The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) has transitioned its education offerings to online delivery to ensure brokers have access to relevant professional development opportunities. IBAO offers online learning including RIBO Licensing and CAIB self–study programs, webinars and on-demand courses through its eLearning platform. In response to current public safety measures, they’ve now transitioned in–person offerings to a live video chat model.
“Our members rely on us to provide high quality broker education,” said IBAO President Joseph Carnevale. “When social distancing measures took effect, it was one of our top priorities to ensure current and prospective brokers can fulfil their education needs regardless of the situation. Keeping the talent supply moving and growing is critical for brokers across the province.”
Students who took part in IBAO’s virtual RIBO Level 1 Prep Course last week unanimously rated the session as valuable, engaging and comparable to an in–person classroom experience.
Once RIBO’s online exam becomes available, students enrolled in IBAO’s RIBO Level 1 Prep Course will have access to a free refresher course. “We know how hard students prepare to write their licensing exam,” said IBAO’s Chief Operating Officer Brett Boadway. “This refresher course will be taught by our top–rated instructors to ensure students challenge the exam with confidence.”
The IBAO was well equipped for the challenges posed by transitioning to remote learning. In November they launched a Commercial Insurance Certificate program to prepare experienced Personal Lines brokers to transition to Commercial Lines. In February they launched New Broker Essentials—an innovative training course for new brokers that can be leveraged by brokerage offices to develop their own training program for future hires. The IBAO also recently announced that members have access to the equivalent of a year’s worth of free eLearning courses to complete their annual licensing requirements.
2 Comments
Rebecca Lyon-Mark
While it’s nice that RIBO courses are being offered online, they are useless without the ability to take the RIBO exam. Brokerages required these new hires to be licensed in a timely fashion. WHEN will online RIBO exams be available. Getting this up and running ASAP is critical. Every university in this country facilitates online exams with various safety measures in place so it cannot be a difficult feat.
Jeff
Thanks for your comment – we hear you and we’re anticipating a solution soon. We’re supporting RIBO however we can and will help to facilitate any backlog due to the gap in availability.