The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) is implementing a new licensing process for out-of-province insurance advisors, allowing them to get to work sooner — before their licensing applications are approved.
“Beginning January 1, working in Ontario will become easier for financial services professionals across Canada,” the regulator said in a release on Wednesday.
The province’s Protect Ontario Through Free Trade Within Canada Act, 2025, which received royal assent this past June, removes barriers to labour mobility and to trade in goods and services between the province and other jurisdictions in Canada. Certain amendments related to labour mobility came into force on July 1.
Now, as the new year begins, “FSRA is actively assessing and operationalizing these important new changes,” the release said.
Once an applicant provides FSRA with proof of their valid out-of-province insurance licence and other documents, the regulator is required, under the legislation, to provide them with a notice of receipt within 10 business days. On receipt of the notice, the applicant is deemed certified for six months and can begin working in the province. (Quebec applicants continue to be subject to additional educational requirements related to the common law.)
The applicant then has those six months to complete their application, and the regulator has 30 calendar days to approve a completed application after receiving it.
FSRA’s website says 75% of licence applications are processed within 20 business days. However, long processing times in the past couple of years resulted in instances of licence renewal delays, with some licences lapsing before renewal. The regulator previously told this publication that it had been handling a significant increase in licensing applications since November 2024.
The processing slowdown also coincided with FSRA leadership changes as well as consumer protection work, including life agent suitability guidance and a proposed rule for the licensing of managing general agencies, which is ongoing.
Processing times for licensing applications currently exceed the regulator’s 75% target. FSRA’s website indicates that in the second half of 2025, between 87% and 93% of applications each month were processed within 20 business days, with FSRA handling a monthly average of nearly 4,000 applications. Processing takes longer if the regulator requires additional information, the website says, or FSRA identifies an issue that requires follow-up.
In Wednesday’s release, FSRA noted that out-of-province applicants face penalties for making a false representation to access the new licensing process. A conviction for a first offence of false representation is not more than $25,000, based on the legislation.
Applicants who don’t meet the criteria for the new labour mobility licensing process (see the checklist on FSRA’s website for the criteria, which include certain attestations) will continue to be eligible to apply through the standard out-of-province licensing process.