The government of Ontario plans to give financial regulatory bodies more power to collect fines as part of a series of moves to help protect consumers from unethical advisers.

Speaking in Toronto at a financial services conference, Finance Minister Charles Sousa said Friday that the government plans to introduce legislation that would give investment industry self-regulatory bodies the ability to file their decision with the court.

Sousa said the move would make it easier to collect monetary penalties and help to deter potential offenders from wrongdoing.

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), which oversees all investment dealers and their trading activity in bonds and stocks, applauded the move.

"As a public interest regulator, this new enforcement tool will enable us to provide stronger protection to the investing public and collect fines from wrongdoers who have previously evaded paying the penalty for their misconduct," IIROC president and CEO Andrew Kriegler said in a release.

IIROC said nearly $20 million in unpaid fines are owed to the organization in Ontario dating back to 2008, while almost $32 million remains outstanding across the whole country.

"There is more to be done, but today's announcement is a critical first step," said Wanda Morris, vice president of advocacy and chief operating officer at CARP, a group representing seniors that was formerly known as the Canadian Association of Retired Persons.

Sousa also said the province is looking at following through on recent recommendations from an expert panel on regulatory policy alternatives for financial planning and advisory services.

"Over the coming year, the government will work with regulators to close the regulatory gap that currently allows financial planners to perform work without oversight or specified proficiency requirements," he said.

Sousa said the government would also works with regulatory bodies to develop a registry of financial planners and advisors.

Paul Bourque, the president and CEO of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada, said the changes will bring financial planners who are not currently regulated "in line with those financial planners and advisers who already operate under rules set out by securities and insurance regulators."

"It will remove a serious loophole and provide greater certainty for investors to know that all financial planners and advisors must be licensed," Bourque said.