Canada: Insurance Laws and Products

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario has issued a clear warning that unlicensed GAP Insurance sales will not be tolerated in the province. Dealers must immediately cease selling these coverages unless appropriate insurance licensing is obtained, as FSRA actively monitors compliance and will take action against violations.

Ontario's Financial Services Regulatory Authority has issued a warning about unlicensed businesses selling Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) insurance through vehicle dealerships, leaving consumers potentially unprotected despite paying hundreds of dollars for coverage. The regulatory body has identified cases where GAP products reference insurers that never actually underwrote the policies, and is now taking enforcement action against violators while monitoring the market for compliance with licensing requ

Ontario is proposing significant amendments to its Life and Health Managing General Agent licensing framework in response to industry concerns about overbreadth. The revised approach would narrow the scope to entities with direct insurer agreements and intermediary functions, while shifting certain activities like agent training from licensing triggers to regulatory oversight through standards of practice. Will these changes successfully balance consumer protection with regulatory efficiency and advance har

The British Columbia Court of Appeal has established that filing an application for leave does not preserve third-party contribution and indemnity claims under the province's strict two-year limitation period. This ruling in Oldcastle Building Products Canada Inc. v Division 8 Consulting Corp clarifies that only filing the actual third-party notice stops the limitation clock, creating significant implications for how insurers must handle claims handling timelines and recovery strategies.

This July 2026 newsletter features insights on insurance audits in oral health, hospital medicine conference highlights, and the critical role of contemporaneous documentation in medical-legal matters. The issue also covers the Medico-Legal Society of Toronto's Potpourri Program and other developments at the intersection of healthcare and law.

Miss the deadline to file a third-party notice in British Columbia and you lose your right to recover damages from a party who contributed to the harm—no discretion, no second chance. Insurers who rely on contribution and indemnity claims to offset liability risk are making a critical but avoidable mistake through careful claims management.

As AI becomes further embedded in products and services, insurance is emerging as one of the few mechanisms capable of translating technical assurance, governance frameworks, and accountability into deployable commercial confidence.

This overview highlights recent federal and provincial insurance regulatory developments including OSFI’s evolving prudential guidance, CCIR’s distribution channel supervision priorities, British Columbia’s proposed restricted licensing framework for incidental sales, and Québec’s AMF compliance expectations.

Il s’agit d’une décision importante pour les employeurs, les promoteurs de régimes, les syndicats et les conseillers en avantages sociaux. Cette décision confirme qu’une limite fondée sur l’âge prévue par un régime d’avantages sociaux véritable ne cesse pas d’être légalement valide du simple fait que d’autres modèles de régimes, possiblement moins discriminatoires, pourraient exister.