It is a category where the compliance review decides more than the creative brief. That is not an obstacle: it is a production constraint, and it can be planned.
Compliance is a participant, not a brake
That is the change of method that saves the most time.
A video approved after editing comes back systematically, and every round trip costs a week.
So have the script read before the shoot, and ask the compliance team for the list of already approved wordings as well as the list of words to avoid. Those two documents almost always exist and are almost never passed on.
Finally, plan the delay into the calendar: two weeks of review is a realistic assumption, not an incident.
Explaining beats convincing
That is what the results show in this category.
A video praising a financial product lands badly, because the audience has learned to distrust it. A video explaining a mechanism is watched to the end, shared, and saved.
The subjects that work are therefore concrete: how a registered account works, what a line of credit changes compared with a card, how an automatic transfer is set up, what to prepare for a first mortgage.
The product appears at the end, as a consequence, not as an argument.
Credit unions have another story to tell
That is an asset the large chains do not have.
A cooperative belongs to its members, decides part of its financing locally, and employs people from the region.
That gives content existing nowhere else: what the surplus return funds, how a local lending decision is taken, who sits on the board, which neighbourhood project was supported.
The most effective format is the meeting with somebody working in the branch, filmed on site, with their first name and their role.
Quebec has its own landscape
That is the point national campaigns most often miss.
The financial vocabulary differs, the dominant institutions are not the same, and the relationship with cooperatives has a different history.
A translated version is therefore not enough: it takes a separately recorded version, with the terms actually used, and sometimes a different angle.
What a creator can never do
Four prohibitions, whatever the tone of the video.
Quoting a rate, a return or a condition from memory: those change, and a video burning them into the image becomes false.
Comparing one institution by name with another.
Giving personalised advice, which falls under a regulated activity.
And presenting commissioned content as a spontaneous opinion: identification is due, without exception.
The compulsory disclosures, the advertising rules applicable to financial products and the obligations attached to the institution's status depend on the product and the province, and are checked with the competent authorities and a lawyer before publication.
What the video can show without advising
| Element | What is possible | What is ruled out |
|---|---|---|
| An app | A filmed account-opening journey | A promise of returns |
| A price | The published price | A comparison with no source |
| A service | What it does, step by step | A personal recommendation |
What is masked on screen, without exception
A balance, a number, an identifier, a code, a third party's name. A poorly cleaned take is reshot, not corrected after release.
What must appear in every video
The advertising disclosure, the institution's name and the warnings required by the regulation, to be confirmed with a lawyer.
What to plan in the contract
Three lines.
A long rights duration, because explanatory content stays useful for years.
The right to modify on-screen text without a new shoot, since figures change.
And a fast takedown procedure, in case of a change of product or regulation.
Sources
Checked on 4 September 2026. Thresholds and rates change: where this guide and the official source disagree, the official source is right.
