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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
