If you’re looking to become an insurance broker in Ontario, this post has some important updates for you. In order to become a licenced broker, you must go through the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario (RIBO) and they have made some updates to their standards and process.

The changes to the RIBO licencing standards

The enhancements to RIBO’s standards revolve around their entry-level (L1) exam. Here are the changes they are implementing:

– Updates to exam content with new questions that specifically address commercial insurance knowledge.

– Upping the exam questions from 90 – 100.

– Increasing the exam fee to $300 (from $250).

RIBO will be collaborating with the exam providers as well as the Insurance Institute of Canada (IIC) and the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) in making these shifts.

Why is RIBO making the changes?

Their goal is to make sure that the new brokers they licence have the most up to date and relevant skills and knowledge they need to be a successful insurance professional in Ontario. These changes allow RIBO to better evaluate candidates and ensure that they have the comprehensive understanding of the subjects that are crucial to a broker’s competence.

RIBO consulted with industry experts to review their L1 standards and some of their feedback also revolved around commercial insurance and the recommendation that those new to insurance have a more solid foundation in business coverage considerations.

When do these changes go into effect?

Starting with the creation of new exam questions (November 2023) which will then be piloted in the exams in January 2024 and evaluated/refined over the course of the year, the finalized exam and competency profile will be officially introduced in January of 2025.

To learn more, please visit the RIBO website: https://www.ribo.com/level-1-changes/

You can also check out this article from the Canadian Underwriter: Why RIBO is updating its entry level broker exam

Insurance Buddy is always looking for fresh talent to join our team. All Insurance Buddy brokers must be licenced by RIBO – click here to learn more  and to apply now. We look forward to hearing from you!