Consultation on Continuing Education Guidelines


The Insurance Council is  proposing revisions to the Continuing Education Guidelines (the Guidelines) for:

  • Accident & Sickness Agents;
  • Life Agents; 
  • General Insurance Agents and Salespersons; and
  • Insurance Adjusters. 
We are notifying licensees early about these proposed changes so they are aware and given the opportunity to ask questions or provide input.

What is this about? 

As part of their professional responsibilities, licensees must meet continuing education (CE) program requirements, established under Insurance Council Rule 7(5). The Guidelines clarify and simplify current CE requirements. 

The Insurance Council is updating the Guidelines, which expand eligibility criteria for education content, communicate how credits are calculated and provide further clarity to the guidance.

Why now? 

The Insurance Council regularly evaluates and revises guidance documents to ensure they are accurate and provide the necessary clarity to licensees.  During these evaluations, Council considers the feedback we receive from licensees to help inform the revisions. We are publishing the draft revisions prior to their proposed effective date to ensure licensees have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the revised Guidelines, ask any clarifying questions or provide input that Council can consider before the Guidelines come into effect.

What's Changing?  


Clarity: Improving overall clarity of the Guidelines.

  • Changes include document layout and organization (e.g. structural), inclusion of additional definitions and formatting.
  • Additional clarity for licensee obligations, such as:
    • Clarifying that information provided in the CE tracker (included with existing Guidelines) does not count as an official record of CE completion
    • Outlining requirements equivalency criteria for non-BC resident holders 
    • Clarifying CE credit carry-over eligibility
Eligibility for CE credit: additional criteria to determine what constitutes eligible education time.
  •  For example, courses must be structured, have learning objectives and provable.
Calculating credit: including information on how credits are calculated, specifically for content beyond 15-minute increments.
 
CE Accreditation Program: the Guidelines now include references to the CE Accreditation Program.  
 
Technical content: updating technical content criteria in the Guidelines, including new or different content categories, which include:
  • Improving customer outcomes (applies to all Guidelines)
  • Financial planning (applies to Life and A&S Guidelines)
  • Agency and licensee supervision and management (applies to all Guidelines)
  • Changes to current Guidelines which include expanding/modifying eligible legislative, ethics and errors and omissions (E&O) content 
Compliance and record-keeping: clearer language and specifying the types of information licensees must maintain.

Exceptions: a new section detailing circumstances where the CE requirements may not be required.
  • Licensees will not need to complete CE during their first licence period after receiving a new licence once the Guidelines are approved. 

To review the revised CE Guidelines by licence class, please visit the links below:
 

How to provide feedback or ask questions

Consultation will be open from February 13 until March 17, 2025. During this time, licensees can provide feedback or ask questions about the revisions to the Guidelines.

Please submit an email to CEguidelinesfeedback@insurancecouncilofbc.com before March 17, 2025, to have your comments considered.

While we appreciate all input and inquiries regarding CE, at this time only input regarding the proposed revisions is being considered to inform additional revisions. 

Following the feedback period, the Insurance Council will review all questions and comments related to the revisions and determine if any additional changes are required. Pending Council approval, we will publish the revised CE Guidelines in the coming months.   

Continuing Education Program

For more information including requirements, courses, CE self-tracker and the CE Accreditation program resources  about the Insurance Council’s CE program, please visit our CE page

If you have questions about CE requirements or our CE Accreditation program please contact practice@insurancecouncilofbc.com.