The Financial Services Commission of Ontario today introduced a new feature to its successful on-line licensing system that will allow insurance companies to initiate the process of licensing new agents on-line. This additional feature will apply to Level I Life agents, General or Accident & Sickness agents.

“This feature is particularly innovative because it provides three way interaction between FSCO, the company and the agent via the Internet,” said Philip Howell, superintendent of Financial Services and acting CEO. “Life insurance companies will save time in recruiting new agents through this expedited, paperless process.”

Additional enhancements to on-line registration will give insurers immediate access to the status of all their sponsored agent licence applications, and to an on-demand reporting system. Companies will also be able to transfer or terminate an agent’s sponsorship over the Internet. There is no additional cost for this service.

To demonstrate how the new pre-application process works, an on-line tutorial has been posted in the Licensing section of FSCO’s website www.fsco.gov.on.ca.

On May 14, 2001, FSCO introduced the first phase of the IAS that enabled Level II agents to renew their licences on-line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Level I agents moving to Level II are also able to submit their applications electronically.

The FSCO Internet Application System is Canada’s first electronic on-line licensing system for instantly processing licence applications for insurance agents over the Internet. In the future, the system will also register mortgage brokers, other licensees and registrants regulated by FSCO.