The Ontario Broker - Volume 23, Issue 3 - 24

Cover Story
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
Karen Doiron, Secretary
Insurance Brokers Association of Prince Edward Island (IBAPEI)
Unique Challenges
IBAPEI doesn't have a physical office, and the staff are volunteers.
I've been involved since 2004, I served as President from 2007-2009 and
have been Secretary ever since.
The landscape of the PEI broker is drastically changing with all the
M&A activity this year. We were small to begin with but are now even
smaller. IBAPEI proudly boasts that we have 100% of the brokerages in
PEI as members. That was 14 brokerages, but with M&A activity over
the past few years, that number is now down to 6 brokerage owners.
The PEI population is growing but sits at approximately 175,000-
that's not a lot of insurance customers to share with the insurance
industry. Because of our small size, we're often last to get rating engines
updated or problems fixed. Size does matter, the bigger you are the
quicker you get attention. The population growth is mainly newcomers
to Canada and immigration growth which presents its own challenges
(foreign drivers, new businesses). And, of course, infrastructure hasn't
kept pace with growth, adding an additional burden. On the flip side,
our small size allows us to know our customers better and provides an
opportunity to get involved in our communities.
Pending Regulatory Changes
The sharing economy has made for several recent changes in
regulations for ridesharing, car-sharing, short-term home rentals and
electric kick scooter rentals. We're catching up to the rest of Canada
with regards to photo radar. The highway traffic act was updated in
2021 to enable the use of photo radar-the rollout of the technology,
which would help police crackdown on excessive speeding, is
happening this year.
Licensing
In P.E.I. your insurance license is called a Certificate of Authority.
It's issued for a two-year term. You'll need an insurance company to
sponsor you. Although the P.E.I. Government has no CE requirement to
maintain your license, many brokerages still require their staff to do a
certain number of hours of education. If a broker is licensed in another
province and are in good standing, they can obtain a P.E.I. license by
completing an application-no exam is required. However, if a person
has no license and wants to be licensed in P.E.I., they must write a
licensing exam. If they have questions, I'm always available to assist,
kdoiron@cooke.ca.
Provincial Roundup
Fun Fact: You can drive from tip
to tip in 4 hours, but there's lots to
see and do along the way, so who
wouldn't rather take their time?
Underrated Landmark: Victoria-bythe-Sea
is a bustling hub of cultural
activity masquerading as a tiny
seaside village. This small community
has galleries, eclectic shops,
refreshing eateries and one of the
Island's most cherished community
theatres, Victoria Playhouse.
Pop Culture: We have some famous
musicians: Stompin' Tom Connors,
Gene MacLellan, Haywire and Paper
Lions. And, of course, Anne of Green
Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
helped put PEI on the map.
24
The Ontario Broker
The Ontario Broker - Volume 23, Issue 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Ontario Broker - Volume 23, Issue 3
