History, education and community involvement
Founded in 1899, the Insurance Institute of Canada has established itself as a leading authority on professional development in Canada's property and casualty insurance industry. The IIC consistently delivers internationally recognized education programs and services that reflect the highest professional standards in insurance.
The history
In 1899 John B. Laidlaw returned to Canada from an overseas trip, buoyed with excitement after seeing the UK’s insurance institute in action. He issued a call to his Canadian insurance peers suggesting they build a similar organization. 230 industry colleagues responded, giving birth to the Insurance Institute of Toronto, the forerunner to the Insurance Institute of Ontario.
Other provinces followed suit. The Insurance Institute of Montreal was formed in 1900. The Insurance Institute of British Columbia and the Insurance Institute of Winnipeg were established in the 1920s.
In 1952 the Institutes joined in association with The Insurance Institute of Canada to establish a uniform standard of insurance education and examinations.
Our designations and programs
The Institute offers four designation programs, the Chartered Insurance Professional (CIP), Advanced CIP (ACIP), Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional (FCIP), and Canadian Managing General Agent (CMGA). Members can further hone their skills and abilities through a range of certificate and professional development programs. To ensure ongoing personal and career development, we hold numerous networking opportunities and a variety of events and seminars.
Maintaining high standards
The Insurance Institute’s broad selection of designation and certificate programs represent the highest professional standards for education in the property & casualty (p&c) insurance sector. Our exams are developed by insurance industry experts following established exam development practices, and they are continuously reviewed and updated to ensure they are assessing content that is important and relevant to the industry.
Helping members achieve their goals
We’re committed to helping our members thrive professionally. Our methods of support include:
- creating a rich learning environment with multiple study options
- setting the syllabus of p&c insurance studies
- producing appropriate Canadian texts
- holding national examinations
- electing graduates
Together, with our members, the Institute is constantly growing, learning and evolving with the industry.
An outstanding academic team
Our best-in-class programs and services would not be possible without the insurance industry subject-matter experts (SME), instructional design and learning specialists, writer/editors, project managers and volunteer coordinators who comprise our Academic area. The team works closely with industry task forces on course updates and revisions as well as exploring opportunities to develop new products to serve the needs of our p&c industry employers, students and regulators.
Thought leadership
As a leader in research initiatives, we conduct and deliver reports on industry concerns about human capital issues such as recruitment, retention, succession planning, and education and training. To learn more, visit Insights and Publications.
Connecting with the insurance community
The Insurance Institute and our members are actively involved in our industry and in our communities. We are a platinum sponsor of the National Insurance Conference of Canada, to help keep our members current on the issues and challenges facing the p&c industry. We also sponsor the Insurance Brokers Association of British Columbia Annual Conference and Trade Show. You’ll find us at Women in Insurance Cancer Crusade events where we support their fundraising efforts by participating in events, donating prizes and doing our best to raise awareness and help find a cure. We are also actively involved in the Toronto Insurance Women’s Association, the Canadian Association of Insurance Women and many, many more.
Each February, we gather the industry together to celebrate National Education Week. We founded the week in 2009 as a national celebration of education in insurance, with events scheduled during the week to encourage continuing education and professional development in the ever-changing p&c insurance industry.