Corporate or Partnership Life Insurance Agency Licence

Previously, entities who were licensed with another financial regulator (i.e. mutual fund dealers, securities dealers, and mortgage brokers) were not granted insurance licences in BC as Council had determined that this could be problematic in the event of an investigation or inspection and it had the potential to cause confusion for clients with regard to their rights and protections.

Council reviewed this policy at its July 2018 meeting and, in light of the fact that other Canadian jurisdictions allow joint licensing and that Council Rules address concerns related to inspections, investigations, and public confusion, Council determined that effective immediately, it will consider applications from entities registered with another financial regulator. Before applying for a licence, Council recommends that you consult with your other regulator(s) first, as it may have its own rules and restrictions in place.

• Requirement to have a nominee: An agency must nominate a life agent to act as nominee who will take on the rights and privileges of the agency licence, and is responsible and accountable to Council for all insurance activities undertaken by the agency and its employees:

  • A nominee must be an officer, director, or partner of the agency, or a senior manager for the Province of BC.

  • If the insurance agency has authorized representatives other than the nominee, the nominee must have worked as a licensed life insurance agent for 5 of the last 7 years.

  • If the agency (firm) is changing the nominee, please submit an Agency Nominee Amendment Application Form. The form is available here, under Agency Nominee Change.

  • Effective August 1, 2023, new nominees must be approved by the Insurance Council and have taken the prerequisite course: Nominee Responsibilities and Best Practice. The course is administered by the Insurance Council and is available in two streams:

    • Nominee Responsibilities and Best Practice Course for General Insurance and Adjuster Nominees and Applicants

    • Nominee Responsibilities and Best Practice Course for Life and/or Accident & Sickness Nominees and Applicants

      Current nominees do not need to take the nominee course unless they are submitting a request to be appointed as a nominee for another agency or firm. More on how to register for the course here.

• Requirement for business name registration: The Insurance Council requires all names, including operational names or "doing business as" names (i.e. trade names), to be registered with the BC Corporate Registry, and be approved by the Insurance Council. The business name must be a name that will not likely be confused with the name of an insurer, another licensed insurance agency or an adjusting firm.
  
  Furthermore, an insurance applicant or licensee is required by the Financial Institutions Act (the “Act”) to have a name that is neither misleading, nor likely to cause confusion for the public. Section 12.1 of the Act also requires that anytime the word “insurance” or “assurance” or “insurer” is used, the name cannot be used in a manner that would cause a member of the public to believe the entity is an insurance company. As this section falls under the jurisdiction of the BC Financial Services Authority, further information regarding name requests can be found on their website here.

• Requirements for financial planning:

  If your agency intends to hold itself out as providing Financial Planning (or similar term), you must follow specific Council guidelines (see Council's

  Financial Planning Notice).

• Complete the application by following the instructions in the application package.

• Answer all questions and attach all required documents, including the application fee, before submitting your application, as incomplete applications may take longer to process.

• If your application has been pending for more than our displayed processing times

  , please feel free to contact our Licensing Team

Apply Online (See Instructions)

Corporate or Partnership General Insurance Agency Licence Application

Directors, Officers Partners and Controlling Shareholders Exhibit Only Form

View the Corporate or Partnership Life Agency Licence Fee Schedule