Updates as of September 22, 2026
FSRA announced on March 23, 2026 that online LLQP exams in Ontario are discontinued with effect from July 1, 2026, and that all candidates must now write in person. FSRA framed the change as an anti-cheating measure aligning it with CPA Ontario and the Law Society of Ontario, and said support remains for candidates facing distance difficulties. Durham College continues to administer the Ontario sittings.
FSRADurham College's per-module Ontario exam fees rose on August 1, 2025 to 66 dollars for a paper-based in-person exam and 66 dollars for an electronic in-person exam, with a virtual online exam at 84 dollars. Those were up from 65, 65 and 82 dollars set on August 1, 2024. With the online route withdrawn from July 1, 2026, the in-person 66 dollar rate is the operative price.
FSRA announcementThe Life Insurance module is one of four exams that make up the Life Licence Qualification Program, alongside Ethics and Professional Practice, Accident and Sickness Insurance, and Segregated Funds and Annuities. The Alberta Insurance Council states that a life licence requires completion of all four modules and a pass in all four exams; there is no life licence on the Life module alone.
Alberta Insurance CouncilFSRA states that exam results are valid for one year from the date the first module is passed and that a candidate has one year from that first pass to apply for the licence. Miss it and the exams must be written again. The Alberta Insurance Council separately states that a course provider's certification is valid for one year from the initial date of certification.
FSRA guideRetake rules tightened in 2024. FSRA allows three supplemental attempts after an initial failure, with a mandatory 24-hour wait between attempts; a candidate who fails the fourth overall attempt must wait one year before re-registering and must retake the prerequisite course. Candidates whose first pass predates April 1, 2024 may be able to use the previous rules and are told to contact Durham College.
FSRA LLQPLLQP Life Insurance module at a glance
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Questions | 35 items, of which 5 are pilot questions, scored out of 30 |
| Time | 75 minutes for the module |
| Pass mark | 60 per cent or higher, applied to each module separately |
| Ontario fee | 66 dollars per module in person since August 1, 2025 |
| Place in the licence | One of four modules; all four are required for a life licence |
| Prerequisite | Certification by an approved course provider before the exam can be booked |
The Life module carries the same weight as Accident and Sickness and as Segregated Funds and Annuities; only Ethics and Professional Practice is shorter, at 25 items scored out of 20. Each module is passed or failed on its own, so a strong Life mark cannot compensate for a weak Ethics mark.
Dates and windows
| What | When | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Booking the Life module exam | On demand through the provincial administrator; Durham College in Ontario | Rolling — book on demand |
| Ontario online sittings withdrawn | July 1, 2026 | Confirmed |
| Current Ontario per-module fee | In force since August 1, 2025 | Confirmed |
| Minimum gap between attempts | 24 hours | Confirmed |
| Lock-out after a fourth failed attempt | One year, plus the prerequisite course again | Confirmed |
| Validity of a pass | One year from the date the first module is passed | Confirmed |
| Course provider certification validity | One year from the initial certification date | Confirmed |
| Result release | Within days of the sitting; the Insurance Council of BC quotes three business days in Metro Vancouver and five elsewhere | Confirmed |
There is no examination season for the LLQP. Once an approved course provider has certified you, the exam is booked on demand at a test centre. The dates that actually bind are the 24-hour gap between attempts and the one-year clock that starts when you pass your first module.
What this means for your preparation
The single most common misreading is that the Life module is the life licence. It is not. Under the harmonized programme, a life licence requires all four modules, and each is scored separately against a 60 per cent bar, so there is no averaging across papers. The second misreading is the one-year clock: it starts the day the first module is passed, not the day the last one is, which quietly penalises candidates who sit Life early and then drift.
Sequencing the four modules around a one-year clock
FSRA states that examination results are valid for one year as of the first module being successfully passed, and that the licence application must be filed inside that year or the exams are written again. That makes ordering a real decision rather than a preference. If you intend to complete all four, there is no advantage in passing the Life module months before you are ready to study the rest, because the clock begins the moment that first result lands. The safer pattern is to finish the prerequisite course, book the modules in a tight cluster and leave the application paperwork ready to submit. Remember that the sponsor and the licence application both sit inside the same year, not after it.
What 35 items scored out of 30 actually means
The Insurance Council of BC's examinee guide states that the Life Insurance, Segregated Funds and Annuities and Accident and Sickness modules each contain 35 questions but are scored out of 30, with five pilot questions embedded that do not count. The Alberta Insurance Council describes the same paper as 30 scored questions plus 5 pilot. Practically, you cannot tell which items are pilots, you answer all 35 inside the 75 minutes, and the 60 per cent threshold is applied to the 30 that count. That is 18 correct answers out of 30. It also means a single question is worth just over three percentage points, so two careless errors consume most of the margin between a comfortable pass and a resit.
Open-book does not mean lightly prepared
The Canadian Securities Institute describes the harmonized LLQP exam as open-book, with access to standardised preparation material on tablets. The Insurance Council of BC's guide is more precise about the mechanics: examinees are given a tablet, or a computer at some locations, containing an electronic version of the approved reference material, calculators are supplied and no other materials are permitted. You cannot bring your own annotated notes. With 75 minutes for 35 items, roughly two minutes each, there is no time to read the reference material for anything you have not already learned. Treat it as a lookup for a definition or a figure, not as a substitute for knowing the product structures.
Ontario's in-person requirement changes the logistics
Since July 1, 2026 Ontario candidates can no longer sit the LLQP online. FSRA announced the withdrawal on March 23, 2026 as a measure against exam misconduct, comparing it with the practice of CPA Ontario and the Law Society of Ontario, and said accommodations remain for candidates with distance difficulties. This removes the 84 dollar virtual option and leaves the 66 dollar in-person fee, but the money is the smaller effect. Four separate in-person appointments have to be scheduled, travelled to and fitted around work, which lengthens the gap between modules and makes the one-year validity window harder to manage. Book the whole set at once rather than one at a time.
The cost of failure is now front-loaded
Since the February 7, 2024 FSRA policy, the programme carries extended wait periods after unsuccessful third and fourth attempts, a requirement to submit a written response where an exam breach has occurred, and penalties for cheating that run to a two-year suspension from exams or permanent removal and refusal of a licence. The current Ontario rule allows three supplemental attempts after an initial failure with a 24-hour minimum between them; failing the fourth overall attempt means a one-year wait and a repeat of the prerequisite course. The prerequisite course is the expensive part, not the 66 dollar exam, so the rational response is to postpone a booking you are not ready for rather than to use an attempt as a diagnostic.
Common questions
Is the Life Insurance module enough to get a life licence?
No. The Alberta Insurance Council states that a life licence requires completion of all four harmonized LLQP modules and a pass in all four exams: Ethics and Professional Practice, Life Insurance, Accident and Sickness Insurance, and Segregated Funds and Annuities. FSRA describes the LLQP exam as comprised of four modules covering the prerequisite course curriculum. Each module is passed separately at 60 per cent, so a high Life mark cannot offset a failure elsewhere. In Alberta, an existing Accident and Sickness licensee adding life needs only the Life and Segregated Funds exams.
How many questions are on the LLQP Life Insurance exam and how long is it?
The Insurance Council of BC's examinee guide states that the Life Insurance module contains 35 questions but is scored out of 30, with five pilot questions that are excluded from the score. The Alberta Insurance Council states the same paper as 30 questions plus 5 pilot questions. The LLQP examination administration policy states that modules are 75 minutes in duration. Pilot questions must still be answered within that time. The Ethics and Professional Practice module is shorter, at 25 questions scored out of 20.
What is the pass mark for the LLQP Life module?
The LLQP examination administration policy states that examinees must achieve at least 60 per cent on each module to pass, and the Insurance Council of BC's examinee guide repeats that 60 per cent or higher is required. The threshold applies module by module rather than to an aggregate, so all four papers must clear it independently. On a Life paper scored out of 30, 60 per cent is 18 correct scored answers. Results are released through the administrator's portal within a few business days rather than immediately at the test centre.
How much does the LLQP exam cost in Ontario?
FSRA published Durham College's fee schedule effective August 1, 2025: 66 dollars per module for a paper-based in-person exam, 66 dollars for an electronic in-person exam and 84 dollars for a virtual online exam, with no HST shown. Those replaced rates of 65, 65 and 82 dollars set on August 1, 2024. Because online sittings were discontinued in Ontario from July 1, 2026, the in-person rate applies. The exam fee is separate from the prerequisite course fee and from the licence fee payable to FSRA.
How long are my LLQP results valid before I must apply for the licence?
FSRA states that examination results are valid for one year as of the first module being successfully passed and that the licence application must be submitted within that period or the examination must be retaken. The Alberta Insurance Council separately states that a course provider's certification is valid for one year from the initial date of certification. The LLQP examination administration policy used in British Columbia states both that course completion remains valid for one year and that exam results are valid for one year from the passing date.
Does Quebec use the same Life module exam?
No. Quebec sits outside the harmonized LLQP arrangement. The Autorité des marchés financiers administers Quebec's own programme, and the curriculum offered by national course providers distinguishes an Ethics and Professional Practice stream under the Quebec Civil Code from the common law stream used elsewhere. LLQP Canada, an industry site and the sole source for this comparison, reports that the module breakdown and exam delivery differ, that the Quebec programme is primarily French, and that Quebec advisers also come under the Chambre de la sécurité financière for conduct and ethics.
