What record-keeping rules apply to Canadian insurance brokerages?

This article is about bookkeeping discipline for Canadian brokerages, not a recital of tax or regulatory retention rules. Confirm specific retention periods and reporting requirements with your CPA, the CRA, and your provincial broker regulator.

Canadian insurance brokerages have to keep proper financial records, and the obligation comes from two directions at once.

• Your provincial broker regulator — RIBO in Ontario, the Insurance Council of BC, the Alberta Insurance Council, the AMF in Quebec, or another body — generally expects brokerages to maintain financial records and may require financial reporting.
• The Canada Revenue Agency requires every business to keep adequate books and records to support what it reports on its tax filings.

In practice, a sound record set for a brokerage includes:

• A maintained general ledger and financial statements.
• Bank and trust reconciliations, documented.
• Carrier statements and the reconciliations against them.
• Billing, commission, and producer-split records.
• Supporting documentation for transactions.

What this answer does not state is a specific retention period or rule section. Retention requirements are set by the CRA and can be affected by your regulator, and they can change — so confirm the current rules with the CRA and your provincial regulator rather than relying on a number from a summary.

The practical takeaway is the same in every province: keep your books reconciled and your documentation organized year-round. Records that are current and tidy stand up to a regulator review and make the year-end engagement faster and cheaper. For the bigger picture, see our guide to Canadian brokerage financial compliance.