Editing LLQP (section)

==History==

Canadian Insurers experienced some financial difficulties through the late 1980s, continuing on into the 1990s.  This was largely the result of declining interest rates on safe, income-producing investments such as [[Bond (finance)|bond]] and [[treasury bills|treasury bill]], though this was not the only problem.  This led to a wave of [[Consolidation (business)|consolidation]] and [[demutualization]] amongst Canadian insurers, in an effort to raise capital and cut costs.  Internally, many insurers, in an effort to cut costs, chose to eliminate their in-house sales forces.  Almost all 'career shops' ceased to exist during this time.  There are a few major career shops remaining today, such as those run by [[Sun Life Financial|Sun Life]], [[Canada Life|Freedom 55]], and [[Investors Group|IGM Financial]].

When the career shop was the entry point of choice into the insurance industry, it was normal for new agents to undertake an intensive training program, usually involving a combination of in-house training, field training, and head office training.  With the cost-cutting measures so prevalent through this period, it was still necessary for insurers to find ways to distribute their products.  Many insurers switched to the [[brokerage|insurance broker]] system.  Under the brokerage system, a [[Managing general agent]] (MGA) takes on most of the responsibilities that once fell to the career shops.  The difference, as far as the insurers were concerned, was in cost management.  Instead of insurers tying up resources dealing with training and human resources management, this burden was now passed directly to the agents, through their MGAs.

For Canadian regulators, this led to some concerns. The [[Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators]] (CCIR) and the [[Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organization]](CISRO), together in 1997, determined that the decline of career shops and the subsequent move to the MGA system would hurt consumers.  The problem that would arise would be that the process that was then in place that would allow a certificate to sell life insurance to be issued was expected to be complemented by an intensive training program.  Most MGAs had neither the interest nor the resources to carry out such a program.  As a result, CCIR and CISRO announced that there would be a more rigorous examination and study process for those entering into the life insurance industry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BAnQ numérique |url=http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/ |access-date=2023-05-08 |website=numerique.banq.qc.ca |language=fr}}</ref> The feeling was that by enforcing higher educational standards at the beginning, new agents would enter into the industry better prepared.

CCIR and CISRO entered into a consultation period, during which time they enlisted the services of education professionals, industry input, and input from other regulatory bodies. They end result was the LLQP Design Document<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ccir-ccrra.org/CCIR/LLQP%20Docs/Description%20of%20Course%20Curriculum_EN.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-09-20 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100215142105/http://www.ccir-ccrra.org/ccir/LLQP%20Docs/Description%20of%20Course%20Curriculum_EN.pdf |archivedate=2010-02-15 }}</ref> which listed specific educational objectives. The expectation is that every new life insurance agent should know these educational objectives.  The educational objectives are based on [Bloom's Taxonomy|Taxonomy of Educational Objectives].

Once the Design Document was in place, the regulators created exams that students would have to pass in order to be able to apply for certification to sell insurance.  The exam originally was a 140 question five-answer multiple choice exam, with a heavy orientation towards case-study style multiple choice questions.    Students would be given three hours to complete this exam. This changed slightly, and examinees are now given four hours for 140 questions.

Concurrently, the regulators determined that they wanted to avoid a scenario which had happened in the days prior to the LLQP.  Under previous regimes, candidates would sometimes write an exam, fail it, write the next week, and so forth, until they had learned the proper answers to all the questions in the exam.  There are anecdotal stories of candidates writing the exam twelve or more times before succeeding.  This is not a valid educational process; this candidate has learned the answers to the exam questions, but does not likely understand the underlying material.  In order to prevent this, it was determined that, prior to challenging the provincial certification exam, any candidate would have to first be certified by an authorized education provider.  Several existing education providers were approached to develop textbooks, seminars, and exam processes to validate students in preparation for the certification exam.  The intent was to guarantee that any student writing the provincial exam would be well-prepared.

Starting January 1, 2003, anybody wishing to work as an insurance agent in the [[common law]] provinces had to write their certification exam.  (There are exceptions, but these are so rarely applied that they should not even be considered.)  Since that time, there have been some changes to the LLQP process, but it has largely stayed intact as originally envisioned. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=LLQP&action=edit&section=1">Games </a>
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In 2013, CISRO began to update the design document, with the intention of changing the exam process.  The new exam regime will include 4 separate exams, each focussing on one area of required expertise.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Petropoulos |first1=Fotios |last2=Apiletti |first2=Daniele |last3=Assimakopoulos |first3=Vassilios |last4=Babai |first4=Mohamed Zied |last5=Barrow |first5=Devon K. |last6=Ben Taieb |first6=Souhaib |last7=Bergmeir |first7=Christoph |last8=Bessa |first8=Ricardo J. |last9=Bijak |first9=Jakub |last10=Boylan |first10=John E. |last11=Browell |first11=Jethro |last12=Carnevale |first12=Claudio |last13=Castle |first13=Jennifer L. |last14=Cirillo |first14=Pasquale |last15=Clements |first15=Michael P. |date=2022-07-01 |title=Forecasting: theory and practice |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169207021001758 |journal=International Journal of Forecasting |language=en |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=705–871 |doi=10.1016/j.ijforecast.2021.11.001 |s2cid=227346994 |issn=0169-2070|hdl=1854/LU-8736224 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>