Skip to content
Free: Get the Canadian Investing Starter Kit →
Northern Investor logo Northern Investor

Editorial Policy

How we research, write, and maintain our content. Transparency is not optional — it is how we earn your trust.

Our Mission

Northern Investor exists to provide clear, practical, and Canada-specific financial education. We believe every Canadian deserves access to honest money guidance — free from jargon, paywalls, and hidden sales pressure.

We are not a financial advisory firm, brokerage, or product marketplace. We do not sell financial products or provide personalized investment advice. Our content is educational only.

Who Writes Our Content

Every article on Northern Investor is written by a named author with relevant credentials and hands-on experience. We do not use anonymous content, ghostwriters, or AI-generated articles without human editorial oversight.

Our current team includes:

  • Daniel Park, CFA — Investment Analyst & Educator (TFSA & RRSP strategies, ETF & index investing, portfolio construction, Canadian tax optimization)
  • Sarah Okonkwo, CFP — Financial Planning Educator (tax-free account optimization, RRSP strategies, forex education, retirement planning)

Each author's full credentials and published work are available on their team profile page.

How We Research

All factual claims, statistics, and regulatory information in our guides are sourced from authoritative references, including:

  • Government of Canada — Canada.ca, CRA (tax rules, TFSA/RRSP limits)
  • Statistics Canada — Economic data, income statistics, CPI
  • Bank of Canada — Interest rates, monetary policy, exchange rates
  • CIRO (formerly IIROC) — Broker regulation, investor protection
  • Provincial securities commissions — OSC, BCSC, AMF, ASC
  • Reputable financial publications — Globe & Mail, MoneySense, Financial Post
  • Academic research — Peer-reviewed studies on personal finance and investing

We cite sources within our content wherever possible and link to original data. If a statistic cannot be verified from a primary source, we do not include it.

Our Editorial Process

  1. Research & outline. The assigned author researches the topic using primary Canadian sources, identifies the key questions readers need answered, and creates a structured outline.
  2. First draft. The author writes the full guide, including Canadian-specific context, realistic examples with real numbers, and source citations.
  3. Fact-check & review. A second team member reviews all factual claims, verifies source links, checks that Canadian tax and regulatory details are current, and flags any unsupported assertions.
  4. Edit & publish. The article is edited for clarity, accuracy, and readability. It is published with the author's byline, publication date, and last-updated date.
  5. Ongoing updates. We review and update guides at least quarterly, or sooner when regulations change (e.g., new TFSA contribution limits, interest rate decisions, regulatory updates).

What We Will Not Do

  • We will never recommend a specific financial product, broker, or investment as "the best" without disclosing our reasoning and any potential conflicts of interest.
  • We will never use exaggerated income claims or misleading return projections.
  • We will never pressure readers into financial decisions. Education first, always.
  • We will never present American rules, products, or platforms as applicable to Canadians without clearly noting the difference.

Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure

Northern Investor may, in the future, include affiliate links or sponsored content. If and when we do:

  • All affiliate relationships will be clearly disclosed at the top of the relevant page.
  • Affiliate partnerships will never influence our editorial recommendations.
  • Sponsored content will be clearly labelled as such.
  • We will only partner with companies and products that meet our editorial standards.

As of this writing, Northern Investor has no affiliate relationships and accepts no advertising.

Corrections Policy

If you find an error in any of our content — whether factual, regulatory, or typographical — we want to know. Please email us at [email protected] with the article URL and a description of the issue.

We will investigate promptly, correct verified errors, and note the correction with a date at the bottom of the affected article. Transparency about our mistakes is as important as the accuracy of our content.

Contact Our Editorial Team

Questions about our editorial process? Feedback on an article? Reach us at [email protected] or through our contact page.