The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) has reported a sharp increase in enforcement activity in its first Enforcement Annual Report, highlighting a tougher stance on misconduct across the mortgage brokering and insurance markets.
The report sets out FSRA's enforcement objectives, outcomes and tools, and said that the regulator has made "considerable progress" toward enforcement that is both fair and proportionate.
“FSRA’s enforcement actions are helping to strengthen consumer and pension plan member protection, promoting higher business conduct standards, and deterring fraud,” said Elissa Sinha, director of litigation and enforcement. “FSRA is committed to enforcement that is both fair and proportionate for the regulated sectors.”
According to the report, FSRA initiated 100 enforcement actions in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, up from 65 the previous year. Sanctions have nearly doubled in volume over two fiscal years, reflecting what the regulator describes as more assertive use of its powers to address market conduct concerns.
Administrative monetary penalties totaling $1.2 million were imposed, and FSRA issued 25 orders to revoke or refuse licenses in the mortgage and insurance sectors.
These outcomes sit alongside a broader trend, with FSRA's 2023/24 annual report recording a rising volume of enforcement matters across its regulated sectors. In 2024/25, the regulator imposed 27 sanctions in the life and health insurance sector, including 16 license sanctions and six administrative monetary penalties totaling $232,000, up from 15 sanctions the prior year. It also proposed 28 new sanctions, including 21 proposals to revoke or refuse a license, compared with 11 initiated actions in the previous year.
On the insurance side, FSRA has published thematic reviews highlighting misconduct risks in the life and health channel, including concerns about agent recruitment models, product suitability and sales practices under certain managing general agencies. Its 2024–27 business plan also flagged plans to finalize a new regulatory framework for life and health MGAs aimed at tightening oversight of distribution, conflicts and consumer outcomes.
The Enforcement Annual Report underlines that FSRA is prepared to use its full toolkit - from administrative monetary penalties to license revocations - where it sees systemic or repeated failures.
The latest data point to several trends insurance professionals should note.
Life and health distribution is clearly in the regulator’s sights. Rising sanctions and a jump in proposed license revocations point to growing intolerance for weak supervision of agents, inadequate know‑your‑client processes and poor documentation. Firms that rely heavily on MGA networks or multi‑level recruitment models can expect closer scrutiny of training, oversight and compensation structures.
Mortgage‑related enforcement also has direct spillover into creditor and mortgage insurance. FSRA’s supervision plan warned that vulnerabilities first detected in credit card and auto loan markets are now emerging in the mortgage space, with more borrowers turning to private and alternative lenders. Insurers underwriting mortgage protection, lender‑placed and related covers will need to factor heightened conduct and affordability risk into their own assessments.
FSRA also emphasized that enforcement and supervision are increasingly integrated. The regulator said it is using a “progressive and proportionate” approach, consolidating supervision findings, complaints and life agent reports to support comprehensive enforcement where warranted. That linkage raises the stakes for firms that fail to act on early supervisory feedback or internal red flags.
More broadly, FSRA’s stepped‑up enforcement sits alongside broader regulatory initiatives, including proposed MGA rules, enhanced mortgage suitability guidance and title protection for financial planners and advisors.
