Supervision for new life and/or accident & sickness licensees

Published December 18, 2023

New Life and/or Accident & Sickness Agents (New Life and/or A&S Agents) and their supervisors are reminded that a Supervision Period: Confirmation of Completion form must be submitted to the Insurance Council for approval when the New Life and/or A&S Agent’s supervisory period is over and they are qualified and ready to practice unsupervised. Until the Insurance Council receives and approves the Supervision Period: Confirmation of Completion form, the Supervisor's name remains on the New Life and/or A&S Agent’s licence and the New Life and/or A&S Agent must continue to be supervised. Supervisors are also required to notify the Insurance Council within five business days if the supervision ceases.

The minimum supervision period for a New Life and/or A&S Agent is 24 months of supervision. This is not a maximum, so it’s important that supervisors ensure they complete and send in the Supervision Period: Confirmation of Completion form to ensure that the New Life and/or A&S Agent is qualified and ready to practice and that the supervision conditions on the New Life and/or A&S Agent’s licence can be removed if appropriate.

Once a New Life and/or A&S Agent has accumulated the required time of active licensing under supervision and their Supervisor deems them to be ready for unsupervised practice, the Supervisor must complete and submit the Supervision Period: Confirmation of Completion form. This form requires supervisors to formally communicate their observations of the New Life and/or A&S Agent during the mandatory supervision period, including commenting on the New Life and/or A&S Agent’s work and aptitudes, and providing their agreement of the successful completion of the supervision period.

Council Rule 7(16) and 7(17) requires that New Life and/or A&S Agents must only conduct insurance activities under the supervision of a designated supervisor. Life and/or A&S supervisors are also required to notify the Insurance Council within five business days if the supervisor ceases to supervise the New Life and/or A&S Agent and where the supervision ends due to the unsuitability or conduct of the new agent.

If a New Life and/or A&S Agent’s supervision ends prior to completing the mandatory supervision period, the New Life and/or A&S Agent must immediately cease all insurance activities. The New Life and/or A&S Agent’s licence will automatically become inactive until the Insurance Council receives and approves an undertaking from a new supervisor.

If a New Life and/or A&S Agent’s licence becomes inactive, suspended, or cancelled at any time during the supervision period, the mandatory supervision period will only continue to accumulate when the agent's licence is again active.

Notice ICN 19-004 and the Guidelines on Supervision of New Life and/or Accident & Sickness Agents, came into effect January 1, 2020. These guidelines outline the responsibilities of New Life and/or A&S Agents and their Supervisors and identify how they can meet the requirements of Council Rule 7(16) and 7(17). Life and/or A&S licensees are expected to be aware of and familiarize themselves with the guidance. The guidelines along with a Q&A document are available on the Guidelines' section of the website. 

You can find the Confirmation of Completion of Supervision form here under the heading Add/End Supervision/New Supervisor (Life and Accident & Sickness Agents).