The Ontario Broker - June 2018 - 7

LEADING THE WAY
COLIN SIMPSON, IBAO CEO

s I write this article, Ontario is two days away from heading to the polls. Although the political
climate remains uncertain, we've stayed true to our objectives of grass roots advocacy, driving
the message of open dialogue and asserting the need for realistic and practical Auto Reform.

With the election bluster soon behind us, we'll begin our outreach efforts with the new government,
ensuring incoming MPPs understand who the IBAO is and how we can help inform their efforts on
protecting consumers across Ontario.
The latter part of 2018 will be a busy one - from our political advocacy, technology initiative, new
education offerings, digital marketing and gearing up for October's Convention, all the way down to
the internal workings of the IBAO office itself.
Under our leadership and our Technology Committee's guidance, we brought the industry together
in May and agreed that, collectively, we need to address the data connectivity challenges that are
holding this industry back. Although technology is never as straight forward as some make it out to
be, we're very optimistic that we're on the right track - we continue to obtain significant support and
assistance from insurance companies and technology vendors on our BrokerFlow initiative.
Our ability to bring key people together for the betterment of brokers and the consumers they
serve continues to strengthen. We've partnered with the Insurance Bureau of Canada to develop
consumer and broker education on the upcoming legalization of cannabis - a program developed
by our Young Brokers Council; one that's receiving great interest from MPPs and MPs alike. We've
joined the Finance Minister's Working Group on FinTech, an initiative on potential opportunities
within the financial services sector. FinTech's on trend these days both from a provincial and federal
perspective, especially in connection with the implications for financial service regulations. This is a
subject we'll continue to remain close to.
One question industry stakeholders have affirmed this past year: leadership is a role they want the
IBAO to continue to take.
Looking more introspectively, there's much to do within the IBAO as we modernize our education
delivery and offerings. Working in partnership with the Insurance Brokers Association of
Canada, we'll be moving CAIB exams online for the first time. We continue to engage our various
Working Groups to add value where they identify a need for assistance. And we've increased
the skill set within the IBAO team to focus on the member experience as we evolve our digital
communication capability to ensure the broker value proposition reaches consumers across the
province.
Moving into summer, rest assured the IBAO team will continue to build momentum as we not
only partner with industry stakeholders to represent your best interests, but lead important
initiatives that help you and your businesses thrive.
Happy Summer!

JUNE 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Ontario Broker - June 2018