Wealthsimple says it has seen a 24 per cent increase in new clients since the onset of the health emergency, while WealthBar says its client base has expanded by 10 per cent over the same period.In part, the influx comes from Canadians who’ve ditched their mutual funds and investment advisors in favour of robo advisors’ low-cost, mirror-the-market approach to investing.In this respect, the market crash brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic is rather typical, says WealthBar’s David Dyck.Every painful market tumble triggers a degree of soul-searching among investors, which invariably leads some to change their investing strategy, Dyck says.But the majority of Canadians who flocked to robo advisors in this crisis appear to be first-time.