TORONTO -- New rules will arm Canadians with the information they need to take a more active role in managing their investments -- such as how their portfolios are performing and how much they are paying in fees to their advisers.

The regulations -- referred to as the Client Relationship Model Phase 2 -- are being introduced by the country's securities administrators and will be fully implemented by July 15, 2016.

The final phase of the regulations will require financial advisors and investment dealers to provide clients with two annual reports. One will summarize how the client's investment account has performed, while the other will outline the fees that investors are paying to their dealers for their investments.

For many investors, the fee report will provide their first glimpse into how much they're paying for investment management. Many fees have typically been hidden within the management expense ratios associated with running a mutual fund, making the costs difficult for investors to track.

With no benchmark, it can be difficult for investors to determine whether they are paying a fair fee for service.

Neil Gross, the executive director of investor rights group FAIR Canada, says that while the regulations stipulate what information must be provided, they don't specify how that information should be presented.

"That's been left to individual firms to develop on their own and it remains to be seen whether firms will provide the information in effective and user-friendly way," said Gross. "If they choose to bury the information in a tremendous amount of additional detail, it's not going to be as useful to the consumer."

Experts say clients should be prepared to speak up if the information they are given is too dense.

"The most important thing is to ask questions," says Dave Nugent, a portfolio manager at online investment adviser Wealthsimple.

"If your adviser is not willing to explain to you exactly how they get paid ... that's probably a red flag. The people who are very confident in the value that they add are usually the ones telling you how much the fees are going to be."

Although most investors won't get their first reports in the mail until 2017, experts say it's not too soon to start asking for some of that information.

Gross suggests asking family and friends how much they pay, or asking other investment dealers what services they would be willing to offer for the same rate.

Overall, experts are hopeful that investors, armed with more information, will take a more active role in managing their money.

Nugent says he expects the new regulations will eventually lead to lower fees.

"Transparency is going to put a lot of pressure on the investment industry as a whole to show the value that they add," said Nugent. "I think over time, as these disclosures come out, you'll see fees go down."