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CSI CSC Exam 1 Study Guide

CSI CSC Exam 1 study guide with topic lessons, market foundations, cheat sheet, study plan, FAQ, resources, and matching practice.

Use this page as the main CSI Canadian Securities Course Exam 1 guide. This is the first half of the regular CSC route: Canadian markets, the economy, fixed income, equities, derivatives, financial statements, and issuer financing matter more than narrow memorization alone.

Use matching web practice when you want timed mixed review, current progress tracking on Web, and a cleaner handoff from reading into exam-mode repetition.

Exam snapshot

ItemValue
ProviderCSI
Official course nameCanadian Securities Course (CSC)
Current official exam structureProctored multiple-choice exam, 100 questions, 2 hours, 60% passing grade per exam, 3 attempts
Highest-weight areaThe Canadian Investment Marketplace at 15%
Practice statusfull exam-specific web practice is live
Current route noteas of April 13, 2026, CSI says that effective January 1, 2026 CSC is no longer acceptable for CIRO approval with an Investment Dealer

Where CSC Exam 1 fits

If the candidate mainly needs…Better first instinct
the first product-and-market half of the regular CSC routeCSC Exam 1
the second analysis-and-portfolio half of the regular CSC routeCSC Exam 2
a shorter mutual-fund focused foundationIFC
the later conduct layer after market foundationsCPH

CSC Exam 1 topic and lesson guide

TopicWeightSection lessons
The Canadian Investment Marketplace15%The Canadian Securities Industry
The Capital Market
The Canadian Regulatory Environment
The Economy13%Overview of Economics
Economic Policy
Features and Types of Fixed-Income Securities12%Fixed-Income Securities: Features and Types
Pricing and Trading of Fixed-Income Securities11%Fixed-Income Securities: Pricing and Trading
Common and Preferred Share13%Equity Securities: Common and Preferred Shares
Equity Transactions10%Equity Securities: Equity Transactions
Derivatives10%Derivatives
Corporations and their Financial Statements8%Corporations and their Financial Statements
Financing and Listing Securities8%Financing and Listing Securities

How to use this guide well

  • Learn marketplace, fixed-income, and equity vocabulary first because they control the pace of the exam.
  • Keep economy, products, and issuer-financing questions tied back to market structure instead of treating them as separate silos.
  • Use the section lessons for chapter-level review, then use practice questions to train speed on the 100-question format.
  • If your real need is the second half of the CSC route, compare with CSC Exam 2.

What stronger CSC Exam 1 answers usually do

  • classify the market, product, or financing context before chasing a definition
  • connect economic conditions to product behaviour instead of memorizing each rule in isolation
  • keep fixed-income and equity questions tied to risk, return, and trading logic
  • treat derivatives as direction, payoff, and use-case tools rather than a separate jargon bucket

Practice this exam

Use this free guide for review, then Start CSC Exam 1 Practice on Finance Prep for timed questions, topic drills, and detailed explanations.

In this section

Revised on Friday, May 29, 2026
CSC Exam 2