How to Become an Insurance Agent
A Life Insurance Agent
A Stockbroker
A Mutual Fund Salesperson
A Certified Financial Planner (CFP)/Qualified Associate Financial Planner (QAFP)
How to Become a Life Insurance Agent
Canada’s financial services industry is dynamic and growing fast. Life insurance is just one of many financial services – others are banking, trusts, and investing. Life insurance companies are a large and vital contributor to Canada’s economy in addition to being a major employer.
According to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, a trade organization that represents Canada’s life and health insurers, the insurance industry is one of the largest investors in the Canadian economy with almost $475 billion in assets held in Canada. For an industry profile, see www.clhia.ca.
Becoming a life insurance agent can be a great career choice, with many employment opportunities and lots of room for personal growth and advancement.
The answers to the following questions will explain some of the basic information for those intending to become an agent.
What is the career potential for a life insurance agent?
Qualified life insurance agents are in demand by life insurance companies, banks and investment dealers, and independent insurance providers called brokers and managing general agencies (known as MGAs).
Becoming a life insurance agent is an excellent career choice for those who enjoy meeting and helping people, like flexible hours, and are prepared to work hard in return for a generous salary, commission, and bonus package. Proficiency in either English or French is essential for exam success. Plus, you have the option of becoming self-employed by becoming an independent financial broker. Take a look at https://ifbc.ca
You can become a career agent, in which you will represent the products of a single company or become an agent who represents many different companies.
Sun Life is one company that employs career agents. Its website describes many of the benefits of becoming an employee agent:
https://www.sunlife.ca/en/careers/become-an-advisor
Most insurance now is sold through a broker or managing general agency (MGA). If you work for a broker or an MGA, you will represent the products of many companies to your clients. For instance, you could offer policies to your clients from Manulife, Transamerica, and Canada Life.
Here’s a useful website:
http://www.financialadvisorjobs.ca/advocis/index.htm
Here’s a list of insurance companies with the types of insurance each sells:
https://olhi.ca/for-insurers/member-list/
As a life agent you will sell life insurance policies, health insurance policies, disability insurance, group insurance, business life and disability insurance, and two types of investments: annuities and segregated funds.
Life insurance policies fall into two broad categories: insurance for a period of time (term insurance) and insurance until death (called permanent insurance). There are several forms of permanent insurance.
Health insurance policies provide supplemental coverage to the government health insurance all Canadians enjoy. Health insurance is the umbrella name for travel insurance, dental plans, insurance for prescription drugs, vision care, critical illness insurance, and long-term care insurance. Travel insurance is vital for anyone traveling outside Canada, whether for a weekend, a week, or a protracted stay abroad, such as that made by snowbirds or students.
Disability insurance is a form of insurance that provides income replacement when a person can no longer work because of sickness or an accident.
You might want to choose to get a license only for health insurance sales and service. In this case, health and disability insurance are the only forms of insurance you will sell. Group insurance policies are sold to businesses that want to provide an employee benefit in the form of health and disability insurance. Sometimes life insurance is also provided as a group policy.
Business life and disability insurance is insurance intended to protect small businesses against the death or disability of one of the business owners or partners.
Life insurance agents sell annuities and segregated funds as investments. An annuity is an investment that requires the investor to make a deposit and, then, that deposit plus interest is repaid at regular intervals. A segregated fund is like a mutual fund in many ways except it provides a guaranteed return on investment.
What are the steps to becoming a life insurance agent?
- Enroll in the life licensing qualification program (LLQP) offered by qualified providers;
- You will receive five study modules: Life Insurance, Accident & Sickness, Segregated Funds and Annuities, Ethics and Professional Practice, and Taxation. You can study these in any order your prefer: we suggest starting with Accident and Sickness Insurance, then Life, then Ethics, then Seg Funds. Your provider may suggest another approach.
- There is a provincial exam for every module except Taxation. Your provider will set the means by which you be certified to write the provincial exams —- a certification exam is usual. The pass mark is set by each individual provider;
- Pass the provincial exams in the province where you live; this requires a mark of 60% or greater. Although each exam is “open book,” students cannot use the printed version of the study modules. A tablet will be provided for use during the exams and students should not rely on finding answers verbatim in the tablet;
- After passing all four exams, join an insurance provider;
- Apply for your license for the province in which you will work (your employer may take this step on your behalf); you will need to pay a fee, and clear any background checks insurance regulators require.
- Acquire errors and omissions (E&O) insurance; this is a form of professional liability insurance that will protect you from client claims against mistakes you inadvertently make; your employer will help you find an E&O company; E&O insurance is not optional.
What is needed to keep my license after I get it?
To keep your license, you must renew it annually and pay the required fee, and have fulfilled the continuing education requirement for the province to which you are applying. C’Life is an excellent provider of CE and we hope you’ll become our customer!
Who is a qualified trainer for the life insurance program?
Please use this link to see the list of qualified LLQP providers:
www.cisro-ocra.com/Documents/View/94
Which training company is best?
Every LLQP course, whether it is provided as books, online learning, seminars, or webinars, follows the study modules provided by the Autorité des marchés financiers. Therefore, every training company provides the same course. They differ in the supporting study material they provide and in the price they charge.
Here are some questions to ask LLQP vendors to help you find the package and provider that’s right for you. Call some providers and compare the answers to these questions:
- How is your program conducted:
a – Self-study
b – Teaching via in-class seminars (and where are those seminars held and when)
c – Teaching via webinars (how often? when?)
d – Other?
e – Combination approach? - What are the components of the program you offer?
a – Book
b – Online activities
c – Exam preparation
d – Webinars
e – Pre-certification exam testing
f – Other
- Who primarily purchases your LLQP?
a – Students fresh from community college or university?
This answer will indicate a program written at a fairly high level and assume some degree of knowledge of financial services and finance.b – People seeking a new career?
This answer should indicate a program oriented towards people who do not have prior knowledge of Canadian financial services.c – People already working in the financial services industry?
This program will assume a high degree of knowledge about Canadian financial services, retirement, pensions, and investments.
- What is the pass rate on your Certification Exam?
- What is the pass rate for your students on the provincial exam?
- Where do I write my Certification Exam and how quickly do I receive the results?
- How often can I rewrite my Certification Exam?
- Who is the person I can speak to if I have questions about the content of the program? Has this person written the provincial exam and when? Did he or she pass?
- Can you give me a student reference I can speak to?
- Do you offer any guarantees?
What about the provincial exams?
The provincial exam for life insurance agents (outside Quebec) is a series of four exams based on the study modules Life Insurance, Accident and Sickness Insurance, Segregated Funds and Annuities, and Ethics and Professional Practice. All exams must be passed to become a life insurance agent.
Students are provided with a tablet since the exam is “open book.” However, a student should not expect to find answers to exam questions verbatim in the tablet, especially in the time allotted for each exam.
Candidates must register for their exam at least seven (7) business days in advance.
Candidates for an Accident and Sickness insurance agent licence must write the following modules:
- Accident and sickness insurance
- Ethics and professional practice*
Candidates must write the “Ethics and professional practice” module required in the jurisdiction(s) in which they are seeking a licence:
- Ethics and professional practice (within the context of common law, for licensing in all provinces and territories except Quebec).
- Ethics and professional practice (within the context of civil law, for licensing in Quebec)
There are 30 questions in each exam except Ethics, which has 20. All exams must be completed in 75 minutes.
Exams may be written on separate days or the same day. The exam for each module is marked on its own. Therefore, the student must achieve 60% on each of the four exams to pass. A student will need to rewrite only the module(s) in which he or she has not attained a pass mark (60%).
Please note that a student must make his or her choice of a single exam or all four exams at the time you book your exam. You cannot switch models once that booking has been processed.
Before registering to write a provincial exam, students must register with the Canadian Insurance Participant Registry (CIPR). There is no cost to register. Here is the link.
To write the provincial exams, it is necessary to register with Durham College: link.
Entry to the exam is provided to those who have a Certificate from an authorized provider, have paid the fee, and can provide photo ID when arriving for the exam that matches the ID on the Certificate.
The exam may be written on paper, or online. The online exam should not be attempted by anyone without superior computer skills. Both exams require the student to read English or French quickly and accurately.
The pass mark is 60%. There are no breaks allowed during the exam for any reason.
Additional information about the LLQP may be found through the Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organizations (CISRO)
https://www.cisro-ocra.com
Durham College administers the LLQP exam for various provincial regulators. Find general information here.
When I’m a life insurance agent, do I get a professional accreditation?
No. LLQP is not a designation.
Is there another way to become licensed to sell life insurance besides the LLQP?
No.
Who are the life insurance regulators?
There is no national insurance regulator. The provincial regulators, whose responsibilities include agent licensing, are:
BC: Insurance Council of British Columbia
https://www.insurancecouncilofbc.com
Suite 300 – 1040 West Georgia Street
P.O. Box 7
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6E 4H1
Phone: 604-688-0321
Toll free within BC: 1-877-688-0321
AB: Alberta Insurance Council
2700 10180 101 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3S4
Phone: 780-421-4148
SK: Insurance Councils of Saskatchewan
310 – 2631 – 28th Avenue
Regina SK
S4S 6X3
Phone: 306-347-0862
MB: Insurance Council of Manitoba
466 – 167 Lombard Ave.
Winnipeg, MB
R3B 0T6
Phone: 204-988-6800
ON: Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario
Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO)
25 Sheppard Ave. W
Suite 100
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6S6
Phone: 416-250-7250
Toll free: 1-800-668-0128
QC: There are two regulators in Quebec:
Autorité des Marchés Financiers
https://lautorite.qc.ca/en/general-public/
Cite de Québec
Phone: 418- 525-0337
Montréal
Phone: 514-395-0337
Toll free: 1-877-525-0337
Institut québecois de planification financière
3 Place du Commerce
Bureau 501
Île-des-Soeurs
Verdun, Quebec
H3E 1H7
Phone: 514-767-4040
Toll free: 1-800-640-4050
How to Become a Stockbroker
If you want to buy and sell bonds, stocks, mutual funds, ETFs and other securities, you will need to become registered with IIROC (the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada). See https://www.iiroc.ca
There are many types of registration – see the Financial Services Career Map at https://www.csi.ca/student/en_ca/careermap/index.xhtml; some common categories of registration include:
Registered Representative: An employee or agent of an investment dealer who is approved by IIROC to trade and advise in securities, options and futures contracts/future contract options with the public in Canada.
Investment Representative: An employee or agent of an investment dealer who is approved by IIROC to trade in, but not advise on, securities, options and futures contracts/future contract options.
The Canadian Securities Course (CSC), published and distributed by CSI, (https://www.csi.ca) is the baseline regulatory requirement for securities transactions. It is an online course, with 135-200 hours of study expected for successful completion. Completing the course leads to job opportunities, such as:
• Mutual Funds and Alternative Mutual Funds Sales Representative;
• Financial Planner;
• Investment Representative;
• Investment Advisor;
• Bank or Trust Company Officer.
Various community colleges and universities offer the CSC.
There are two exams for the course. Each is two hours’ duration, with 100 questions per exam. There are three attempts allowed, and the passing grade is 60%.
On completing the exam, continuing education is required: a total of 30 hours every two years.
Successful completion of the CSC does not bestow an accreditation.
How to Become a Mutual Fund Salesperson
The Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) is the national self-regulatory organization that oversees mutual fund dealers in Canada. (https://mfda.ca)
Mutual fund salespersons are widely employed throughout the financial services industry. They are often dual-licensed with their life insurance license.
There are two routes to becoming a mutual fund salesperson:
- complete the Canadian Securities Course (see How to Become a Stockbroker), or
- complete the Canadian Investment Funds Course (CIFC) offered by IFSE (https://www.ifse.ca/courselist/canadian-investment-funds-course-cifc/)
The IFSE course is offered online, in English and the suggested study time is 60 to 90 hours. The exam is three hours’ duration. There are three attempts allowed, and the passing grade is 60%.
After you successfully pass your exam, you must be sponsored by a mutual fund dealer to complete the application process.
As of early 2021 there were no specific CE requirements for the MFDA. However, CE for this channel has been under review by regulators.
Successful completion of the CIFC does not bestow an accreditation.
Once licensed, 30 hours of continuing education are required every two years to maintain your license.
How to Become a CFP® (Certified Financial Planner) or a QAFP
The CFP mark is internationally recognized; in Canada, it is administered by FP Canada™. (https://www.fpcanada.ca)
Those seeking to become a CFP may choose to first complete their QAFP studies, or they may enrol in an FP-Canada Approved Core Program. There are three additional educational programs that must be completed before attempting the CFP Examination.
The CFP examination is a six-hour, computer-based exam consisting of a combination of stand-alone, multiple-choice (20%-30%), and case-based constructed-response (70%-80%) questions. The test specifications are published in the FP Canada Blueprint: CFP Examination. Each question on the exam focuses on specific elements of the FP Canada Standards Council™ Competency Profile and integrates several financial planning areas. The CFP exam is administered twice a year and is available in English and French.
CFPs have an annual continuing education requirement for 25 credits, including two Professional Responsibility credits.
The Qualified Associate Financial Planner™ (QAFP) designation presents a certification option for financial planners wishing to serve a broad market, or for those wishing to gain recognition of their qualifications and professionalism along the path to CFP® certification.
To obtain the QAFP designation, candidates must complete a rigorous education program, pass a national exam and demonstrate one year of qualifying work experience. To maintain certification, QAFP professionals must keep their knowledge and skills current by completing 12 hours of continuing education each year. They must also adhere to FP Canada Standards Council™ Standards of Professional Responsibility, including a Code of Ethics which mandates that QAFP professionals place their clients’ interests first. The Standards Council vigilantly enforces these standards.
The QAFP exam is a four-hour examination consisting of up to 100 multiple-choice questions, with stand-alone questions and case studies with related questions. The test specifications are published in the FP Canada Blueprint: QAFP Examination. Each question on the QAFP exam focuses on specific elements of the FP Canada Standards Council™ Competency Profile and may also require integration across several financial planning areas to address the needs of clients with relatively less complex financial planning situations. The QAFP examination is administered twice a year and is available in English and French.
QAFPs have an annual continuing education requirement for 12 credits, including one Professional Responsibility credit.