Deadline to Complete Continuing Education Extended At their April meeting, the voting members of the Insurance Council approved an extension of the annual deadline for licensees to complete their continuing education (CE) requirements from May 31, 2020, to the following year, May 31, 2021. Continuing education supports competent practice, and Insurance Council Rule 7(5) requires licensees to complete a specific amount of continuing education (CE) credits by May 31 annually based on their licence class and experience. However, the disruptions caused by the global coronavirus pandemic have made completing CE credits by the deadline more challenging for licensees. Licensees will now have an additional year to complete their 2020 CE credits. They will still need to complete their 2021 CE credits by May 31, 2021. You can find more information on the extension, including a Q&A, on the Insurance Council website.
Annual Filing: What You Need to Know About Changing Your Licence Status Annual filing is underway and the deadline to submit your annual filing is June 1, 2020. To address some frequently asked questions about non-renewal and changes to licence status, we’ve included the following brief Q&A: I am not sure if I should renew my licence. What should I do? Are you taking time away from your insurance work due to parental or medical leave? Are you unsure whether the insurance business is right for you and whether you should renew your licence for another year? Please be aware that whether you are an active or inactive licensee, there are still licensee responsibilities you are required to fulfill. This includes completing continuing education, annual filing, and mandatory notification requirements. For more information on the requirements for each licence status, see our “What Type of Licence Status is Right for Me?” infosheet. You can also discuss your licensing options with a member of our Regulatory Services team. I have decided to terminate my insurance licence. Do I need to advise Council? Yes. The request to terminate a licence must come from you, the licensee, directly. If I terminate my licence now and I decide to reapply in the future, what do I need to know? Please review the Reactivation Provision before you proceed to terminate your licence. You may be required to retake the qualifying education if you do not meet the conditions of the provision. For more information about annual filing, including detailed instructions, please see our website.
More Online Services Available We recently added new functionality to the Insurance Council’s online portal. All licensees can now: - Print licence certificates
- Process payments for applications.
Corporate licensees can now: - Add/remove Authority to Represent (ATR) agreements
- Designate delegates to complete functions in the online portal for the corporate licence.
You can access these services through the online portal on the Insurance Council website.
E-signatures on Insurance Council Forms Insurance Council forms for licence applications, supervisor undertaking, adding authority to represent, and declaring other business activities have been updated to accept digital signatures. This change will help to streamline licensees’ submission of forms via email in line with our current processes.
CE Records: Your Licence, Your Responsibility Licensees are required to keep a record of their continuing education (CE) for five years, but did you know that you are not required to submit your CE course completion information with your annual filing? Regardless of whether your agency keeps track of your CE credits, make sure to keep a copy of your course completion certificates and course content information. If you are audited by the Insurance Council, you will be asked to provide your records at that time. Ultimately, it is the licensee’s responsibility to demonstrate that they have met the CE requirements for their licence if audited. For questions about how many CE credits you are required to complete annually, or what qualifies as technical content, visit our website for more information.
Disciplinary Decisions Xueping Ji was disciplined for contravening the Insurance Council’s Rules requiring licensees to complete continuing education (CE) credit requirements. The licensee was found to have failed to complete the minimum CE credits required. The licensee was fined $3,000 and required to complete the Council Rules Course. Manjit Kaur Litt was disciplined for contravening the Insurance Council’s Rules requiring licensees to complete CE credit requirements. The licensee was found to have failed to complete the minimum CE credits required. The licensee was fined $3,000 and required to complete the Council Rules Course. Nizar Tighza’s life and accident and sickness insurance licence is suspended under sections 231 and 238 of the Financial Institutions Act until such time that he provides to the Insurance Council proof of errors and omissions insurance and a copy of a contract between himself and at least one insurer for the calendar years 2017, 2018, and 2019. Xiao Mei Zou was the subject of an intended decision issued by the Insurance Council for contravening Council’s Rules requiring licensees to complete CE credit requirements. The licensee disputed the intended decision and requested a hearing which resulted in the imposition of a $3,000 fine, hearing costs of $5,875.71, and a number of conditions. The licensee appealed the Insurance Council’s order to the Financial Services Tribunal (FST). Among the FST’s findings was the conclusion that the fine was reasonable and within the range of acceptable outcomes. The FST also determined that the imposition of hearing costs, although fair, was not reasonable because inadequate reasons had been provided. Accordingly, the FST remitted the issue of hearing costs back to the Insurance Council for reconsideration, including that new dates for payment and fulfilment of the conditions be considered and imposed. The Insurance Council’s reconsideration determined that the imposition of hearing costs remained appropriate and an amended order was issued, setting out the reasons and the new dates for payment and fulfillment of the conditions. See our website for the full list of disciplinary decisions. | 