Last Updated on July 16, 2025 by Jacques Wong, B.Sc.
Starting January 1st, 2016, life insurance regulators including the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) implemented a streamlined qualification program for new life insurance agents in Ontario. This harmonized the life insurance licensing requirements across Canada under the Life License Qualification Program (LLQP). Getting your life insurance license in Ontario is now a simple 3 step process.
How To Become a Life Insurance Agent in Ontario
Getting your life insurance license in Ontario is a pretty straight forward 3 step process:
Step 1) Complete an accredited LLQP course
Step 2) Pass the LLQP exam offered by an official exam administrator
Step 3) Find a job. Your insurance company/employer will sponsor you for your licensing application
You have to take the LLQP course with an approved provider in order to write the exam. All course providers create their curriculum based on the content provided by CISRO but each education provider will teach in their own way. Some offer online courses while others are in-person only. It takes about 100 hours to complete a qualifying LLQP course but it can vary.
Once you complete the course, you’ll be given a certificate to present to the official exam administrator. The exam administrator for Ontario is Durham College. You have 1 year from passing the first module of the LLQP course to write the exam – otherwise you will have to retake the modules again.
LLQP Exam Information
There are 4 modules to this open-book exam. You need to complete all 4 modules to pass but if you fail a module, you can re-take the exam for that module until you pass all 4.
The LLQP exam fees vary by administrator but Durham College charges $108 for each full exam (1 attempt at each of the 4 modules).
You have 3 attempts at each module. After your 3rd unsuccessful attempt, you have to wait 3 months before you can write again. After your 4th failed attempt, the wait time is an additional 3 months. For each failed attempt after that, the wait time is 6 months. That being said, you can take the exam for other modules while you wait.