Updates to Rule 5 Council Fees receive approval

Published August 17, 2021

Amendments to Council Rule 5, the rule governing fees for Insurance Council activities, were recently approved by the Minister of Finance. The updated rule includes modernizing and housekeeping changes to the structure that defines which activities the Insurance Council collects fees for and their amount.

The proposed rule change was submitted for ministerial approval earlier this summer, following a period of licensee and public feedback between March and May 2021. The updated Rule 5 will be effective starting September 20, 2021, but does not trigger any immediate changes to fees currently being charged as its purpose is to establish the parameters for fees. Any changes would be introduced over time in alignment with the Insurance Council’s operational budget.

Detailed information about the Rule 5 amendment and rationale is available in the Council Rules Review Initiative section of the website. In brief, the amendments:

• Clarify what certain fees are for and remove references to outdated practices.
• Provide the Insurance Council with the discretion to charge or not charge fees for the items/activities named in the rule. 
• Differentiate between fees for individual licences vs. corporate licences, as well as different types of corporate licence.  
• Increase the upper limit for licence application and annual filing fees.
• Enable the Insurance Council to charge for courses that it develops and offers.
• Enable the Insurance Council to charge for processing trainee registrations.
• Specify fees for corporate ownership amendments and remove the requirement to charge for other more common amendments.