British Columbia will require 18 business categories to obtain restricted insurance agent licences by 2027, ending exemptions for incidental insurance sales.
Order in Council No. 598, approved and ordered December 18, 2025, brings into force sections 30 and 31 of the Financial Institutions Amendment Act, 2019, effective January 1, 2027. The order establishes the Restricted Insurance Agent Licence Regulation under the Financial Institutions Act, creating a new licensing framework for businesses that sell insurance incidentally to their primary operations.
The new rules cover 18 business categories. Deposit-taking institutions - which include credit unions, federal credit unions and banks - will need licences, as will motor vehicle dealers, travel agents and travel wholesalers. Also on the list: construction equipment dealerships, credit grantors, customs brokers, extraprovincial trust corporations, farm implement dealerships, freight-forwarding companies, funeral providers, mortgage brokerages, peer-to-peer vehicle service providers, pleasure craft dealerships, portable electronics vendors, transportation companies, trust companies and vehicle rental agencies.
Each business type gets matched to specific insurance products. Motor vehicle dealers can sell credit protection insurance, guaranteed asset protection insurance and vehicle warranty insurance. Travel agents and wholesalers are limited to rented vehicle insurance and travel insurance. Deposit-taking institutions can offer only credit protection insurance.
The regulation spells out what these insurance products cover. Credit protection insurance pays creditors when borrowers face reduced income or lose their ability to earn. Guaranteed asset protection insurance covers the gap between what someone owes on a vehicle or equipment loan and what other insurance pays out after a theft or total loss.
The framework sets conditions for every licence. Businesses can sell only the insurance types specified for their category, and only optional insurance as a side activity to their regular business. They must also name someone to deal with the regulator.
Businesses already selling insurance under the old exemptions get breathing room. Their existing arrangements stay in place while they apply for licences, but only if they file applications by March 31, 2027.
After that deadline, the clock starts ticking differently depending on what happens next. If the regulator approves a licence, the business has 90 days to transition. If the application gets rejected, the transition window shrinks to 30 days. Miss the March 31 deadline entirely, and the exemption expires that same day.
For travel agents and travel wholesalers, the transition period for employees and commissioned sales representatives ends at the end of the 90th day after the council issues a restricted insurance agent licence to the travel agent or travel wholesaler, or at the end of the 30th day after the council decides to refuse such a licence.
The regulation defines 11 insurance categories these businesses can sell: cargo insurance, construction equipment warranty insurance, credit protection insurance, farm implement warranty insurance, funeral services insurance, guaranteed asset protection insurance, pleasure craft warranty insurance, portable electronics insurance, rented vehicle insurance, travel insurance and vehicle warranty insurance.
