CLHIA-ACCAP

Canadian Life and Health Insurance Facts -- 2018

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Contents View provincial data View historical data 5 Premiums Total premiums in Canada rose to over $110 billion in 2017.* Year-over-year growth was led by life insurance, up 5.5%; followed by health insurance, up 5.2%; and annuities (including segregated funds), up 3.5%. Contributions to the Canadian economy Life and health insurers play an important and stabilizing role in financial markets, even during unstable economic periods, with their strong market presence as steady providers of long-term capital for businesses and governments. The resilient nature of the business, the industry's conservative balance sheets and strong regulatory capital position, help prevent life insurer failures (the infrequent failures in the past have not resulted in any cost to taxpayers). The industry's contributions to the Canadian economy in 2017 include: • nearly $1.8 billion a week in benefit payments to Canadians, helping to reduce the cost of government support programs; • being a major investor in Canadian financial assets, representing almost 10% of the country's financial assets; • $7.7 billion in tax contributions – twice the industry's corresponding share of Canadian GDP; • employing 155,200 Canadians – 57,300 full-time employees and 97,900 agents/advisors; and • extensive and growing foreign operations, creating many well-paying head-office jobs in Canada. Consumer complaints Consumers typically resolve any concerns directly with their insurance company, but all insurers must belong to a third-party dispute resolution service, the OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance (OLHI). They provide free, impartial dispute resolution services for policyholders. Insurers process hundreds of millions of claims annually, and only about one in every 100,000 claims result in a complaint to OLHI. OLHI also provides consumers with information about life insurance products and services. For more details, visit www.olhi.ca. Consumer protection Canadian policyholders are financially protected by Assuris in the unlikely event their life insurance company should fail. Assuris is an independent, not-for-profit organization established and funded by the industry. Insurers are also strictly regulated for solvency by federal and provincial regulators, such as the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) and the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). For more details, visit www.assuris.ca. 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 $20B - $40B $60B $80B $100B $120B Segregated funds Annuities Health Life *Including premium revenues of $8.3 billion from foreign branches operating in Canada

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