Updated July 20, 2026 | Editorial policy

Editorial standards and research methodology

StockScreener.ca publishes general-education guides for Canadian investors. The purpose is to explain account-location, tax, fund-structure, and brokerage mechanics clearly enough that readers can ask better questions and verify the rules for themselves.

The site does not publish personalized recommendations, price targets, predictions, or lists of securities to buy. A guide can explain a trade-off, but it cannot decide whether a security, account, or strategy is suitable for a particular reader.

Primary and official sources come first

Every new guide is researched from at least five current external sources. At least three must be primary or official sources. Depending on the topic, those can include:

• Canada Revenue Agency guidance and Department of Finance material
• Federal or provincial regulators and official legislation
• Issuer factsheets, prospectuses, fund reports, and portfolio disclosures
• Exchange notices, company filings, and official broker documentation

Secondary sources can help identify a question or explain context, but they do not replace the primary document for a material rule, fee, holding, limit, or product fact. Links go to the exact source page or document rather than to search results.

Changing facts are dated

Fees, yields, allocations, holdings, contribution limits, tax rules, prices, and product features can change. A changing figure is published with an effective date or as-of date and attributed near the claim. If two authoritative sources disagree, the guide explains the difference or leaves out the claim.

Calculations are presented as illustrations, not forecasts or personalized outcomes. Inputs and assumptions are stated so a reader can understand what the number does and does not show.

Financial safety and plain language

Guides use Canadian English, short paragraphs, direct explanations, and specific trade-offs. They avoid hype, fabricated urgency, unsupported certainty, and buy, sell, or hold instructions.

Every guide carries a prominent general-education disclaimer. Where an answer can depend on a broker, fund wrapper, treaty process, tax return, province, or personal circumstances, the article identifies that dependency and points the reader toward the relevant official source or a qualified professional.

Review before publication

Before publication, a guide is checked for source quality, factual attribution, dated figures, financial-safety language, useful internal links, metadata, canonical URLs, image references, and valid Article, FAQ, and Breadcrumb structured data where applicable.

A guide is not ready merely because the HTML works. It must also provide a clear answer, distinguish facts from judgment, preserve uncertainty where it exists, and give readers enough sourcing to verify the material independently.

Corrections and updates

When a factual error is identified, the page is corrected rather than left in place for traffic. The source and affected explanation are rechecked, the visible updated date and structured-data modification date are changed when appropriate, and a material correction is explained in the article.

Routine changes to fees, holdings, limits, or product details are handled as dated updates. Older figures may remain when they are necessary to explain a historical change, but they are labelled with their original date.

Author transparency

Guides are written by Ryan Billings, the writer behind StockScreener.ca. His author profile states what he covers, how he researches, and the limit that matters most: he is not a licensed advisor.