On 6 April 2022, the Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organizations (CISRO) published the Principles of Conduct for Insurance Intermediaries (the Principles). The full document can be found at Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organizations (CISRO) Principles of Conduct for Insurance Intermediaries (cisro-ocra.com) together with a Questions and Answers document: 2472 (cisro-ocra.com). The Insurance Division of the Financial and Consumer Services Commission (FCNB) actively participated in the development of the Principles.
The Principles complement and supplement the Guidance: Conduct of Insurance Business and Fair Treatment of Customers (cisro-ocra.com) jointly published by CISRO and the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR). The Principles reflect minimum regulatory conduct standards that are common across Canada regarding the fair treatment of customers. They also reflect requirements found in the Insurance Act or related regulations, or are reflective of accepted industry practices.
Intermediaries should conduct their business, following the relevant Principles that apply in the circumstances, while ensuring compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, rules, or regulatory codes within all jurisdictions where they carry on business. Any more stringent requirements, rules or standards of conduct take priority over the Principles. The Principles will also be a resource for customers to better understand the behaviour that they should expect when dealing with an insurance intermediary. Intermediaries should share the Principles with their customers.
It is the expectation of the Insurance Division of FCNB that insurance intermediaries will adopt the Principles and ensure that measures are in place to abide by them. These expectations involve the licensee’s conduct at all stages of the lifecycle of the product (from design, to sales, to claims process, to the end of the lifetime of the policy). The Insurance Division of FCNB will consider compliance with the Principles in determining suitability to hold a licence and in all future market conduct reviews.
CISRO is a forum of Canadian regulatory authorities that are dedicated to consistent qualifications and conduct of business standards for insurance intermediaries.
For any questions on the Principles, contact the Insurance Division of FCNB at 866-933- 2222 or by email at info@fcnb.ca.