Complaints

Summary of Our Complaint Process

Northleaf Capital Partner’s Mission Statement expresses that we are committed to building long-term relationships with our investors, investment partners and colleagues based on trust, openness, respect and the highest standards of integrity and professionalism. As such, it is our responsibility to treat any complaint seriously with a commitment towards resolving any issues carefully, in a fair, transparent and efficient manner. 

What is a Complaint?

A complaint is the communication of a reproach or dissatisfaction in respect of a service or product we offer, and an expectation that we respond and/or take action to address the situation. 

How to Make a Complaint

If you experience an issue with a Northleaf Capital Partners service or product, we encourage you to raise the issue as soon as it comes up with your firm contact. If you are not satisfied with the response received, you can escalate the matter by submitting your complaint for formal review in accordance with the process described below. You may submit a complaint to us by whichever means is convenient for you.

Contact us by:

Mail:  
Northleaf Capital Partners
40 King Street West
Suite 5600
Toronto, Ontario Canada  M5H 3S1 
Attn: Chief Compliance Officer

Phone: +1 866 964 4141 (toll free)

Email: compliance@northleafcapital.com

We can assist you in preparing your complaint, if needed, and we remain available to address any questions you may have about our complaints process. You may also complete this complaint form provided by our regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).

Steps in the Complaint Process

1. We acknowledge receipt of your complaint

We send you a prompt written acknowledgement of receipt of your complaint. This acknowledgement provides some useful information such as the name and contact details for the person responsible for investigating your complaint, and the date by which you can expect to receive our final response.

2. We analyze the complaint

We make sure we understand your complaint and what you expect from us. If you have any supporting documentation (such as statements, correspondence, names of people you spoke to, conversation notes, etc), please make sure to include this with your complaint. We will also review all relevant information held by the firm, including correspondence, signed account documents and meeting notes.

3. We provide a written final response

We provide you with a final response in writing within 60 days from receipt of the complaint. In our response, we explain how we analyzed your complaint, what led to our conclusion and, if possible, the proposed solution to your complaint. Contact us if you have any questions or comments regarding our response.

Extension of the period for providing our final response 

Your complaint may take longer to process or be more complex than anticipated, in which case we may determine that additional time is required for the analysis of your complaint. The additional time may not exceed 30 days. We will notify you in writing, indicating the circumstances warranting the extension.

4. Assessment of the offer and resolution of the complaint

Take time to review our response or assess our offer to resolve your complaint. If we present an offer, we will give you time to assess and respond to it. The amount of time we give you should provide you with sufficient opportunity to seek the advice you need to make an informed decision. You can decide to accept or refuse the offer, or you can present a counteroffer.

Once we reach an agreement with you to resolve your complaint, we must give effect to the offer within 30 days unless we agree upon a different time period with you when it is in your interest to do so.

Simplified process for certain complaints

We may follow a simplified process for certain complaints. This process is for complaints that we can resolve to the client’s satisfaction within 20 days. We consider a complaint to be resolved to your satisfaction when you accept our proposed solution to your complaint or when the explanations we provide to you are sufficient to resolve your complaint.

Under the simplified process, complaints may be referred to a member of our investor servicing team and handled verbally (for example, in a phone call).

If we cannot propose a satisfactory solution or provide explanations sufficient to resolve your complaint under this process, we will notify you in writing. Your complaint will continue to be processed, but in accordance with the steps in the complaint process described earlier.

The time that we take when trying to resolve your complaint under the simplified process does not have any effect on our obligation to provide you with our written final response within the required time period.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint?

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of a complaint or did not receive a final response on time, you can:

1. Request to transfer the complaint record to our regulator, the AMF, for review 

Complete this form and return it to us. We are obligated to send a complete copy of the complaint record, including any information that was used in the processing of your complaint, to the AMF within 15 days following receipt of your request.

2. Submit your complaint to the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI)

The OBSI offers an independent dispute resolution service to our clients; however, you must contact them within 180 days of receiving our final response. 

The OBSI can recommend compensation of up to $350,000. If you want to recover more than $350,000, you may want to consider another option, such as legal action, to resolve your complaint. 

You can submit a complaint to the OBSI on their website or contact them by phone at 416 287 2877 / 1 888 451 4519 (toll free).

You always have the right to speak to a lawyer or seek other ways of resolving your dispute at any time.