A practical CSI CSC Exam 1 study plan with 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day tracks aligned to the official weighting, current route note, and matching web practice.
Use this plan with the Exam Guide, the Cheat Sheet, the FAQ, the Resources, and CSC Exam 1 practice on Finance Prep.
CSC Exam 1 improves fastest when you train the recognition chain in the right order:
wrong market context, wrong product logic, and wrong math or pricing intuition.CSI’s official guidance for the CSC course is 135 – 200 hours of study (the course includes two exams). Use that as a reality check, then choose a schedule that lets you cover Chapters 1–12 plus review.
Source: https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/csc/exam-credits
Choose based on hours per week:
| Time you can commit | Recommended plan |
|---|---|
| 10–15 hrs/week | 30-day intensive |
| 6–9 hrs/week | 60-day balanced |
| 3–5 hrs/week | 90-day part-time |
| Study stage | What you are stabilizing |
|---|---|
| marketplace and economy first | the environment that makes later product questions readable |
| fixed income second | the most formula-sensitive and direction-sensitive product block |
| equities and derivatives third | the growth and payoff layer once the market frame is clear |
| financial statements and financing last | the issuer-analysis and issuance follow-through once products are familiar |
Target pace: ~10–15 hours/week.
Goal: finish the syllabus quickly, then harden instincts with mixed practice.
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marketplace, capital markets, and regulation | Build vocabulary and the structure of the Canadian investment marketplace. |
| 2 | Economics and policy | Rate, inflation, business-cycle, and policy intuition. |
| 3 | Fixed income | Features, pricing, trading, yield logic, and daily calculation drills. |
| 4 | Equities, derivatives, statements, and financing | Equities, transactions, options or futures basics, statements, and issuer-financing logic with mixed timed sets. |
Target pace: ~6–9 hours/week.
Goal: steady learning with repeated review so terms and formulas “stick”.
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapter 1–2 | Map participants and how capital markets function; do 2 short drills. |
| 2 | Chapter 3 | Regulatory environment vocabulary; add “trigger phrases” to your notes. |
| 3 | Chapter 4–5 | Economics + policy; build a one‑page “rates/inflation” map. |
| 4 | Chapter 6 | Fixed‑income features and types; flashcard key terms. |
| 5 | Chapter 7 | Fixed‑income pricing/trading; drill clean/dirty + yield questions. |
| 6 | Chapter 8–9 | Equities (common vs preferred) + equity transactions; practice interpretation questions. |
| 7 | Chapter 10 | Derivatives; focus on direction + payoff + breakeven logic. |
| 8 | Chapter 11–12 + review | Financial statement basics plus financing and listing; end with mixed sets and gap-closing. |
Target pace: ~3–5 hours/week.
Goal: slow repetition; avoid cramming by keeping a weekly cadence.
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapter 1 | Two study blocks + one drill. |
| 2 | Chapter 2 | Focus on primary vs secondary and market structure. |
| 3 | Chapter 3 | Build a regulation vocabulary list and drill it. |
| 4 | Chapter 4 | Economics basics; write a one‑page summary. |
| 5 | Chapter 5 | Policy tools; connect to inflation and rates. |
| 6 | Chapter 6 | Fixed‑income features; build a bond terminology mini‑glossary. |
| 7 | Chapter 7 | Pricing/trading; do one calculation set and one mixed set. |
| 8 | Chapter 8 | Common vs preferred; corporate actions and risks. |
| 9 | Chapter 9 | Equity transactions; order types, settlement language. |
| 10 | Chapter 10 | Derivatives basics; payoff intuition. |
| 11 | Chapter 11 | Financial statements; ratios and what they imply (conceptually). |
| 12 | Chapter 12 | Financing/listing; underwriting basics and issuance language. |
| 13 | Final review | Mixed sets; tighten weak areas; finalize one-page notes and formula pack. |
Use the section lessons when you want chapter-level reading before timed practice. The current CSC Exam 1 guide includes 9 topic landing pages and 12 section lessons.
| Order | Lesson | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Canadian Securities Industry | The Canadian Investment Marketplace |
| 2 | The Capital Market | The Canadian Investment Marketplace |
| 3 | The Canadian Regulatory Environment | The Canadian Investment Marketplace |
| 4 | Overview of Economics | The Economy |
| 5 | Economic Policy | The Economy |
| 6 | Fixed-Income Securities: Features and Types | Features and Types of Fixed-Income Securities |
| 7 | Fixed-Income Securities: Pricing and Trading | Pricing and Trading of Fixed-Income Securities |
| 8 | Equity Securities: Common and Preferred Shares | Common and Preferred Share |
| 9 | Equity Securities: Equity Transactions | Equity Transactions |
| 10 | Derivatives | Derivatives |
| 11 | Corporations and their Financial Statements | Corporations and their Financial Statements |
| 12 | Financing and Listing Securities | Financing and Listing Securities |
| Topic | Weight | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| The Canadian Investment Marketplace | 15% | the heaviest block and the frame for the whole exam |
| The Economy plus Common and Preferred Share | 13% each | recurring concept blocks that drive many near-miss answers |
| Features and Types of Fixed-Income Securities | 12% | core product language before pricing and trading |
| Pricing and Trading of Fixed-Income Securities | 11% | the main pricing-intuition and small-math block |
market or product context -> better risk or pricing lens -> stronger answer -> why the distractor fails.Use CSC Exam 1 practice on Finance Prep in phases:
| Stage | What to do |
|---|---|
| after marketplace and economy review | short timed sets for vocabulary and relationship recognition |
| after fixed income review | mixed sets for pricing, yield, and product questions |
| final two weeks | full timed sets with miss-log cleanup and pacing work |
Sources: https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/csc/exam-credits and https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/csc/curriculum