2026 RIA Investor Opinion Survey

Reports

| April 28, 2026

Back to Reports

Scroll down

Partners

The annual RIA Investor Opinion Survey tracks individual Canadian retail investors’ perspectives on responsible investment and related issues such as greenwashing and artificial intelligence. Investors are defined as individuals who currently own investments such as mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, stocks, bonds, or other securities.

Allocation intentions remain strong: Among investors who currently hold responsible investments, 47% expect to increase their allocations over the next year, while an equal share expect to maintain them. Only 1% expect to decrease and 5% are unsure.
Interest remains high: 67% of Canadian investors express interest in responsible investment, consistent with 2025.
Knowledge gap persists: 71% say they know little or nothing about responsible investment or have never heard of it.
Adoption holds steady: 28% report owning responsible investments, while 38% are unsure if they do.
Clarity and trust remain key barriers: Greenwashing and lack of knowledge about responsible investment funds (66%), followed by unclear fund labels (64%), are the top deterrents.
Shifting investment preferences: In response to economic, geopolitical and environmental factors, 43% of investors say they are more likely than one year ago to invest in Canadian-domiciled companies, compared to 37% for infrastructure-related energy and utilities firms and 25% for defense companies.

About The Responsible Investment Association (RIA)

The RIA is Canada’s investment industry association with a purpose of entrenching responsible investment (RI) in Canada’s financial ecosystem. The RIA’s membership includes asset managers, asset owners, advisors and service providers. Institutional members collectively manage over $45 trillion in assets globally. Learn more at www.riacanada.ca.

Related Events

No upcoming events for this report

Reports

| April 28, 2026