Last reviewed: 8 October 2026

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How to check if a Canadian insurance agent or broker is licensed

Unlike the US, where NIPR's multistate database gives you one starting point regardless of which state issued the license (see our US guide), Canada requires knowing the specific province or territory first — see our companion explainer on how Canada's provincial regulators are structured for why. Once you know the province, most provinces publish an online lookup; where none is described below, contact the regulator. Here's each one.

Correction (8 October 2026): an earlier version of this page told readers to contact New Brunswick's Financial and Consumer Services Commission directly to verify a licence, and described the shared disciplinary database as covering most provincial councils. The Commission's insurance licences page links to searchable databases of insurers, agents (brokers) and adjusters, agencies and managing general agents, adjusting firms and restricted insurance representatives^[3], and the database's terms say it covers the regulators that have entered into an agreement to publish their decisions^[4]. Both statements are corrected below.

The short version

• There is no single Canada-wide licence lookup: you search the licensing regulator of the province or territory, then search discipline separately.
• Lookups differ in what they cover. RIBO's Broker Search is a registry for verifying whether the person you are dealing with holds a valid insurance licence; read its page for what it covers.^[1]
• British Columbia's directory lists current licensed agents, agencies, adjusters and firms, and does not include pending applications, trainee registrations or licences terminated before March 1, 2008.^[2]
• The shared disciplinary database holds decisions published from January 1, 2008 onward by the regulators that have agreed to publish there, and its terms say decisions vary by jurisdiction.^[4]

Step 1: get the province and the exact legal name

Ask directly which province or territory issued the license, and for the person's full legal name — a license is issued to a specific name in a specific jurisdiction, the same as in the US. If someone sells insurance in more than one province, they generally need a separate, active license in each one they actually operate in, so ask which province applies to the transaction you're actually doing, not just where the person happens to live.

Step 2: use that province's own lookup tool

• Ontario (agents): the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) is the regulator for insurance agents; contact FSRA to confirm an agent's licence. For general insurance brokers, use RIBO below.
• Ontario (brokers): RIBO's broker search, for multi-insurer P&C brokers — a different regulator from FSRA, so check both if you're not sure which the person is.
• British Columbia: Insurance Council of BC's licensee directory.
• Alberta: Alberta Insurance Council's Agent Lookup.
• Saskatchewan: Insurance Councils of Saskatchewan's licensee search.
• Manitoba: Insurance Council of Manitoba's agent and agency search.
• Quebec: the AMF's Register of firms and individuals authorized to practice — the actual licensing record, separate from the disciplinary-decision publications of the relevant chambre (the Chambre de l'assurance de dommages or the Chambre de la sécurité financière) (see our regulatory-structure explainer for why Quebec splits these).
• New Brunswick: the Financial and Consumer Services Commission's insurance licences page links to searchable databases of insurers, agents (brokers) and adjusters, agencies and managing general agents, adjusting firms and restricted insurance representatives; you can also contact the Commission directly.^[3]
• Nova Scotia: the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance runs an online "Insurance Agent, Agency, or Adjuster Search" (at acp.novascotia.ca) where you can search by first name, last name, licence number or city or town; at least one field must have a value.^[5]
• Prince Edward Island: the province's Office of the Superintendent of Insurance is the place to ask for confirmation of a licence.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance, administered through Service NL.
• Yukon: Yukon's own online insurance company and professional register.
• Northwest Territories: the territorial Office of the Superintendent of Insurance.
• Nunavut: the territorial insurance licensing office.

Nova Scotia's search needs at least one field filled in; where a province lists no search above, ask the regulator to confirm the licence.

Step 3: check discipline separately, through CIRDA

A current-license search tells you licensing status, not disciplinary history. For that, search the Canadian Insurance Regulators Disciplinary Actions (CIRDA) database — one shared search of the decisions published there from January 1, 2008 onward by the regulators that have entered into an agreement to publish, rather than checking each province's own disciplinary page one at a time; the database's terms say decisions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in type and format, and refer you to the issuing regulator for earlier decisions^[4]. It's a useful shortcut because it is a shared search rather than one site per province (see our structural overview for why licensing itself isn't).

What each lookup shows and leaves out

What a clean result does and doesn't tell you

An active Canadian provincial license confirms the person is currently authorized to sell insurance in that specific province — nothing more. It doesn't confirm they're appointed to sell a specific carrier's products (a separate, carrier-filed fact in Canada much as in the US — see our appointment explainer for the US version of that same distinction), and it says nothing about the financial strength of any carrier involved (a separate question for ratings agencies like AM Best or DBRS Morningstar, not an insurance regulator). And a license from any Canadian province is a separate thing from a US state producer license: a licence in one country does not by itself authorise selling in the other, so check the regulator where the client lives.

If you're checking whether a license held in one Canadian province lets someone sell in another, see our companion page on reciprocity between provinces — the honest answer is more nuanced than a flat yes or no.

This page is general information about where to look. It says nothing about any particular agent, broker or insurer. Other Canadian lookups linked above are the regulators' own tools; open them to see current results. See also how complaints are routed in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, Quebec's disciplinary process and provincial errors and omissions requirements.

References

1. [1] Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario, Broker Search page, read 8 October 2026 — ribo.com/consumer-information/licensee-directory-status/broker-search
2. [2] Insurance Council of British Columbia, Insurance Licensee Directory page, read 8 October 2026 — insurancecouncilofbc.com/licensee-directory
3. [3] Financial and Consumer Services Commission (New Brunswick), Insurance Licences page, read 8 October 2026 — fcnb.ca/en/insurance/insurance-licences
4. [4] Canadian Insurance Regulators Disciplinary Actions database, Terms and Conditions (CISRO and CCIR), read 8 October 2026 — database at decisions.cisro-ocra.com
5. [5] Government of Nova Scotia, Insurance Agent, Agency, or Adjuster Search (Office of the Superintendent of Insurance), read 8 October 2026 — acp.novascotia.ca