He would also teach people why they should have an estate plan.
In 2014, Paul earned his CFP certification and began to volunteer for FP Canada almost immediately. Having achieved first place on the President’s List for getting the highest mark in Canada, he was invited to an awards dinner in Toronto. That night, he was approached about volunteering with the organization and, soon after, he found himself drafting multiple choice questions alongside other CFP professionals.
“Every time I get together with the group of volunteers I work with, I’m learning something new, [and volunteering] also gives you the ability to change the profession going forward,” he says. “You can make a difference.”
This led to an offer to join the exam panel, where he has served for seven years, dedicating 40 to 50 hours to each round of exams two or three times a year. It was a natural fit to join the Exam Harmonization Task Force, looking for common ground in the exam processes of FP Canada and the Institut québecois de planification financière (now the Institute of Financial Planning). Paul recently joined the Standards Panel, which is tasked with reviewing and updating financial planning standards to keep pace with Canadians’ changing needs.
