Canadian insurance regulators post information about foreign insurers withdrawing from Canada

The Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) has posted a document on its Web site outlining a number of issues that must be addressed when foreign insurers wish either to withdraw from Canada or withdraw assets vested in trust in Canada.
The considerations are a result of recent amendments to Part XIII of the federal Insurance Companies Act, which effectively changed the federal regulatory focus from the location of risks to the location of an insurer’s business activities.
Thus, when foreign insurers withdraw, CCIR states: “each province must be satisfied that the foreign insurer (i) is no longer carrying on business/transacting insurance or acting as an insurer in the province, and will not in the future do so; and (ii) has adequately provided for the protection of existing policyholders in the province, before agreeing to revoke a foreign insurer’s provincial licence which must occur to complete the withdrawal process.”
Foreign insurers considering withdrawing from Canada should contact the provincial regulators in each province where they are licensed, the CCIR recommends.
To ensure a foreign insurer no longer carries on business in Canada, a few questions must be answered, the CCIR says in its document. A full list of questions is available on the CCIR Web site at:  http://www.ccir-ccrra.org/en/
Sample questions include:

• Is there solicitation or promotion in the province?
• Is there a sales force in the province? Where are negotiations taking place?
• Where are applications for coverage received? Where are premium payments paid? Where are inquiries and claims processed?
• Are provincial residents receiving policies in the province? Certificates of coverage?
• Has the foreign insurer any unpaid claims in respect to the insurer’s contracts of insurance made in the province?
• Have all of the foreign insurer’s obligations under contracts of insurance made or deemed made in the province been discharged or expired, or have these obligations been assumed by another insurer? If the contracts were transferred or assigned to another insurer, were the policyholders duly notified? Were any objections received from the policyholders?
• Does the foreign insurer have any outstanding fees or taxes payable to the provincial government?