All posts by S Sorensen

On November 6, 2024, Bill 216, the Building Ontario For You Act (Budget Measures), 2024, received Royal Assent.  The Bill implements amendments to Ontario’s Insurance Act (the “Act”) which establish a new licensing regime for managing general agents operating in the life and accident and sickness insurance sectors in Ontario (“MGAs”).

The amendments, when proclaimed in force, will require entities that are acting as MGAs in Ontario, to obtain a separate licence that will be issued by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (“FSRA”).   The amendments specify that a person or entity will be acting as an MGA in Ontario when engaging in any of the following activities, or holding themselves out as doing so:

1. Recruiting agents or prospective agents.
2. Screening agents or prospective agents to confirm the agent is suitable to carry on business as an agent.
3. Providing training to agents.
4. Supervising or monitoring the activities of agents.
5. Entering into written agreements with agents who sell or solicit life insurance or accident and sickness insurance.
6. Recommending agents to insurers to sell or solicit life or accident and sickness insurance.
7. Transmitting an insurance application or a policy of insurance between an insurer licensed for classes of life or accident and sickness insurance and an agent.
8. Such other activities and functions as may be prescribed by FSRA rule.

MGAs will be required to establish and maintain a compliance system that is reasonably designed to ensure that the MGA and any of its sub-MGAs and agents comply with the requirements of the Act, its regulations and applicable FSRA rules.  They will also be required to appoint a designated compliance representative.   The Act will also require insurers to establish and maintain their own compliance systems which are designed to ensure that MGAs that have entered into an agreement with the insurer are complying with their requirements under the Act, its regulations and applicable FSRA rules.

Insurers will be required to notify FSRA within 30 days of entering into an agreement with an MGA, and provide FSRA with copies of all agreements that it enters into with MGAs, including any amendments. In the event than an agreement between and insurer and MGA is terminated, the insurer will also be required to notify FSRA within 30 days and provide FSRA with the reason for the termination.

The amendments give FSRA broad rule making power with respect to establishing standards of practice for MGAs, including record keeping requirements, eligibility requirements for MGAs’ compliance representatives, and requirements related to the compliance systems of MGAs and insurers.

The full text of Bill 216 and the amendments to the Act can be found at this link.   The amendments to the Act which will implement the new MGA licensing requirements, will come into force on a date to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.   Based on information provided in a consultation paper that the Ontario Ministry of Finance published in July of this year, we anticipate that the new licence requirements will come into force sometime in 2026, following the publication of associated regulations and any related FSRA rules.

We’re proud to have our firm and 3 of our partners recognized as leading lawyers in Chambers’ 2025 Canada Legal Guide, in the area of Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory.

On February 28, 2023, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) released a draft of its proposed Culture and Behaviour Risk Guideline.  The aim of this Guideline is to ensure that Federally Regulated Financial Institutions (FRFIs) are actively considering the implications of culture within their organizations, and how culture impacts behaviour and decision making.

In a letter that it sent to FRFIs and federally regulated pension plans in March 2022, OSFI had signalled its intent to focus more specifically on the impact that culture has on those organizations.  This follows a trend that has been developing globally, as financial institution regulators in several other countries have started to focus more intently on organization culture and the impact that it has on risk and decision making within financial institutions.

The draft Guideline states that OSFI expects FRFIs to:

1. Define a desired culture and continuously develop and improve the culture to support their purpose, strategy, effective management of risks, and resilience; and
2. Continuously evaluate and respond to behaviour risks that can affect the FRFI’s overall safety and soundness.

Culture is defined in the draft Guideline as “the commonly held values, mindsets, beliefs and assumptions that guide both what is important and how people should behave in an organization.”

The draft Guideline is described as principles-based and outcomes-focused in recognition that every FRFI’s culture is unique.  OSFI states that it expects FRFIs to design, govern and manage culture and behaviour in accordance with the FRFI’s size, nature, scope, complexity of operations, strategy, and risk profile.

The draft Guideline identifies three expected outcomes and related principles for FRFIs to attain and adopt in their sound management of culture and behaviour risks.  The three expected outcomes are:

Outcome 1:  Culture and behaviour are designed and governed through clear accountabilities and oversight.

Outcome 2:  Desired culture and expected behaviours are proactively promoted and reinforced.

Outcome 3: Risks emerging from behavioural patterns are identified and proactively managed.

The principles discussed in the draft Guideline emphasize the importance of ensuring that FRFIs define their desired culture to align with the purpose and strategy of the FRFI and create proper incentives to promote desired outcomes and behaviours.  They also emphasize the importance of identifying, monitoring, and managing risks which arise from behavioural patterns that do not align with the desired culture and expected behaviours.

OSFI has invited interested stakeholders to submit comments on the draft Guideline until May 31, 2023, and has indicated that the final Guideline will be issued by the end of 2023.  More information regarding the draft Guideline can be found by clicking here.