Complaint Processing and Dispute Resolution — Summary of Our Policy

What is a complaint

A complaint is any reproach or dissatisfaction regarding a service or product offered by Altervest, communicated by a client, where a final response is expected. A final response is expected where your communication implies, explicitly or implicitly, that action must be taken to address the matter.

The following are not complaints: a request for information or materials about a product or service; a request for access to or rectification of personal information; a claim for an indemnity; a request to correct a clerical error or a mistake in calculation, unless further action is required to address the consequences of the error; and the communication of a comment or feedback.

How to file a complaint

Send your complaint to our Complaints Officer: Geneviève Blouin, Complaints Officer, Altervest Ltd., 7780 rue des Saules, Brossard (Quebec) J4X 2X4. gblouin@altervest.ca, 514-443-4397.

You may write in your own words, or use the complaint form available on the website of the Autorité des marchés financiers. A complaint filed using that form is validly filed with us.

If you need help putting your complaint together, we will assist you. Simply tell us. The AMF can also assist you.

The steps in the process

1. Registration. Your complaint is entered in our complaints register without delay and assigned a complaint record identification code.

2. Acknowledgement of receipt. We send you a written acknowledgement stating your right to request that the AMF examine your complaint record, and setting out the record identification code, the date we received the complaint if different from the date of registration, how you may obtain information about the processing of your complaint, the expected processing time and the date by which our final response must be provided, and a link to this summary.

3. Analysis. The Complaints Officer reviews the complaint, gathers the relevant documents and information, and may contact you for clarification. We keep you informed of the status of your complaint.

4. Final response. You receive a written final response stating that it is a final response, summarizing the complaint, setting out the conclusion of our analysis with the reasons for it and the outcome of the process, stating your right to request that the AMF examine your complaint record and how to make that request, stating the period within which you may accept any offer made, and giving the contact information and signature of the person who processed the complaint.

Simplified handling. Where a complaint can be resolved to your satisfaction within 20 days of receipt, we may communicate the conclusion of our analysis and any offer verbally or in writing. If it cannot be resolved to your satisfaction within that period, we send you the written acknowledgement described above no later than the 20th day following receipt.

Obtaining information about your complaint

Contact the Complaints Officer at gblouin@altervest.ca or 514-443-4397, quoting your complaint record identification code. We respond to status enquiries promptly.

Timeframes

We provide our final response as soon as possible and no later than the 60th day following receipt of your complaint.

Where exceptional circumstances or circumstances beyond our control apply, the final response may be provided as late as the 90th day following receipt. This normally arises where the analysis requires documents or information held by a third party, such as the custodian of your account, or another registered firm, or where the complaint raises exceptionally complex issues. In that case we send you, no later than the 60th day, a written notice setting out the circumstances, the date by which the final response will be provided, and your right to request that the AMF examine your complaint record together with an explanation of how to make that request.

Offers to resolve a complaint

If we present an offer, we give you a reasonable period to assess and respond to it, sufficient for you to seek advice before deciding. If you accept, we give effect to the offer no later than the 30th day following acceptance, or within any other period agreed with you.

We will never make an offer conditional on your giving up the right to have the AMF examine your complaint record, on your withdrawing another complaint, or on any restriction of your ability to communicate with the AMF or with a recognized self-regulatory organization.

Your right to have the AMF examine your complaint record

You may, at any time, ask us to send your complaint record to the Autorité des marchés financiers for examination. Write to the Complaints Officer at the coordinates above, or complete the AMF’s request for transfer form.

We send the record to the AMF within 15 days of receiving your request. The AMF examines the complaint and may, if it considers it appropriate, act as mediator if both parties agree.

Autorité des marchés financiers, Centre d’information: 1-877-525-0337.

Clients in Ontario and Alberta

Clients outside Québec may, at Altervest’s expense, refer a complaint to the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) where we have not provided a written decision within 90 days of receiving the complaint, or within 180 days of receiving our decision. OBSI considers claims up to $350,000. This service is not available to non-individual permitted clients. www.obsi.ca, 1-888-451-4519.