Canada regulates securities provincially, so there is no single national securities commission. CIRO fills part of the gap: it is the SRO that oversees investment dealers and mutual fund dealers, sets proficiency and capital requirements, surveils Canadian equity marketplaces, and disciplines member firms and individuals.
It was created by amalgamating the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada with the Mutual Fund Dealers Association, so older documents and court decisions still refer to IIROC rules. Provincial commissions such as the Ontario Securities Commission recognise CIRO and retain statutory authority.
Customer assets at a failed member are protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund, the rough analogue of sipc, with its own limits and exclusions.
Related: sipc, self-regulatory-organization