B.C.’s broker regulator, the Insurance Council of B.C., has made progress identifying licensing requirements and is piloting education for a proposed new restricted licensing framework to regulate the sale of incidental insurance, the council announced in June.
The province’s Bill 37 from 2019 enabled a restricted licence regime that allows businesses to sell insurance products incidental to their ordinary business, such as deposit-taking institutions selling credit protection insurance, travel insurance and life insurance.
In the past year, the provincial insurance council identified and defined the requirements for licensing and transactions, including consumer disclosures. It also developed a performance requirements framework outlining the knowledge and skills for incidental insurance sales, and began piloting a process to standardize education.
Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick also have existing restricted licensing regimes. The Insurance Council of B.C. has consulted these jurisdictions during the development of B.C.’s version of the program and will aim to align with those other Canadian jurisdictions.
The province has yet to provide a date to establish the new regulatory regime and identify businesses and insurance products to be covered. The regulator anticipates accepting applications for about 12 months after the regulations are published.