The largest wealth transfer in Canadian history is underway. By 2026, Canadian women are expected to inherit $900 billion in assets, putting them in a position to control nearly half of all accumulated wealth in the country for the first time. Most advisors are not prepared for what happens next.
Why so many advisors are getting left behind
The majority of women inheriting wealth are doing so without having been involved in the financial decisions that built it. They are meeting their advisor for the first time at the worst possible moment, after a loss, under pressure, and with little context for the relationship they are inheriting alongside the assets.
The data shows what happens next. Around 70% of women inheriting wealth are likely to change their advisor. Not because the advisor did anything wrong necessarily. But because the relationship was never built with them in mind. It was built with their spouse or their parent. When the wealth transfers, the loyalty does not.
This is not a small problem. It is a structural one. Advisors who spent decades building relationships with one partner in a household are now facing the reality that the other partner never felt seen, never felt included, and never developed the trust that makes a client relationship last.
What advisors should do with this
The advisors winning this shift are not waiting for the wealth to transfer. They are engaging both partners now, while the relationship is still intact and there is time to build genuine trust on both sides.
Women tend to prefer higher-touch advisory relationships built on mutual trust, personal fit, and a sense that their advisor genuinely understands their goals. That does not require a different service. It requires a different level of attention and a deliberate effort to include both partners in every meaningful conversation.
The wealth transfer is not coming. It is already happening. The advisors who recognized that early and adjusted how they build relationships are retaining assets that others are watching walk out the door. The ones who have not adjusted yet still have time. But not much.
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