Prepare for annual licence renewal opening April 1

Published March 9, 2026

Annual licence renewal opens April 1. This article shares how you can prepare for annual licence renewal, requirements to be eligible for renewal, and how to login to our new online portal to ensure you're ready to renew your licence.
 

What is annual licence renewal?

Per Insurance Council Rule 4(4), licensees issued a continuous licence, in addition to meeting their ongoing licensing and regulatory requirements, must annually renew their licence and pay the annual licence fee. Licensees must complete annual licence renewal regardless of working status or licence status. This includes licensees with an active, inactive or suspended licence status, except where otherwise specified by the Insurance Council.

Annual licence renewal opens April 1 each year, and the deadline to renew is June 1, 2026. Licences renewed between June 2 and July 31, 2026, are subject to a late fee. Any licence not renewed by July 31, 2026, will be cancelled for non-renewal.

Nominees must complete the annual licence renewal for their agency/firm.  Licensees who hold both general and life insurance licences must complete annual licence renewal for each licence.
 

How to prepare for annual licence renewal

Ensure you are eligible to renew
The first step in preparing to renew your licence is ensuring you are eligible to renew by meeting your ongoing licensing requirements. Licensees cannot renew their licence unless they:

• have met the continuing education (CE) requirements for their licence class(es), and
• maintain the required errors & omissions (E&O) insurance coverage.

 
Licensees are required to confirm via declarations that they understand and are meeting their ongoing licensing obligations before they can renew their licence. For more information about licensee requirements, including CE requirements and E&O insurance requirements, visit the Licensee Resources page of our website.


Login to your online portal early to confirm access and licence information
Licence renewal is completed through the Insurance Council’s online portal. Every licensee has an existing online portal account. However, the Insurance Council launched a new online portal in February 2026 and everyone must login by clicking Register for a New Account when first accessing the new system. Once you enter your information, you can link it to your existing account. If you're not found in the system, do not proceed to register for a new account. Contact our team for assistance to help link to your account. Review the instructions for logging in to the new online portal here and test your access in advance of renewal.
 
Take this opportunity to confirm and update your licence and contact information. Keeping your licence and contact information up to date and checking it regularly ensures you are not only meeting your licence requirements but that you can also receive email communications and important updates from the Insurance Council. You can update your contact information directly in the online portal or contact our Licensing team to correct any licence information that is incorrect.
 

Additional resources and support

Annual licence renewal information is communicated to licensees via email using the licensee’s primary email information as per their licence contact information on the Insurance Council’s online portal.
 
Review the Annual Licence Renewal page of our website as it contains the most current information about annual licence renewal and provides answers to commonly asked questions.
 
Later in March, licensees can also register for and view a recorded session of the 2026 Licensee Ongoing Requirements and Annual Licence Renewal Webinar through the Insurance Council online portal. This free on-demand webinar is eligible for 1 CE credit and provides an overview of licensees’ ongoing licensing and regulatory requirements.
 
If you are no longer engaged in British Columbia insurance business activity and no longer wish to hold an insurance licence, please submit a request to cancel your licence through your online portal account by selecting Licence Updates from the portal main menu.
 

Have questions?

For more information about licensee requirements, including annual licence renewal requirements, CE requirements, E&O insurance requirements and licence status, visit the Licensee Resources page of our website.

Our online portal support team can assist with accessing your account or navigating renewal on the new online portal. Please email portal@insurancecouncilofbc.com, call 604-695-2005 or call 1-877-688-0321 and press 6.

Our Practice and Quality Assurance team can assist with insurance practice, regulatory, and compliance questions, including questions relating to the annual renewal declarations and licensee insurance practices questions. Please email practice@insurancecouncilofbc.com, call 604-695-2008 or call 1-877-688-0321 and press 3.

Our Licensing team can assist with your licence information and any changes to your licence, including upgrade applications and updates such as adding or removing a supervisor, adding or removing authorization to represent an agency or firm, name changes or cancelling your licence. Please email licensing@insurancecouncilofbc.com , call 604-695-2007 or call 1-877-688-0321 and press 2.