The Canadian ShareOwner Group of affiliates ("ShareOwner") is an education and training organization that was founded in 1987 by then Professor of Finance John T. Bart, B.Eng. ’65 (Royal Military College of Canada); M.B.A. ’70 and Ph.D. ’74 (Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario).

ShareOwner’s investment expertise delivers seasoned growth-stock education and true-to-life portfolio training to individual investors and investment clubs.

Education
Since 1987, ShareOwner has been teaching investors how to recognize and invest successfully in high-quality growth stocks over the longer term.

ShareOwner teaches these skills principally through its year-long Growth-Stock Investing Course.

ShareOwner owes much of its instructional success to the powerful growth-stock selection tools first developed by George Nicholson Jr. in the 1940s.

In 1951, those tools became the educational cornerstone for the U.S.-based National Association of Investors Corporation (NAIC). In 1961 the World Federation of Investors was formed to share the tools with long-term investors everywhere. Today, investor education organizations in North and South America, Europe and Asia include stock selection tools in their programs.

In 1987, Professor Bart modernized and further developed those tools to launch ShareOwner’s Growth-Stock Mentorship Program. Ten years later, he opted for an early retirement from the University of Windsor, where he is a Professor Emeritus.

Professor Bart continues his educational mission as ShareOwner’s Chief Mentor.

Since 1987, more than 100,000 investors have taken ShareOwner’s Growth-Stock Investing Courses.

Investments
In 1993, ShareOwner received certain regulatory exemptions to operate a Low Cost Investing Plan through which investors could enrol – more conveniently and less expensively – in the dividend reinvestment and share purchase plans (DRIPs) sponsored by prominent Canadian and U.S. public companies.

Once registered in these DRIPs, an investor’s dividends were automatically reinvested in additional shares, without charge.  As well, investors could purchase a significant number of additional shares, typically every quarter, without charge. 

In 1996, ShareOwner again received certain regulatory exemptions to operate a generic investor-sponsored DRIP for its selection of Canadian and U.S. public companies.   This second generation Low Cost Investing Plan provided investors with a wider selection of growth stocks, a well-known purchasing schedule; a consolidated monthly statement, registered retirement savings accounts and other administrative services generally unavailable through company-sponsored DRIPs.   By 2000, ShareOwner had some $75,000,000 of client assets under administration.

In 2000, Canadian ShareOwner Investments Inc. (“Investments”) was formed to operate a Co-operative Investing Service as a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund and the Investment Dealers Association of Canada.  As well, “Investments” is a self-clearing member of the Canadian Depository for Securities.

The Co-operative Investing Service is a third generation of the Low Cost Investing Plan with an expanded range of trading and administrative services.  As of 2007, “Investments” had some $200,000,000 in client assets under administration.