FSRA Consumer Advisory Panel
Meeting 4 – September 27, 2024
Meeting Notes
Panel members
Laura Tamblyn Watts, Chair
Harvey Naglie, Vice-Chair
Chris M Robinson
Ellen Bessner
Julie Kuzmic
Leeann Corbeil
Lucy Becker
Ninette Ibanez
Peter D’Iorio
Terri Williams Kinghorn
Zahir Dharsee
Regrets:
Todd White
Udia Umoette
FSRA staff / presenters
Stephen Power, Interim Chief Executive Officer
Glen Padassery, EVP, Policy / EVP, Auto Insurance
Jordan Solway, EVP, Legal & Enforcement
Meghan Kilty, Chief Public Affairs Officer
Stuart Wilkinson, Chief Consumer Officer
Paul Reid, Chief Financial Officer
Chris Zolis, Head, Forensic Analysis and Investigations, Enforcement
Daniel Padro, Head, Policy - Core Regulatory
Joel Gorlick, Head, Cross Sectoral Policy
Beata Morris, Director, Market Conduct – P&C Insurance
Chris Georgakopoulos, Director, Auto Policy
Dan Miles, Director, Corporate Communications
Elissa Sinha, Director, Litigation & Enforcement and Deputy General Counsel
Stephanie Appave, Director, Innovation
Andrea Wooland, Sr. Manager, Corporate Communications
Jacqueline Tse, Sr. Manager, Market Conduct – P&C Insurance
John Buenavides, Sr. Manager, Market Conduct – P&C Insurance
Leanne Westcott, Sr. Manager, Policy and Operations
Loretta Pan, Sr. Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis
Melissa Grover, Sr. Manager, Auto Policy
Nancy Balopoulos, Sr. Marketing Manager
Tim Miflin, Sr. Manager, Insurance Policy
Trevor McKillop, Sr. Manager, Strategic Policy
Jisha Sarwar, Sr. Policy and Technical Lead, Consumer Office
Carley Bellissimo Sr. Advisor, Communications
Diana Green, Sr. Policy Analyst, Consumer Office
Emil Taimazov, Sr. Accounting Advisor, Finance
Lilimae Mpiana, Sr. Policy Analyst, Policy
Sarah Wilson, Sr. Advisor, Communications, Public Affairs
Nicole Sherwin, Communications Officer
Samer Musharbash, Project Manager, Policy
Vikram Sharma, Policy Analyst Co-op
Ministry observer
Marlo Spence Lair – Director, Capital Markets & Agency Relations Branch, Ministry of Finance
Summary:
- Panel members provided introductory remarks and expressed their gratitude for the continuing support the Panel receives through the CEO transition.
- FSRA presented a summary of its Home Insurance Thematic Review.
- FSRA provided the Panel an update on several ongoing initiatives and upcoming consultations.
- FSRA presented the proposed schedule for the 2025-2026 term Call for New Members.
Item 1: Welcome and introductions
Item 2: Introduction to acting CEO
- FSRA’s Interim CEO, Stephen Power, introduced himself and talked about FSRA’s commitment to consumer protection. He emphasized that FSRA will continue to engage with the Panel to ensure initiatives are aligned with consumer needs and expectations.
- The Panel Chair thanked Stephen for his supporting words and expressed her appreciation to the exiting CEO, Mark White, for the support and relationship he built with the Panel. The Chair expressed interest in sending Mark White a letter of acknowledgement in the name of the Panel. The proposal was supported by the Panel members.
Item 3: Environmental scan/roundtable
- Panel Chair, a Panel member, and the former FSRA Chief Public Affairs Officer presented at the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (“CLEAR”) 2024 Annual Educational Conference held in Baltimore in September 2024.
- They talked about different methods to approach consumer focused regulation and communications, emphasising the importance of the consumer’s voice.
- Panel member indicated that FSRA is at the forefront of consumer-focused regulation, including initiatives such as the Consumer Office and consumer behaviour research. Australia is another jurisdiction that is advanced in its focus on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (“EDI”).
- The Panel Chair observed that trauma-informed practice and trauma-informed regulations were notable topics missing from the CLEAR conference, and suggested the Panel consider it in its future workplan.
- A Panel member mentioned the recent Federal Budget commitment to include rental payments as part of credit score evaluations. Equifax is supportive of this commitment, but raised concerns related to reporting of inaccurate information as a vindictive action of landlords. The government is considering introducing legislation that would allow consumers to lock their credit reports as an action to address this, similar to legislation that exists in Quebec.
Item 4: Panel updates from previous meeting
- A brief update on the actions taken following the topics discussed at the April 4, 2024 General Meeting was shared with the participants.
Item 5: Home Insurance Thematic Review
- Market Conduct presented the findings and recommendations of its Home Insurance Thematic Review.
- The review was conducted following indications from different sources that consumers with home insurance claims experience delays in responses from adjusters[1], at times when it is most critical. Long duration of claim resolutions can put a financial burden on consumers, and lack of communication during the process adds to their stress.
- The findings show a higher claims processing time during the pandemic (2021) and a slow decline back to pre-pandemic numbers in 2022, indicating the industry adjusting to the changes the pandemic introduced to the process (e.g., labour shortage, supply chain issues, etc.)
- FSRA is using the review findings to build consumer education and communication plans, as well as a supervisory framework to have a measurable and predictable approach to determine next supervision priorities and next steps. This will allow FSRA to identify where to focus its priorities for the upcoming years.
Item 6: Results of educational campaigns and campaign planning
- Public Affairs presented to the Panel the different educational campaigns it ran this year.
- The campaigns included the Mortgage Brokering sector, Life and Health Insurance, Pensions Awareness Day, and promoting the ‘Check Credentials Tool’ created under the Financial Professionals Title Protection Framework.
- All the campaigns performed above the established targets for benchmark performance and reach.
- The target audience for each of the campaigns included vulnerable consumers. FSRA worked with media buying agencies, multicultural agencies, and mainstream agencies to reach the target audience.
- FSRA also used earned media to promote some of these topics, encouraging media outlets to show interest in topics and produce articles or shows. A few notable occurrences included the Minister of Finance mentioning Pension Awareness Day in a social media post; an appearance by Andrew Fung, EVP of Pensions, on Breakfast Television; and multiple articles about the launch of the ‘Check Credentials Tool’.
- Public Affairs indicated that it is working to improve its visibility in organic search results for topics related to its regulated entities.
- The Panel commented that creating brand recognition is difficult, especially on a limited budget, and it would require FSRA to be consistently out in the market for a long time to create recognition.
- The Panel suggested running the campaigns in other commonly used languages such as Spanish, Arabic and Farsi.
- Public Affairs indicated that it collaborates internally with teams to inform the campaigns. Additionally, they will partner with the Consumer Office, which recently completed its Cross-Sectoral Consumer Research and developed a proposed strategy for strengthening protection of vulnerable consumers, to create targeted, data-driven educational campaigns.
- FSRA is planning to run the following upcoming campaigns:
- Deposit Insurance Reserve Fund: Fall 2024
- Auto Search Engine Marketing: November 2024, January – March 2025
- Pensions: February 2025
- Private Mortgages: February – March 2025
Item 7: Updates on cross-sectoral consumer research findings
- FSRA conducts research to inform policy and supervisory decisions and publishes some of the findings to inform and educate consumers.
- The Consumer Office is working with internal partners to validate and evaluate current survey results as well as develop the research agenda for the upcoming years. Development of the next research agenda started earlier this year and the Panel had an opportunity to provide early input to the topics during the Policy Lab held in June 2024. The Panel will be engaged further as the research agenda develops.
- Panel members indicated that the preliminary results show low awareness levels of FSRA, and suggested raising awareness by enforcing mandatory disclosure by regulated entities or licensees. Staged introduction of the requirements in stages can ease the burden of implementation.
Item 8: Proceeds from enforcement grants funding program report
- The Grants Program launched in 2023 and the first four grant funding recipients were announced on October 1, 2024.
- The Panel suggested FSRA should work with its Vulnerable Consumers Working Group to identify and promote this program among groups that may not have visibility or resources available to find the application process themselves.
Item 9: New panel members process
- The Consumer Office introduced the process and timeline for the call for new Panel members.
- The call for members announcement is planned to be published on November 1, 2024, and will be open until January 6, 2025. Panel members will be encouraged to promote the call through their networks, and the Consumer Office will reach out to targeted consumer focused organizations and panels to promote the call.
- Panel members provided a list of organizations and individuals FSRA should consider in its outreach.
Item 10: 2025-2026 Statement of Priorities
- Strategic Policy presented to the Panel the draft 2025-2026 Statement of Priorities (‘SOP’). The SOP will be published for public consultation in the coming weeks.
- The SOP includes an environmental scan section that was influenced by the Panel’s 2024-2025 SOP consultation submission. Notably, affordability remains a significant concern affecting consumers.
- The Panel expressed interest in making a written submission in response to the SOP consultation.
Item 11: Auto reform consultations
- Auto Policy provided an introduction to the Auto Reform consultations that launched on the day of the meeting (September 27, 2024).
- FSRA is planning to hold a webinar to support the consultation on November 4, 2024.
- The Panel is interested in making a written submission in response to this consultation. To support its submission it would like to schedule a set of informal discussions with consumer-focused stakeholders to learn and listen to consumers concerns.
Item 12: Closing remarks
- The Panel has expressed their willingness to support the recruitment process for the next CEO and are ready to assist in any way necessary.
- The Panel Chair noted that her term is coming to an end.
- The Panel suggested to start scheduling next term meetings to accommodate members’ schedules.
- The Panel and FSRA thanked everyone for their participation in the meeting.
Next meeting:
- Tuesday November 12, 2024, from 1:00 pm until 5:00pm – Virtual Meeting.
[1] A Person who investigates an insurance claim to determine if the insurer should pay for damage or injuries, and if so, how much they should pay.