‘A Very Solvable Problem:’ It’s Time to Break Down Canada’s Travel Insurance Barriers

Amidst tariff and trade threats from the U.S., knocking down inter-provincial economic barriers to bolster the Canadian economy is a hot topic of discussion. 

The travel industry is no exception, as advisors, advocacy groups and travel insurance providers once again raise the issue of why there are so many obstacles barring travel advisors from selling travel insurance across the country.

Earlier this month, PEI-based Stewart Travel Group advisor Brett Tabor asked the question on social media: “Should we say goodbye to the hoops advisors have to jump through to sell insurance in each province?”

It’s a straightforward query, but there are no easy answers.

“Today’s province-by-province licensing model is incredibly complex,” says Jennifer Waver, AVP, Head of Travel Distribution for Manulife. “Each provincial regulator sets its own criteria, which results in a fragmented system that’s both confusing and costly for travel professionals to navigate.”

Currently, agents must complete separate applications, pay individual fees, and meet varying ongoing education requirements depending on the province. 

“It’s easy to make mistakes in this environment,” Waver explains. “And for agencies that want to operate nationally, the cost and administrative burden of maintaining multiple licenses and tracking compliance is significant.” Wavers adds that Manulife “fully supports standardizing licensing across Canada to simplify the process.”

ACTA, the national organization that advocates for travel advisors, says it is pushing for “common-sense reform that would reduce costs for travel businesses, increase consumer access to trusted advisors, and align with Canada’s broader commitment to economic integration.”

 Avery Campbell, ACTA’s Director of Advocacy and Industry Relations adds:

“Canada’s fragmented travel insurance licensing system is an outdated barrier that hurts both consumers and businesses. Currently, travel agencies and travel advisors must obtain separate licenses in each province where their customers live.

“At a time when the federal government has passed the One-Canadian Economy Act to reduce internal trade barriers, and several provinces are already moving toward mutual recognition of licenses, maintaining these provincial silos makes no sense. A travel advisor who is qualified to sell insurance in one province should be trusted to serve clients in any province.

Flemming Friisdahl, founder and CEO of The Travel Agent Next Door (TTAND), Canada’s largest network of independent travel advisors, with more than 1,500 members, is intimately acquainted with this issue. 

TTAND’s coast-to-coast group of home-based independent agents represents the fastest-growing segment of retail travel. With a strong online presence, its members are unrestricted by geography and often serve clients from across the country and beyond. 

But Canada’s province-by-province restrictive rules on selling travel insurance make it difficult to provide clients with the insurance advice that is increasingly vital in a tumultuous landscape.

In the early years of TTAND’s growth, the company was fined by the Alberta Insurance Council AIC, the industry-funded regulator that licenses and oversees insurance agents, brokers, and independent adjusters across the province. Friisdahl challenged the AIC in court and lost, appealed the decision, and lost again in 2016.

Friisdahl says that while some provinces like Alberta claim they are protecting consumers by restricting travel insurance sales, he believes the actual motivation is “a money grab” – in Alberta for example, it can cost advisors upwards of $450 per year for required licensing fees and additional errors and omissions insurance.

“They say ‘we’re making it better for consumers,’ they’re actually making it worse,” Friisdahl told Travel Market Report Canada.

For advisors like Tabor and his colleague Frances Gertsch, the issue is complicated by geography. Many of TTAND-member Stewart Travel Group’s clients live in nearby provinces, making selling insurance to those clients impossible without being registered and licensed in each one.

“Obviously in PEI, selling travel to clients in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick is pretty common, so it’s common that you have travel insurance licenses in all three provinces,” said Gertsch.

“As our business started expanding across the country we recognized that our business needed to have the capacity to sell insurance beyond just the Maritimes,” she told Travel Market Report Canada. She’s now licensed to sell insurance in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, Ontario and BC, but the process has been onerous.

A jarring difference is that Gertsch can sell travel insurance in 47 U.S. states without individual license requirements.

“Our business has since expanded to the U.S and we sell John Hancock which does not require us to be licensed individually in every state. There are some restrictions in Florida, New York and Hawaii but otherwise I can serve clients living in every state. It would be nice if Canada could have the same kind of system.”

The requirements of obtaining provincial licences is often a barrier, with separate exams or having special E&O insurance (errors & omissions). She said the reason she hasn’t gotten an Alberta license is the province’s requirement for costly additional E&O insurance on top of the knowledge required.

 “The intentions of these regulatory requirements are to make sure that consumers are taken care of, that they’re not travelling abroad without having an insurance discussion, without being protected,” says Tabor.

“But if an advisor is selling to someone outside their province, they may spend less time than they otherwise would have in discussing insurance. So because of the fractured nature of these regulatory requirements, in the end, Canadians may not be protected in the way that they should be,” he explains.

Currently, for many advisors selling travel to clients outside their province, they either refer them to their preferred insurance provider and receive a portion of the commission, or have reciprocal private deals in place with other advisors or agencies in the provinces.

Tabor sums it up: “In my opinion, as I look at this crazy landscape, this absolutely falls into the inter-provincial barriers that there’s currently a wave to solve. It just seems like a very solvable problem for our industry.”

Travel Market Report Canada has created a petition calling for consistent national standards in the sale of travel insurance. Click here to sign and express your opinion. 

“In a previous role I headed up online retail for a major Canadian travel corporation. I’m well aware of the negative impact these restrictive regulations have on both travel advisors and consumers,” said John Kirk, Editor-in-Chief, Travel Market Report Canada. 

“With the current focus on boosting the Canadian economy by dismantling inter-provincial barriers to trade and commerce, we thought this is the perfect time to draw attention to this important issue.”