Guide · Insurance brokers
What a broker
site may say.
General insurance brokers in Ontario are regulated by the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario (RIBO). Its advertising rules are shorter than a health college's, but they reach into things most brokerage websites do: trade names, quote incentives, and, since June 2026, how you collect Google reviews.
Published 2026-09-21 · Formory Group
Where the rules are.
The law is the Registered Insurance Brokers Act and Regulation 991, whose section 15 lists what counts as misconduct. RIBO adds practical guidance: the Guidelines on Marketing Practices, still listed among RIBO's current guidance, and RIBO Guidance 006 on online conduct, published June 1, 2026.
Guidance 006 expects the Principal Broker to run an internal approval process for all online advertising, including the brokerage website, Google and social media. If an agency writes your site, its copy goes through that process like anything else. The guidance adds two points that matter for websites in particular: keep proof that you are authorised to use any copyrighted material, such as photos, and have AI-generated content checked for accuracy by the Principal Broker, a delegate or a verification process before it is published.
Use the name you are registered under.
Regulation 991 makes it misconduct to hold out or advertise under any name other than the one in which the broker or brokerage is registered. RIBO's marketing guidelines apply this to websites directly: a website must clearly identify the RIBO registered name of the brokerage and cannot advertise or operate under a trade name only, because trade names are not legal entities. Guidance 006 repeats it for all advertising: the legal name, or the legal name and trade name, registered with RIBO.
If a producer at your brokerage wants a personal website, the guidelines say they need the Principal Broker's authorisation before launching it. On social media, individual brokers who present themselves as brokers must identify the registered brokerage that employs them. Guidance 006 suggests firms may require each licensee's licence number on their social profile.
Broker, not agent.
Under section 3 of the Act, only a certificate holder may hold out as an insurance broker, and only a registered insurance broker may use the title "registered insurance broker" or the designation "R.I.B. (Ont.)". The reverse also applies: Regulation 991 makes it misconduct for a broker to advertise or act in a way that would lead a reasonable person to think they are an insurance agent. Copy borrowed from a life agency or an insurer's site, such as "your local insurance agent", does not belong on a brokerage website.
Gift cards, draws and rebates.
Regulation 991 treats as misconduct any payment, gift or thing of value offered as an inducement to insure, and any rebate of premium. RIBO's marketing guidelines draw the practical line. Giveaways are acceptable if they are nominal in value, which RIBO puts at under $100, and not tied to buying insurance. Incentives for the chance to quote on a piece of business are acceptable if they are not contingent on a purchase. Raffles are acceptable if not tied to a purchase.
The guidelines also say you may advertise that you support a charity, but may not advertise that a share of your commission or a percentage of each premium will be donated as an inducement. Bundling insurance with a non-insurance product at one price is not acceptable. AIR MILES and credit card rewards are acceptable, while bonus points plans may be inducements and should be referred to RIBO. RIBO recommends submitting any new marketing program to it in writing before launch.
So "Get a quote, get a $25 gift card" can work, if the card is given for the quote and not only when a policy is bought. "Switch to us and get $100 back" is a rebate.
Accurate about what policies cover.
The first item on Regulation 991's misconduct list is advertising that misrepresents the terms, benefits or advantages of a policy, including advertising so incomplete that it misrepresents them. Incomplete comparisons of one insurer's policy with another's, used to get a client to lapse or cancel, are also misconduct. Guidance 006 adds that advertising must be accurate, truthful and complete and must not disparage other brokers.
For a website, the risk is usually coverage pages. A line such as "full coverage for water damage" needs the conditions that make it true, or it should not be there.
Reviews: RIBO's 2026 guidance.
Guidance 006 treats review manipulation as a deceptive marketing practice and misconduct under section 15(1)1 of Regulation 991. Its examples include staff or contractors posting reviews without disclosing their connection, buying review packages, pressing staff or family to post reviews they did not write, editing a client's review before publishing it, using AI-generated testimonials as real ones, and offering a gift card for a positive review.
It also names review gating: automated campaigns that send happy clients to a public review site and unhappy ones to a private channel. RIBO says it can create a misleading impression of the firm, so check what your review-request software does before you switch it on. Responding to reviews, and reporting fake or malicious ones to the platform, are not manipulation. For the practical side of building reviews honestly, see how many Google reviews you need.
The same guidance says social media must not be used to give quotes, give advice or process transactions. A "DM us for a quote" button should lead to your firm's own quote system instead.
What the website should show.
The registered brokerage name in the header and footer, with the trade name alongside if you use one. "Broker" wherever you describe yourself. Offers whose conditions do not depend on a purchase. Coverage descriptions that include the conditions. A quote form on your own system, and review requests sent the same way to every client. Our notes on websites for insurance brokers cover the rest.
This is a plain summary of the Registered Insurance Brokers Act, Regulation 991 and RIBO guidance as of September 2026, not legal advice. RIBO reviews proposed marketing programs and answers questions about specific wording.
Questions
Straight answers.
Can our website use only our trade name?
No. RIBO says websites must clearly identify the brokerage's RIBO registered name and cannot operate under a trade name only.
Can we offer a gift card for getting a quote?
RIBO's marketing guidelines allow incentives for the chance to quote, if they are not contingent on buying a policy, and nominal giveaways under $100 that are not tied to a purchase.
Can we ask only happy clients for Google reviews?
RIBO Guidance 006 calls this review gating and treats it as misleading. Ask every client the same way.
Can a producer run their own website?
Yes, with the Principal Broker's authorisation before launch, and it must identify the registered brokerage.
Your turn
Same check,
run on your site.
The check behind this page is the one we ran on every business above. Put your own address in and it will load your site on a phone screen, look at the certificate and the page age, and tell you what a visitor meets. No email, nothing stored.
Start with a
straight answer.
Describe the business and where it works. We come back with what we would change, what it would cost and how long it takes — or with a reason not to bother.