British Columbia · Insurance Licensing
Insurance Council of BC licensee lookup.
BC insurance agents, agencies, adjusters and firms are listed in the Insurance Council of BC’s online Licensee Directory. This page explains what it covers and sends you to it; it checks nothing itself.
Short answer: search the Insurance Council of BC Licensee Directory by individual or agency. The Council says it shows licence status, class and the agencies or firms a person is authorized to represent.
What the Licensee Directory covers
The Council describes the directory as “publicly accessible licence information for all current licensed insurance agents, agencies, adjusters, and firms in British Columbia.” It lets you search individuals and corporate entities, and includes licence status, class, and the agencies or firms they are authorized to represent. The search form has separate Individual and Agency searches, class checkboxes (general, life, accident and sickness, adjuster, travel) and an option to include historical or cancelled licences.
The Council licenses life and general insurance agents, salespersons and adjusters. Its site groups licences into general insurance, life, accident and sickness, insurance adjusting and restricted travel insurance.
Open the Licensee Directory
The Council’s own directory page links to the search, which is hosted on its login subdomain. You do not need to log in to search.
What the directory does not show
Per the Council, the directory does not include general insurance trainee registrations, pending licence applications, licences terminated before 1 March 2008, or the history of a licensee’s authority to represent an agency or firm. If someone applied recently, the Council says to contact its Licensing team once more than 10 business days have passed since it acknowledged receipt of all application requirements.
What the statuses mean
The Council says a licence can be Active, Inactive, Suspended or Cancelled. Active licensees may conduct insurance business in BC. An Inactive licensee may not conduct insurance business or act as an insurance agent. For life and accident and sickness agents, “Not an authorized representative of an insurance agency” means the agent does not currently have authority to represent a licensed agency; it replaces the older term “unaffiliated”.
Heads-up: the Council’s site says a Restricted Insurance Agent Licence Regulation comes into force on 1 January 2027, and some non-insurance businesses will then need a restricted insurance agency licence.
Official sources used
- Licensee Directory page (retrieved October 2026)
- Licence Status page (retrieved October 2026)
- Council home page (licence categories, restricted licensing notice) (retrieved October 2026)
Frequently asked questions
Who licenses insurance agents in British Columbia?
The Insurance Council of BC licenses insurance agents, salespersons and adjusters, according to its own site.
What licence statuses can a BC insurance licence have?
Active, Inactive, Suspended or Cancelled, per the Council’s Licence Status page. An Inactive licensee may not conduct insurance business.
Why can’t I find someone who just applied?
The directory does not list pending applications. The Council says to contact its Licensing team if more than 10 business days have passed since it acknowledged receipt of all application requirements.
Does the directory cover mortgage brokers?
No. Mortgage brokers in BC are covered by BCFSA; see the related BCFSA mortgage broker page.
Can I validate a licence number offline?
No. None of the sources used here publish a check-digit formula for Insurance Council licence numbers, so this page does not validate numbers.
Guide only — not a verification tool
This page describes the official register and links to it. It does not check anyone’s licence status, does not copy or proxy the register, and nothing you might type here is transmitted anywhere. Registers change; use the official source linked above and contact the regulator to confirm anything that matters.