The Complete Guide to Mutual Funds in Canada

A mutual fund pools money from many investors and uses it to buy a diversified basket of investments — stocks, bonds, or both — managed by a professional portfolio manager. Canadians hold over $2 trillion in mutual funds, making them the most widely owned investment product in the country.

This guide is the table of contents for everything we teach. Each chapter is a plain-language deep dive — no jargon, no sales pitch.

Start here

• Mutual Fund Basics — what a fund is, how units and NAV work, and how you make (or lose) money.
• Mutual Funds in Canada — how the Canadian fund industry works, who regulates it, and why it's different from the U.S.
• Fees & MERs — the single biggest factor you control. Learn what you're really paying.

Choosing investments

• Fund Categories — equity, fixed income, balanced, money market and specialty funds, decoded.
• Asset Classes — what stocks, bonds and cash actually do in a portfolio.
• Mutual Funds vs ETFs — an honest comparison of costs, convenience and behaviour.
• Active vs Passive — does paying a manager to beat the market work?

Taking action

• How to Buy Mutual Funds — banks, dealers, discount brokers and robo-advisors compared.
• RRSP, TFSA, RESP & FHSA — where to hold your funds so the taxman takes less.
• Free Portfolio Review — get a second set of eyes on what you own.

Reference

• Glossary — every term you'll meet in a Fund Facts document.
• Financial Literacy — the money basics schools never taught.

Questions while you read? The Mutual Fund Genie — our AI assistant trained on Canadian fund investing — answers free, 24/7. And when you're ready to practice, open a $100,000 training portfolio.

Frequently asked questions