Help people and businesses buy home, car and business insurance from many companies. Licensed in months, no degree needed.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Typical
$62,000
New broker
$44,000
Senior or owner
$107,000
Job Bank's national median is $30 an hour, about $62,000 a year full time. Commercial brokers and brokerage owners sit at the top. Personal-lines brokers serving home and auto clients from a desk sit around the middle.
$40,000 to $50,000
Newly licensed personal-lines broker, first 2 years
Salaried at most brokerages, sometimes with a small commission or bonus. Big cities pay more than small towns.
$90,000 to $150,000+
A book of business clients, or your own brokerage
Commercial accounts pay commission as a share of the premium. A factory or a trucking fleet pays a lot more premium than a condo, so the cheques are bigger.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
This is about as cheap as a licensed job gets. Many brokerages hire you first and pay for the licensing course and exam, which is why the low end is zero. The high end is paying for the course and exam yourself at around $1,000 plus a first year licence fee to the provincial regulator, for example RIBO (Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario). The optional CIP (Chartered Insurance Professional) designation is usually employer funded and is not counted, and continuing education hours are often provided free by your brokerage.
Many brokerages hire you first and pay for the licensing course. Your cost can be close to zero.
Health and dental
Standard at brokerages of any size.
Commission or bonus on top of salary
Grows with the clients you bring in.
Employer-paid education
Licensing, the CIP (Chartered Insurance Professional) courses and yearly training.
Hybrid work
Common since most client contact is by phone and email.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Hired first, licensed within months, trained on the job. No degree required.
High school
Grade 12
Job Bank says completion of secondary school is usually all that is required. Business, English and math help.
Get hired
Weeks to months
Many brokerages hire unlicensed people into customer service and train them. A college diploma in insurance or business helps but is not required.
Pass the licensing exam
1 to 3 months of study
Ontario: the RIBO (Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario) Level 1 exam. Alberta: the General Licence Qualification Program exam through the Alberta Insurance Council. Each province has its own.
Work under supervision
1 to 2 years
Quote and bind home and auto policies, handle renewals, learn the products. Higher licence levels come with experience and more exams.
Specialize
3 or more years in
Commercial lines, farm, marine, or move into management or your own brokerage.
Business
You are selling and servicing a product.
English
Policies are legal documents; you explain them in plain words.
Math
Premiums, deductibles and limits.
Law
Insurance is built on contracts and liability.
You cannot sell or advise on insurance without a licence from your province's insurance regulator. In Ontario that is RIBO (Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario); in Alberta the Alberta Insurance Council; in BC the Insurance Council of BC; in Quebec the AMF (Autorité des marchés financiers). Licences do not transfer automatically, and every province requires continuing education hours each year to renew. Ontario has three licence levels, and the entry level lets you work under a supervising broker.
Things you don't need, but that help.
CAIB (Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker)
The broker-specific designation from the brokers' associations. A series of courses over a couple of years.
CIP (Chartered Insurance Professional)
10 courses from the Insurance Institute plus a year of work. Over 18,000 people in the industry hold it.
Commercial lines
Business insurance. The best-paid corner of brokering.
Life licence
Pass the LLQP (Life Licence Qualification Program) to add life and health insurance.
Customer service experience
Retail, call centre, restaurant. Employers want proof you can stay calm with upset people.
A second language
Brokerages serving newcomer communities hire for it.
Typing speed and software comfort
Most of the day is in a broker management system.
A driver's licence
Commercial brokers visit client sites.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Calls and emails from morning to close. A new driver wants a quote; you shop it across the companies your brokerage represents. A homeowner's renewal went up 20% and they are angry; you explain why and look for options. Someone had a fender-bender and needs to know what to do. Between calls you process policy changes, chase documents and follow up on leads. Commercial brokers spend more time visiting businesses and building bigger proposals.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Job Bank counted about 86,800 insurance brokers and agents in 2023, and 35% were aged 50 or over. It expects a moderate risk of labour shortage nationally through 2033, and rates prospects good in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.
An agent sells for one insurance company. A broker represents you and shops your policy across many companies. Canada has over 43,000 property and casualty brokers, represented nationally by the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada.
RIBO (Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario) is run by the profession under provincial law: it licenses brokers, sets the exams, handles complaints and can pull a licence. That is unusual; most provinces use a government or industry council instead.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students.