With Bill 92 now adopted and enacted, this bulletin is updated to reflect the actual provisions of the Act.
Bill 92, An Act to amend various provisions mainly with respect to the financial sector (2025, chapter 16) (Act), which was tabled before Quebec's National Assembly by Finance Minister Eric Girard last spring and was the subject of a single day of special consultations by the Committee on Public Finance, was adopted on June 3, 2025, and received assent on June 4, 2025, shortly before the end of the last parliamentary session on June 6, 2025.
The Act follows the Minister's commitment in November 2022 at the 17th edition of the Rendez-vous avec les Autorité des marchés financiers to regularly update Quebec's legislation governing the province's financial sector by adopting a "financial omnibus bill" every year.
The Act introduces various measures aiming to modernize, streamline and reinforce the regulation of Quebec's financial sector by amending several laws administered by the province's financial markets regulator, l'Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), including the Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services (ADFPS), the Securities Act and the Insurers Act (collectively, the amendments). In this bulletin, we summarize the main elements of the amendments, specifically those of particular interest to financial sector stakeholders.
Establishment of the Chambre de l'assurance
One of the key measures introduced by the Act consists of the amalgamation, as of July 4, 2025, of two distinct chambers, the Chambre de la sécurité financière and the Chambre de l'assurance des dommages (chambers), into one: the Chambre de l'assurance. This new chamber now carries out the functions previously performed separately by its two predecessors, namely overseeing the compulsory professional development, ethics and discipline of claims adjusters, financial planners and representatives in insurance of persons, group insurance and damage insurance, as well as of representatives of mutual fund dealers and scholarship plan dealers.
However, the Chambre de l'assurance's oversight of mutual fund and scholarship plan representatives will only be for a short period of time. Pursuant to the Act, the AMF will be required to render, before July 4, 2026, a recognition decision to withdraw the exercise of the functions and powers of the Chambre de l'assurance regarding such representatives. These functions and powers will be transferred to the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), in light of other recent decisions by the AMF, including its decision in 2023 to delegate to CIRO the registration of representatives of mutual fund dealers, as well as compliance examination powers with respect to mutual fund dealers, thereby harmonizing the regulatory framework applicable to mutual fund dealers across Canada.
The Act therefore narrows the scope of the activities that were previously regulated by both chambers by limiting the functions of the newly created Chambre de l'assurance to areas outside of securities. A transition committee is in charge of overseeing the transfer of the material, financial, human and documentary resources from both chambers to the Chambre de l'assurance to ensure the continuation of the chambers' activities, including their respective syndics' inquiries in progress, as well as hearings before their respective discipline committees.
Broadened Scope of the Fonds d'indemnisation des services financiers
The Act repeals the provisions of the ADFPS that pertain to the Fonds d'indemnisation des services financiers (FISF) and integrates them into the Act respecting the regulation of the financial sector (ARFS); it also broadens their scope.
Historically, the FISF was intended for claims by victims of certified representatives in the insurance, claims adjustment, financial planning and mortgage brokerage sectors, as well as victims of representatives of mutual fund dealers and scholarship plan representatives. However, the changes brought about by the Act broaden the scope of the FISF to cover, as of June 4, 2026, claims by victims of representatives, dealers and advisers certified or registered under the ADFPS, the Securities Act and the Derivatives Act, regardless of sector or category of registration. Pursuant to the Act, the FISF will now cover, in addition, indemnities relating to financial products and services provided or offered: (1) by a trainee holding a certificate under the ADFPS and (2) by a person employed by a registrant in the claims adjustment sector that carries out functions under the supervision of the registrant or acts on behalf thereof, with respect to a claim provided for under a direct compensation agreement, a claim arising from a glass breakage, or the settlement of a claim not exceeding C$7,500.
The broadening of the scope of the FISF also expands the number of registrants required to contribute to the FISF, thereby ensuring its sustainability — especially given that some of the current contributors (namely mutual fund and scholarship plan representatives) will now fall under the jurisdiction of CIRO.
Loosening of Requirements for Claims Adjusters
The Act provides a further loosening of requirements applicable to the claims adjustment sector, following the measures enacted on May 9, 2024 pursuant to the Act to amend various provisions mainly in the financial sector (Act 15) to address the shortage of claims adjusters. For a summary of these measures, please see our July 2024 Blakes Bulletin: Quebec's Bill 30 Addresses Two Major Areas of Concern in the Financial Services and Insurance Sectors.
Given the large number and value of claims submitted to insurers in the wake of the record rainfall from the remnants of Hurricane Debby in southern Quebec in August 2024, the Minister of Finance likely concluded that these measures were still insufficient to allow the industry to adequately meet the needs of insured persons when extreme weather events occur.
The Act therefore introduces additional measures to address this issue: first, it grants the AMF the authority to allow, in exceptional circumstances and for a period it sets, claims settlements of amounts exceeding C$7,500 by persons duly authorized under the ADFPS to handle, through electronic means, high-volume, low-dollar-value claims under the supervision of a certified claims adjuster.
Secondly, the Act also confers upon the AMF the authority, according to the conditions it determines, to allow the following to act as claims adjusters in Quebec: damage insurance agents or brokers holding a certificate authorizing the pursuit of activities as such agents or brokers, persons who previously held a certificate authorizing the pursuit of activities as claims adjusters, and persons authorized to pursue activities as claims adjusters outside Quebec.
Changes to Governance and Disclosure Requirements
The Act also sets out changes to governance and transparency requirements applicable to certain registrants.
The Act tightens one of the disclosure requirements applicable to all damage insurance brokerage firms that are registered with the AMF and offer automobile insurance and home insurance directly to the public. Pursuant to this updated requirement, a damage insurance brokerage firm is now required to disclose the following information in its written communications by which it invites the public to purchase insurance products (written communications):
(a) The name of the financial institution that holds an interest representing more than 20% of the value of that brokerage firm's equity capital, as well as the name of the financial group to which such financial institution belongs, where applicable.
(b) If a legal person related to a financial group holds an interest representing more than 20% of the value of the firm's equity capital, the name of that financial group. Prior to the enactment of the Act, a damage insurance brokerage firm was required to disclose, in its written communications, the name of any legal person that holds an interest in shares issued by such brokerage firm representing more than 20% of that firm's equity capital or, if such legal person was related to a financial institution, the name of that financial group.
It should be noted that pursuant to the ADFPS, a financial institution, a financial group or a legal person related thereto may not hold more than 50% of the value of the equity capital of a damage insurance brokerage firm registered with the AMF.
The Act also provides that the requirement for the composition of the board of directors of insurance companies incorporated in Quebec, whereby half of the directors must be residents of Quebec, is reduced to one third if the following criteria are met: the insurance company collects more than 40% of its premiums outside Quebec, or the insurance company belongs to a financial group and more than 40% of the group's premiums are collected outside Quebec and the majority of the group's directors reside in Canada.
Furthermore, the Act sets out the possibility for the AMF to determine, by by-law governance standards with respect to risk management, compliance and commercial practices that apply to firms, independent partnerships and independent representatives.
New Powers of the AMF and the Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal
The Act strengthens the powers of the AMF and the Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal (FMAT) by increasing penalties applicable to financial sector participants for non-compliance with provisions of several statutes, including those governing insurers, financial services cooperatives, deposit institutions and trust companies.
The Act increases the fines applicable for violations of several statutes administered by the AMF. Also, the FMAT now has the authority to impose administrative monetary penalties (AMP) on insurers, financial services cooperatives, savings companies and trust companies for non-compliance with the requirements of applicable statutes, the maximum amount of an AMP being C$2-million per day, per contravention. Finally, the FMAT has the authority to impose AMPs on anyone who aids in contravening such statutes.
Next Steps
Now that the Act has been passed and assented to, with the majority of its provisions already in force, it remains to be seen what form the regulations will take in order to render operative certain provisions of the Act relating to the scope of the FISF.
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