The Financial Services Commission of Ontario has stopped issuing paper licences and has switched to providing electronic versions of insurance licences, effective October 1.

The move will help to control costs, follows the Ontario Public Service’s commitment to provide electronic services, and is in line with similar to initiatives from other insurance regulators who have discontinued paper licences, FSCO said Friday.

The regulator notes that there is no requirement under the Insurance Act for licensees to carry or maintain a printed version of a licence. Moreover, paper versions of a licence may not always reflect a recent change in status, and may be susceptible to tampering or counterfeiting. Instead, licensees, insurers, and the public can check the status of a licence on FSCO’s online licensing system.

Sponsoring insurers will no longer be receiving paper licences on behalf of their agents, FSCO notes, and only licensees will be able to download an electronic version of their insurance licence.

IE