The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) stepped up sanctions imposed on life and health agents in 2024-25, while also receiving 22% more reports of misconduct, it said in a report released Monday.
The regulator also outlined the most common types of misconduct reported — among them failures of integrity and misrepresentation, such as concealing or distorting important information — and called on the industry to improve agent oversight. In addition, the report included a supervision plan for the 2025-26 year to improve reporting and processes and work with industry on key sector issues.
“Protecting consumers is our top priority and this supervision plan is a critical step towards improving the way we do that,” said Erica Hiemstra, head of insurance conduct at FSRA, in a release. “But we can’t do that alone. We expect industry participants to strengthen oversight, improve reporting accuracy and properly train and monitor agents. We firmly believe that consumer protection is a shared responsibility between FSRA and the industry.”
Enforcement stats
FSRA reported it imposed 27 legal and enforcement sanctions in the life and health insurance sector during the year, including 16 licence sanctions and six administrative monetary penalties totalling $232,000. It noted this is a “material” rise from the 15 sanctions it imposed the previous year, reflecting both an increase in misconduct report submissions and supervisory scrutiny.
During the year, it also proposed 28 sanctions in the sector, including 21 proposals to revoke or refuse a licence and seven proposals to issue fines, up from 11 initiated actions in the prior year.
The regulator said 176 life agent misconduct reports (LAMRs) were filed by insurance firms and managing general agencies (MGAs) during the year — many reporting multiple types of misconduct — concerning a total of 153 different agents. That represented a 22% rise from reports filed the previous year. Multiple LAMRs were filed for 17 agents.
Insurance firms are required to report unsuitable agents to FSRA for reasons that can include unlicensed activities, misrepresentation to the company or a client, missing continuing education credits, criminal charges or convictions and more.
FSRA also completed 92 compliance examinations (59 opened that year and 33 from previous years) of agents, the same as in 2023-24.
Of the completed examinations:
- 46 were escalated to other units, such as legal enforcement or to a regulatory discipline officer
- 26 resulted in business practice letters being issued
- 10 had no findings because the review was not completed, either because the agent lost their licence or they voluntarily surrendered it at the start of the process
- 5 resulted in letters of warning being issued
- 5 turned up no concerns
FSRA said it’s planning to increase efforts to monitor life agents who move from one firm or MGA to another after they’re terminated. In 2025-26 it said it will monitor the movement of more than 200 agents identified through the LAMR program since 2023, focusing on those who are sponsored. Sponsorship by an insurance carrier is required for the first two years for newly licensed agents.
Thirty-seven per cent of the 153 life agents reported through LAMRs in 2024-25 were sponsored at the time the report was filed, while 31% were licensed for two to five years.
As part of its supervision plan, FSRA said it plans to engage early on with filers to clarify details and provide guidance on supporting documentation with the aim of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the LAMR program.