Across 571 completed attempts at our free CIRE mock, three questions were missed far more than the rest: a covered call, a limit order below the market, and what OBSI can and can't do. Here is what candidates got wrong, the wrong answer most of them picked, and where our practice data says the CIRE's marks are lost.
By Liam Carter, Founder, Engineering at Registrant Prep · November 4, 2026 · 7 min read
CIRO doesn't publish CIRE pass rates or question-level results. Each version of the exam has its own passing grade, and candidates get a pass, fail or absent result. So the only question-level data on the CIRE comes from prep platforms. This is ours, with the method spelled out so you can judge it.
Two sources, both from Registrant Prep users, neither from CIRO:
- The free 25-question mock at /diagnostic: 571 completed attempts between April 29 and November 4, 2026, for 14,244 answers. We counted each signed-in person's first attempt only. Anonymous attempts can't be matched to a person, so a repeat anonymous taker counts twice.
- The paid question bank: 36 candidates who practised in all nine CIRE elements, for 16,141 answers. We counted only each candidate's first answer to each question, so drilling a question again doesn't flatter the numbers.
Staff and test accounts are excluded from both.
The six most-missed questions on the free mock
Each of the 25 mock questions was answered 567 to 571 times. About half were answered correctly nine times in ten or more. Six stood out. We describe what each one tested rather than reprinting it, so the mock stays useful for the next person.
| What the question tested | Wrong | Answers | The wrong answer most people picked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Covered call: the writer's upside and downside | 42% | 569 | That she'd have to sell another 100 shares if assigned |
| A limit buy order placed below the current ask | 38% | 570 | That it waits until the bid rises to the limit price |
| OBSI's authority over dealers | 34% | 570 | That OBSI issues binding awards |
| A fixed-coupon bond after a rate hike | 23% | 570 | That the price holds because the coupon is fixed |
| Why eligible Canadian dividends are taxed less than interest | 23% | 570 | Split: "taxed like capital gains" and "the credit works inside an RRSP" |
| Where a $10,000 cash transaction gets reported | 17% | 569 | OSFI instead of FINTRAC |
1. Covered calls (42% wrong)
The question gives a client who owns 100 shares and writes a call against them. The correct answer: her gain on the shares is capped at the strike price, and the premium only partly offsets a fall in the share price.
Of the 240 people who missed it, 105 thought she'd have to sell another 100 shares if the call was exercised. She wouldn't: she delivers the shares she already owns, which is what makes the call covered. Another 90 thought her maximum loss was the premium she collected. That's backwards. The premium is income she keeps. Her downside is the full drop in the share price, less that premium.
The trap is mixing up the call writer's position with the buyer's. A call buyer's maximum loss is the premium. A covered call writer's isn't. Options sit in Element 8 (Derivatives), which carries only six of the exam's 110 questions. That makes them easy to under-study.
2. A limit order below the market (38% wrong)
A client enters a limit order to buy at $18.00 while the market is $18.20 bid and $18.35 ask. The order goes into the book and fills at $18.00 or better when a seller is willing to sell there.
Of the 218 wrong answers, 143 said the order waits until the bid climbs to $18.00. The bid is what buyers are offering, so a buy order doesn't wait on it. It waits on a seller willing to come down to $18.00. Fewer people thought the order would be rejected (51) or filled at the ask like a market order (24). Order handling is Element 6 territory (market integrity, trade execution and settlement), worth 13 questions.
3. What OBSI can and can't do (34% wrong)
OBSI, the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments, recommends compensation but can't force a firm to pay. What it can do is publicly name a firm that refuses its recommendation.
118 of the 192 wrong answers said OBSI issues binding awards. That's the most common single misconception in the whole mock. It's an easy one to absorb from everyday language: "ombudsman" sounds like it has teeth. On the CIRE, the distinction matters, because complaint handling (Element 4) tests where a client can go after a dealer's own process and what each body can actually do.
4. Bond prices after a rate hike (23% wrong)
When rates rise, a bond with a fixed coupon falls in price, because new bonds pay more. Of the 133 people who missed this, 68 thought the price stays put because the coupon doesn't change. The coupon is fixed. The price isn't.
5. The dividend tax credit (23% wrong)
Eligible dividends from Canadian corporations are taxed less than interest because the gross-up and dividend tax credit offset tax the corporation has already paid. The 133 wrong answers split two ways: 52 thought dividends follow the capital gains inclusion rules, and 52 thought the credit applies inside an RRSP. It doesn't. RRSP withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income whatever the source, so dividends held there lose the credit.
6. Large cash transactions (17% wrong)
Receiving $10,000 or more in cash in one transaction means a Large Cash Transaction Report to FINTRAC. The wrong answers named OSFI (44), CIRO (31) and the CRA (20). Fewer people missed this one than the five above, but it's a bright-line rule, which is exactly the kind of question you can't afford to miss.
The pattern: five of the six are about how a product or an institution actually works, and the most-picked wrong answers are plausible-sounding shortcuts ("the coupon is fixed, so the price is fixed").
Where the CIRE's marks are lost, by element
The free mock has only two to four questions per element, too few to rank elements. For that we used the question bank, where the 36 candidates answered 1,136 to 3,020 questions in each element.
| Element | First-try answers wrong | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Overview of the Canadian securities regulatory framework | 27% | 3,020 |
| 5. Market and company analysis | 27% | 1,901 |
| 7. Securities, managed products and mutual funds | 22% | 2,157 |
| 8. Derivatives | 21% | 1,182 |
| 4. Client complaint handling and reporting | 20% | 1,136 |
| 2. Prospective client relationships | 19% | 1,999 |
| 6. Market integrity, trade execution and settlement | 16% | 1,597 |
| 3. Scope of client relationships | 14% | 1,946 |
| 9. Conflicts of interest and ethics | 12% | 1,203 |
Read this with two caveats. Thirty-six candidates is a small group, so treat the order of elements that are a point or two apart as noise. And Element 1 is the free element on our platform: it's where everyone starts, usually cold, before studying anything. We think that explains much of its 27%.
A miss rate on its own doesn't tell you where the marks go, because the elements aren't the same size. CIRO publishes indicative question counts per element: Element 7 has 21 of the 110 questions, Element 3 has 17, Element 9 has 16, Element 6 has 13, Elements 1 and 2 have 11 each, Element 5 has 9, and Elements 4 and 8 have 6 each.
Multiply each element's question count by its miss rate and you get a rough sense of where a typical candidate in our group loses marks. This is an estimate, not a measurement:
- Element 7 stands out at about 4.7 questions. It's the biggest element, and it's missed more than average.
- Element 1 comes next at about 3.0, with the cold-start caveat above.
- Elements 3 and 5 are about 2.4 each. Element 3 is missed less often, but it's large. Element 5 is small, but it's missed often.
- Elements 4 and 8 cost the least, about 1.2 to 1.3 each. They're small enough that even a 20% miss rate doesn't add up to much.
That's not a score prediction. It's a reason not to plan your study hours by how hard an element feels. Element 8 feels hard, and the covered call above proves people miss it, but Element 7 is where most of the marks are lost.
What to do with this
- Take the free mock cold. The results page explains every answer and the rule behind it. If you miss any of the six concepts above, you're in good company, but fix it before exam day.
- Give Element 7 the most hours. It's the largest element and one of the most-missed. The CIRE syllabus by element lists what it covers.
- Learn options from the writer's side. For every strategy, know who pays the premium, who carries the obligation, and what the maximum gain and loss are.
- Watch for the plausible shortcut. The most-picked wrong answers weren't random. They were sensible-sounding rules that don't hold. When an answer is true about a related thing (the buyer, the coupon, the bid), slow down.
Method and limits
- What this is: practice data from Registrant Prep users. It isn't CIRO data, and it isn't a pass rate. Our free mock is a short 25-question check, and the typical completed attempt scored 22 of 25 (88%). That says the mock is easier than the full exam, not that 88% of candidates pass the CIRE.
- The free mock: 571 completed attempts, April 29 to November 4, 2026. We counted the first attempt per signed-in person. Anonymous attempts count once each.
- The question bank: first-try answers only, from the 36 candidates who practised in all nine elements. A candidate who only did Element 1 would skew that element, so we left them out.
- Exclusions: staff, admin and test accounts.
- Question counts per element: CIRO's published indicative counts from the CIRE syllabus.
We'll update this as the sample grows. Once the question bank passes 200 candidates who've practised every element, the element table moves to the CIRE syllabus page, with a downloadable CSV.