OSFI requires insurers to state policies issued in the course of their “insurance business in Canada”

Canada’s solvency regulator has issued an update notice for Part XIII amendments, requiring insurers to include in all of their premium notices and policies a statement that the document was issued or made in the course of its insurance business in Canada.
Amendments to Part XIII of the Insurance Companies Act come into effect on Jan. 1, 2010.
OSFI’s update requires insurers “to set out, in legible characters in all premium notices, applications for policies and policies that it issues or makes, a statement that the document was issued or made in the course of its insurance business in Canada.”
OSFI said it is working out with the provinces where the notice would be included on the documents, since some provincial regulations are quite specific about how the documentation is prepared.
“Where the document is the policy itself, foreign companies could ensure compliance with subsection 578(5) and meet the extended definition of ‘policy’ in subsection 2(1) of the ICA by incorporating the statement in an additional letter/document that would accompany the policy,” OSFI says in its update.
If insurers take that route, OSFI adds, the regulator would expect the insurer to make it clear the letter itself forms part of the “policy.”
Also, OSFI says it would be “amenable to the use of a sticker, attached to the application for policy, policy or premium notice, and containing the statement required by subsection 578(5). [i.e. that the policy was issued in the course of a company’s business in Canada.]”