Submitted by nsscadmin on
How much do you know about the Nova Scotia Securities Commission (NSSC) and the people behind it? The Before You Invest Blog has previously published posts on the Commission, highlighting our mandate and the role of the different Commission branches. But, what about the people that make up the Commission, the ones who shoulder that mandate and tirelessly work to protect Nova Scotia investors? Our new series “Getting to know the Nova Scotia Securities Commission” takes a closer look at some of these people, what they do and how they support the mandate of the NSSC. Today we’re speaking with the Investor Education and Communications Officer for the NSSC, David Harrison.
What is your role with the Nova Scotia Securities Commission?
My name is David Harrison and I’m the Investor Education & Communications Officer with the Nova Scotia Securities Commission. I develop and implement all investor education campaigns and content for the Commission and handle all internal and external communications for the Commission.
How do you support the mandate of NSSC?
The most important mandate of the Commission is investor protection, and I support that in a few ways. Firstly, I help the Commission communicate warnings, alerts, and cautions to inform Nova Scotians about harmful investments and bad actors who could cause them financial harm. And secondly, I develop and share investor education content with the public to help Nova Scotians become informed investors which leads to better, safer investment decisions. Investor education content is shared in several different ways including, print, both hard copy and online through our website and social media, videos, and in-person and virtual presentations.
What should the public know about NSSC that they might not?
Hmmm, what should the public know about the Commission? Well, from speaking with people all over Nova Scotia, young, old and in between, there are several things regular people don’t know about NSSC. One thing they need to know is why we’re here and what we do. That we regulate securities and derivatives in Nova Scotia, and every person, company, and entity connected to them. This incudes advising on, selling, and issuing securities. NSSC is staffed with some extremely smart, hardworking, and caring people who do more for Nova Scotians than most people know.
What do you find most challenging about your role?
One of the most challenging things about my role is trying to do as much as possible to help, educate and communicate with Nova Scotia investors despite limited time and resources. We’re a very small Commission, but our mandate is very large and very important. We strive to deliver as much investor education content and resources as we can to help Nova Scotians make what are often very important financial decisions. Sometimes it’s frustrating when limited time or budget gets in the way, but I’m still very proud of what our small team has accomplished during my time with the Commission.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
As surprising as it sounds the thing I enjoy most about my role is creating fun investor education content, like this, as well as delivering presentations and talking to Nova Scotians about investing. That second part in some ways is unbelievable to me too. When I was in school, many years ago now, and we had to give presentations I hated it. If it was a group presentation, I’d be in the back saying as little as possible. In the last fiscal year, I delivered more than 60 presentations at schools, libraries, churches, seniors living facilities, and online, from audiences of three people to a few hundred people, and I enjoyed every one. They’ve almost become kind of a mash up of a performance and a conversation. If you had told me 20 or 30 years ago that I would regularly get up to talk in front crowds of people, I would have said you were crazy. It will surprise you what you can do when you take a chance and do something you’re afraid of.
What are your favourite pieces of investor education content the Commission has produced?
That would have to be the NovaCrypto project. NovaCrypto.ca is a website we created to raise awareness of mounting losses to unregistered crypto trading websites and platforms. It was a very fun project to work on, and the response was tremendous and continues to draw interest when we share it online and in presentations. We even drew attention from securities regulators on the other side of the world in Australia. If you visit the site which is still live at NovaCrypto.ca, be sure to click on one of the create an account or app download links to get the full story.
One other piece I’d like to mention as well is our growing catalogue of investor education videos and reels. I’ve had a lot of fun creating short, animated videos for the last six years now, and more recently we’ve started creating live reels featuring myself and other Commission staff. My favourite reels are our Severance parody, and our Fraud Bingo promo.
What’s an investor education factoid everyone Nova Scotian should know?
I’ll throw a couple out that sometimes people are surprised at. One, just because an investment is right for your friend or family member does not mean it’s right for you. What’s suitable for one investor, may not be suitable for another investor.
And two, and I try to make this point to young people I talk to frequently, if you’re an investor, time is your greatest asset. You can never get back time. Time in the market always beats timing the market. When I talk to high school students especially, I don’t tell them how to invest, but I do tell them the time that goes by that they aren’t investing they can’t get back, so don’t waste it and don’t waste the knowledge you are gaining to help you make informed, smart, safe, investments decisions.
How can the general public in Nova Scotia stay up to date with the Commission?
You can find the Commission online on our website at nssc.novascotia.ca which should feature a brand new website sometime in early 2026. There you can find investor education content, including our Before You Invest Blog, regulatory updates, information on registration, the issuing securities, investor alerts and cautions, and enforcement proceedings. You can also find us and our content on several social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Blue Sky, and YouTube. Please like, follow, and subscribe and let us know what you like and maybe even don’t like about our content.
What do you enjoy doing with your time outside the NSSC?
When I am not working, I enjoy traveling, spending time with friends and family, and I have a few hobbies including brewing beer and playing way too many fantasy sports.
I have been very fortunate over the last few years to do a lot of traveling with my wife throughout Canada, Europe, the US and the Caribbean, including a fabulous time spending Christmas in 2024 in Germany, Norway, France, and England. If you truly want to experience Christmas visit Europe in December, it’s amazing.
Two other things that occupy a lot of my time are baseball and Bruce Springsteen. I’ve been a Toronto Blue Jays fan since I was a kid and have been lucky enough to attend more than 30 games, including playoffs games in 2015, 2016, and the first two games of 2025 World Series. Attending a Bruce Springsteen concert is my other favourite place in the world, which I’ve been fortunate to enough to do seven times in seven different cities, in three different countries.