The provincial government of Alberta has proposed a new bill to help “diversify” the region’s insurance sector.

The Insurance Amendment Act 2022 (Bill 16) would help enable easier access to reinsurance in Alberta. According to a release on the government’s website, increasing the availability of reinsurance “should have a positive impact on the overall insurance supply in the provincial market.” In turn, this would help ease insurance shortage and high prices, while better positioning traditional insurers in serving Alberta clients, the government added.

Bill 16 would also add the final touches to insurance rules before the province welcomes captive insurers. The amendment to the recently passed Captive Insurance Companies Act will facilitate a seamless relocation of foreign captives into Alberta, so that businesses in the province with offshore captives do not have to worry about any interruptions, a government release said. The new section on captive “redomestication” will contain instructions for the relocation process, an outline of responsibilities for owners, as well as a list of mandatory documentation and other procedural requirements.

The Captive Insurance Companies Act was first proposed last October.

Read more: Alberta legislators propose bill allowing creation of captive insurance companies

“Alberta is creating opportunities in every sector of our rapidly growing economy,” said Alberta Treasury Board President and Minister of Finance Travis Toews in a statement. “To this end, we’re delivering a regulatory framework that will help generate more insurance activity right here in Alberta – leading to more opportunities for Albertans in sophisticated finance and insurance positions, and boosting the investment potential of our entire financial services sector.”