What is the Alberta General Insurance Level 1 Data Validation Project?

… otherwise known as General License Qualification Project – GLQP.

The Alberta General Insurance Council supports fair and transparent education delivery options for new entrants into the general insurance industry. The council supports ongoing monitoring of education and training to produce well-prepared new professionals. Low pass-rates have been an ongoing subject of concern with educators and industry stakeholders. As a result of consultation with general insurance educators, it was determined that without a mechanism to verify the declaration of course delivery provider made by students, data could not reliably be deemed accurate. (A student could enter any provider and still be admitted for testing.)

The GLQP is meant to be instrumental in changing the approach to insurance coursework and certification by gathering performance metrics. The project is intended to assist educators in tailoring course material/delivery to prospective general insurance level 1 examination registrants through providing success rates specific to each provider and course delivery method. The project aims to ensure consistent education delivery and to improve student success rates. The Alberta General Insurance Council will collaborate with educators and publish the examination results with transparency. Educators will be able to clearly identify if and where potential improvements may exist.

In order to participate as an authorized General Insurance Level 1 course provider, such providers will be required to register and be approved by the AIC. The validation data will then be provided by Commercial Educators, Commercial Course Material Educators and Organizational Educators (herein all referred to as “Educators”) marking students as Certified through their respective organizations’ Canadian Insurance Participant Registry (CIPR) administrative account. Certified status is valid for 1 year from the Certification Date indicated on the Educators’ Administrative CIPR account, which shall vary for each individual student.

As of January 1st, 2020 all educators must enter a “certification date” for each student (by CIPR #) that attends a course or purchases educational materials from them. The data will identify one of three possible education delivery methods at the time of certification. This process “qualifies” the student to proceed with registration for a General Insurance Level 1 exam sitting.

The education delivery methods tracked will be one of the following modes: Classroom: This is a typical classroom setting with students and an instructor;

Web Delivery: This is a course that is delivered primarily online; and

Self-Study: Only course materials have been sold or provided to the student.

Some Educators may choose voluntarily to ensure some level of competency according to their own standards and business model, such as the successful completion of a qualifying examination in order to receive Certified status. Acknowledgement by an educator of the completion of a course or the purchase of material for self-study is required.

Those considered to be Educators will come from a variety of positions in the industry.

Commercial Educators: are self-declared General Insurance Commercial Educators who are listed on the AIC website.

Commercial Course Material Educators: are self-declared General Insurance Course Material Educators from whom any prospective student may obtain course material.

Organizational Education Educators: are self-declared General Level 1 Insurance Educators who have established training departments within their business and have a structured educational regime and proprietary material to support students in building insurance skills in alignment of the Curriculum Design Document. If an Educator is using Commercial Course Material from existing Educators, the students will be certified based on the material used.

Practical Matters and Timelines:

Student Certification: Once the Educator has identified the student as Certified on the CIPR administration portal, the AIC licensing portal (https://licensing.abcouncil.ab.ca ) where students register for exams will directly interface with the data collected in CIPR. As soon as an Educator marks the student as Certified, the student can immediately register for an examination.

Exam Registration:

Exam registration is available 30 calendar days in advance of any future examination date.
The latest date that students can register for an examination is the day of the examination based on availability
In order to avoid forfeiture of examination fees, examinations must be rescheduled at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled examination.
January 1^st, 2020– Students will not be able to register for a General Licensing Level 1 examination if they have not been Certified by an educator as having taken some form of course or purchased current materials.