Matthew Latimer

Matthew Latimer

Financial Services Software Developer Advocate OCAD Grad Traveller

Executive Director by day, developer on weekends, advocate always. Twenty years in Canada's investment industry — with a few surprises.

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About

Federation
7

Years as Executive Director of the Federation of Independent Dealers, championing independent investment and mutual fund dealers across Canada.

independentdealers.ca →
📈 Career
20

Years in financial services. Trust, custody, dealer services, regulatory strategy, and advocacy.

Software Development

Full-Stack Builder

Shipping production SaaS platforms, desktop apps, financial tools, and membership systems. Rails, Python, Svelte, Rust, Tauri, PostgreSQL.

Advocacy

United for Literacy

Foundation Board member at one of Canada's oldest literacy organizations. 1 in 5 working-age Canadians struggles with basic literacy — improving it could add billions to GDP.

unitedforliteracy.ca →
🐶 After Hours

Canine Rescue

Raising funds for canine rescues and shelters. Because every dog deserves a second chance.

🎤 Media

In the Press

Featured as a "Newsmaker" in Investment Executive. Quoted in The Globe and Mail. Guest on the Insight is Capital podcast with Pierre Daillie.

🎨 Origins

OCAD University

Toronto native. Illustration degree from OCAD, then pivoted to financial services. The design eye never left — it just found new canvases.

Industry

Regulatory Strategy

Working directly with regulators to shape policy. Trust, custody, dealer services, compliance frameworks — navigating the landscape so independent firms can focus on their clients.

Rescue dog
🌐 Vision

Economic Inclusion

Financial literacy gaps leave Canadians vulnerable to costly mistakes, scams, and retirement risk. Advocacy bridges the gap between advice and the people who need it most.

Rescue dog
📚 Career Arc

From Art to Finance

Print and design industry, then advisor facing roles at M.R.S., National Bank of Canada, and Canadian Western Bank, then the Federation. A nonlinear path that connects more dots than you'd expect.

🎧 Podcast

Insight is Capital

Joined Pierre Daillie and Mélanie Valcin for a conversation on literacy, financial advice, and economic inclusion in Canada. A sobering and hopeful discussion.

Rescue dog
🛠 Tech Stack

The Tools

Ruby on Rails, Python, Svelte, Rust, Tauri, PostgreSQL, Oracle. Desktop and web. From back-end APIs to pixel-perfect frontends.

🏭 Federation

30 Years Strong

Founded in 1996, a grassroots, member-driven association that has worked through every issue and hurdle dealers have faced for three decades and counting.

Advice is having someone in your corner, who knows all the ins and outs, and who can provide advice customized to your situation. It's a real human-to-human conversation.
Investment Executive
We want to partner with regulators, to be at the same pace as them, and to have input on regulation earlier, rather than later.
Investment Executive
People are a lot more than a risk profile. And that's what advice is.
Investment Executive
The culture is changing to a more professional, more compliant and more client-centric and holistic financial-planning environment.
The Globe and Mail
If you're not willing to talk about fees, you're an endangered species.
Investment Executive
That's what's missing in many of these cost reports: the value of advice.
Investment Executive
With technology, advisors will hopefully be able to spend less time on compliance and paperwork and more time demonstrating their value by providing advice to Canadians.
The Globe and Mail
Broadening our focus lets us expand our services to our existing membership base as they go through the evolution of becoming dual-platform dealers.
The Globe and Mail
Nobody today supports pre-signed forms as a way to circumvent or shortcut compliance. But the culture of compliance has changed. So, everybody has to be onside.
The Globe and Mail
We think the new SRO has a lot of choices in front of it that are critical to the industry's future.
The Globe and Mail
For us, independence isn't related to assets under management. We consider the term 'independent' to be more inclusive rather than exclusive.
The Globe and Mail
We were in a static competitive environment for several years prior to SRO harmonization.
Investment Executive
We've come through our strategic review refocused, recharged and reinvigorated with a new mandate.
The Globe and Mail
Excessive spending is oftentimes not useful or unwelcome at the advisory level. Advisors want to be working on the same side of the table as their clients.
The Globe and Mail
An important piece could be a cost analysis of the proficiency framework we have in place now. Once a fulsome analysis has been done, then we can start a conversation around solutions.
Wealth Professional
Advice is having someone in your corner, who knows all the ins and outs, and who can provide advice customized to your situation. It's a real human-to-human conversation.
Investment Executive
We want to partner with regulators, to be at the same pace as them, and to have input on regulation earlier, rather than later.
Investment Executive
People are a lot more than a risk profile. And that's what advice is.
Investment Executive
The culture is changing to a more professional, more compliant and more client-centric and holistic financial-planning environment.
The Globe and Mail
If you're not willing to talk about fees, you're an endangered species.
Investment Executive
That's what's missing in many of these cost reports: the value of advice.
Investment Executive
With technology, advisors will hopefully be able to spend less time on compliance and paperwork and more time demonstrating their value by providing advice to Canadians.
The Globe and Mail
Broadening our focus lets us expand our services to our existing membership base as they go through the evolution of becoming dual-platform dealers.
The Globe and Mail
Nobody today supports pre-signed forms as a way to circumvent or shortcut compliance. But the culture of compliance has changed. So, everybody has to be onside.
The Globe and Mail
We think the new SRO has a lot of choices in front of it that are critical to the industry's future.
The Globe and Mail
For us, independence isn't related to assets under management. We consider the term 'independent' to be more inclusive rather than exclusive.
The Globe and Mail
We were in a static competitive environment for several years prior to SRO harmonization.
Investment Executive
We've come through our strategic review refocused, recharged and reinvigorated with a new mandate.
The Globe and Mail
Excessive spending is oftentimes not useful or unwelcome at the advisory level. Advisors want to be working on the same side of the table as their clients.
The Globe and Mail
An important piece could be a cost analysis of the proficiency framework we have in place now. Once a fulsome analysis has been done, then we can start a conversation around solutions.
Wealth Professional

Arc

OCAD University
Illustration Degree
Studied at Ontario College of Art & Design in Toronto. Developed the visual thinking that now shapes everything from UI design to regulatory strategy decks.
Early Career
Print, Design & Financial Operations
Crossed from the creative industry into advisor facing roles in trust, custody, and dealer services — including time at M.R.S., National Bank of Canada, and Canadian Western Bank.
FMFD
Assistant Executive Director
Joined the Federation of Mutual Fund Dealers under its long-time Executive Director to champion independent dealers across Canada.
FID — Present
Executive Director
Named Executive Director, now approaching a decade in the role. Led the rebrand to the Federation of Independent Dealers. Drives strategic initiatives, regulatory advocacy, and events for members and the broader industry alike.
2020
Charitable Bakery
Launched a charitable bakery with his wife to raise funds for canine cardiology originally, and even more today.
Ongoing
Builder & Advocate
Shipping production software. Sitting on the United for Literacy Foundation board. Raising funds for canine rescues. Steering committee member of the newly formed 100 Men of Bay St.

Let's Talk

Open to interesting conversations, collaborations, and good causes.