Licensing & Disclosure
Clearly Rate is not an insurance company, broker or agent. We help you understand your options and refer you to a licensed insurer or broker, and we’re paid for making that introduction.
Last updated September 23, 2026
What Clearly Rate is
Clearly Rate is a referral service for small businesses looking for commercial insurance in Canada. We publish guides that explain how different types of business insurance work, and when you tell us about your business through a quote request, we pass that request to a licensed insurer or broker who can give you an actual quote and advice.
What Clearly Rate is not
We are not an insurance company, and we are not a licensed insurance broker, agent or advisor in any province. We don’t sell insurance policies, we don’t quote prices, and we don’t tell you what coverage or limits to buy. Those are the services a licensed broker or agent is trained, tested and regulated to provide, and they’re who you deal with once we’ve referred you.
Nothing on this site is insurance, legal or financial advice. Our guides describe how coverage generally works so you can ask better questions when you talk to an insurer or broker. They aren’t a recommendation for your specific business, and they don’t replace advice from someone licensed to give it.
How the referral works, and how we’re paid
When you use a quote form on this site, we pass what you’ve told us about your business to a licensed insurer or broker so they can contact you directly. We are paid a referral fee by the insurer or broker, not by you, for that introduction.
We tell you this again, in plain terms, at the point you request a referral, before any of your information is shared. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle that information and how we ask for your consent before sharing it.
Who we refer you to
We refer businesses only to insurers and brokers that hold the licence they need to operate in your province. We check this before we work with a partner, and we check again on an ongoing basis. If you’d like to know which insurer or broker your request was referred to, ask us through our contact page.
What happens after we refer you
From that point, you’re dealing directly with a licensed insurer or broker. They’re the ones who:
- Ask the questions needed to assess your risk
- Quote a price
- Recommend coverage and limits
- Issue, change or cancel a policy
- Handle a claim
Clearly Rate isn’t involved in any of that, and we don’t receive a copy of your policy or the quote you’re given.
Where this service is available
Clearly Rate refers businesses located in Canadian provinces and territories other than Québec. Québec regulates the distribution of insurance products differently from the rest of Canada, and we don’t currently refer businesses located there. If your business is in Québec, a damage insurance representative or broker registered with the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) can help you directly.
How referrals are regulated
Selling and advising on insurance is licensed and regulated separately by each Canadian province and territory. A pure referral, where we introduce you to a licensed party and take no part in advising you or arranging your coverage, is generally treated differently from selling or advising on insurance, which is why a service like ours can operate without holding an insurance licence itself. That distinction is also why we’re careful to stop where we do: we explain, we don’t advise; we introduce, we don’t sell.
The bodies that license and regulate insurance brokers and agents in the provinces and territories we currently serve include:
| Province or territory | Regulator |
|---|---|
| Ontario | Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) and Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario (RIBO) |
| British Columbia | BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) |
| Alberta | Alberta Insurance Council (AIC) |
| Saskatchewan | Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan (FCAA) |
| Manitoba | Insurance Council of Manitoba |
| New Brunswick | Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick |
| Nova Scotia | Insurance Council of Nova Scotia |
| Prince Edward Island | Office of the Superintendent of Insurance, PEI |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Office of the Superintendent of Insurance, Service NL |
| Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut | Each territory’s own Office of the Superintendent of Insurance |
The insurer or broker you’re referred to is licensed by the relevant body above for your province or territory. You can generally confirm a person’s or firm’s licence directly with that regulator.
Questions or a complaint
If you have a question about this page, about a referral we’ve made, or about how Clearly Rate operates, contact us through our contact page and mark your message “Licensing.” A complaint about the advice, price or handling of a policy should go to the insurer or broker directly, or to the regulator for your province if they can’t resolve it for you.
Changes to this page
We may update this page as our partners, the provinces we serve, or the referral arrangement itself change. When we do, we’ll update the “Last updated” date at the top.