Behind the Financial Crimes Prevention & Mitigation Program
Ian Messenger
The motivation behind developing the Financial Crimes Prevention & Mitigation Program originated from my own personal experiences and understanding of the Compliance profession in Canada, specifically Toronto.
When I first arrived in Canada, I recognised that Canadian financial crime hiring managers look for 2 things:
“Canadian” Experience
Professional Certifications
The subject of “Canadian” experience is a Catch-22 - you can’t obtain “Canadian” experience unless you are able to get a job in Canadian, but then to get that first job….you need “Canadian” experience!
(A typical first entry into the Canadian financial crime job market is through contracting).
Similarly, I noticed that Canadian job postings listed Professional Certifications such as CAMS, CFCS, and/or CFE as “strongly preferred” or “recommended”. In such a competitive market, you can interpret these as “required” - at least to get the interview!
So when designing a certificate in Financial Crimes Prevention and Mitigation for the Canadian Institute for Financial Crime Analysis (CIFCA) at Seneca College, a course which addressed both these considerations faced by the aspiring Canadian financial crime professional made perfect sense.
As a result, completion of the program delivers both an academic qualification from a Canadian college (“Canadian Experience”) and preparation for the CFCS professional certification (“Professional Certifications”).
The Financial Crimes Prevention and Mitigation course costs CAD $2500 + HST from Seneca College. Registered students can apply for CFCS membership and certification program from ACFCS for a heavily discounted rate of USD $500 (normally USD $1245)