Accountant, notary, tax lawyer: the role of an independent financial planner

When you own assets in two countries, you usually end up dealing with several professionals: an accountant for your tax returns, a notary for a will or a property purchase, and sometimes a tax lawyer for a more complex question. Each of them is competent in their own field, but none of them is there to look at your whole situation and make sure their advice points in the same direction. That is where an independent financial planner fits in.

The accountant

In Canada, your accountant, often a CPA, prepares your tax returns and makes sure you meet your obligations, such as declaring your foreign assets on form T1135, reporting income from abroad and claiming credits for tax paid in the other country. Your accountant can also tell you how a decision will be treated for tax purposes. On the other hand, they usually work once a year, on the basis of what you bring them, and their role is not to tell you whether your savings are well invested or whether your plans can be financed.

The notary

In British Columbia, notaries public prepare wills, powers of attorney and representation agreements, and handle property transactions; more complex situations are passed on to a lawyer. If you still own property or other assets in your home country, a notary or lawyer there will also be needed for property, gifts and inheritance, and the rules of the two countries do not always fit together.

The tax lawyer

A tax lawyer is brought in for questions that go beyond the annual tax return: a company held abroad, a trust, a move with significant assets, or a dispute with the tax authorities. Their advice is valuable but it comes at a cost, so it is worth arriving with a clearly defined question and a well-prepared file.

The independent financial planner

My role is different. I look at your situation as a whole: what you own in each country, what you earn and spend, your plans and the timeline they fit into. From there, I help you make the decisions that belong to financial planning, such as the order in which to use your accounts, how your investments are spread, or when to transfer money. For everything that falls under tax or law, I note the points that your accountant, notary or lawyer will act on, and help you pass them a complete file, in the right order.

That is what is meant by the role of a conductor. I don't do the work of the other professionals, but I make sure each of them comes in at the right time and that the whole remains consistent with your goals.

An example

Take a fictional family who have lived in Vancouver for two years and still own an apartment back home through a company, as well as a life insurance policy. While preparing their financial plan, I list everything they own and note three points. The company may fall under the FAPI rules, which their accountant needs to look at before the next tax return. Their only will was written before they left, so a notary in Vancouver and their adviser back home need to check how it applies to what they now own in each country. And their plan to buy a house here partly depends on selling the apartment, whose timing will have tax consequences in both countries. Each professional receives what they need, and the family keeps an overall view of how everything fits together.

Why independence matters

An advisor paid by commission has an interest in the solution involving a product. An independent planner, paid only by clients, can just as well recommend that you buy nothing, or that you see another professional, without it changing what they earn.

General information, current as of October 2026. This guide is not legal or tax advice.