Canada Chronicle: Compliance corner

If you feel there has been an increase in regulatory activity over the last 12 months, you are not mistaken.  OSFI, as well as the Provincial Insurance Regulators, have been very active in issuing consultations and new guidelines.  However, the most momentous changes are coming from Quebec and it is not from the AMF.

The Lloyd’s Canadian Regulatory Team will continue to monitor regulatory developments and provide you with guidance as changes are finalized. The following are some of the highlights for 2022. If you have any questions regarding any of the items mentioned below, please review past Canadian Bulletins for further information, or feel free to reach out to a member of the Regulatory Compliance Team directly.

Recently passed:

Quebec: Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the official and common language ‎of Québec, received royal assent on June 1, 2022, and became law.

Upon assent on June 1, 2022, businesses offering services in Québec must inform and serve their clientele, (consumer and commercial customers), in French. The most notably change for the (re)insurance industry, effective June 1, 2023, are standard-form contracts (now called contracts of adhesion), which must be presented in French first, before the recipient can elect to be ‎bound by a version drawn up in a language other than French (the “French First Rule”). 

The Charter does provide for an exception to the French First Rule, although clarity on the use of the exception is still needed. Please review our Canadian Bulletin Ref: AD-22-009 for further information.

Quebec Bill 64: An Act to modernize legislative provisions as regards the protection of personal information: Last fall Quebec passed new privacy legislation, with requirements coming into force in stages beginning September 2022 and finalizing 2024.  While several other Canadian jurisdictions are still reviewing their privacy legislation (including the federal level), Québec is officially the first jurisdiction in Canada to update its privacy legislation with requirements similar to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). Any entities doing business in Quebec that are collecting, storing or sharing personal or sensitive information will need to consider the impacts of this legislation.

Changes we are monitoring:

OSFI Draft Guideline B-15 Climate Risk Management:  Aligning with global concerns on climate change OSFI is moving forward with their climate risk mandate.  Since launching their initial discussion paper in January 2021, OSFI has been clear that this is one of their top priorities. The draft Guideline B15 establishes OSFI’s expectations related to the FRFI’s management of climate-related risks. The draft guideline is not intended to be a one-size-fits-all approach; it allows for the management of climate risk to vary with an insurer’s size, complexity and risks. The implementation of reporting disclosures and review of capital requirements is intended to be over the next several year, with final requirements targeted to be applied in 2027.

BCFSA: Keeping with the theme of Data Protection and Privacy, British Columbia Financial Services Authority released a consultation paper to the industry purposing incident reporting requirements for financial institutions. The recommendation for further reporting requirements is in additional to the October 1, 2021, BCFSA Information Security (“IS”) Guideline. The guideline for incident reporting is expected later this year.

Also on the radar

• OSFI’s Operational Resilience consultation conducted in 2021 will result in revisions to Guideline E-21, Operational Risk Management.  A draft is expected in 2022.
• OSFI had issued Draft B-10 Guideline, Third Party Risk Management, and Draft B-13, Technology and Cyber Risk Management. Final guidelines are expected late 2022.
• Quebec and Ontario have both issued draft revised Complaint Handling Protocols, new guidelines are later expected this year.

In case you missed it

The Following Bulletins have been issued this year: