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T he Canadian life and health insurance industry: ❖ provides a wide range of financial security products to almost 28 million Canadians and their dependants. These products include individual and group life insurance, individual and group annuities (including RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs and pensions) and supplementary health insurance. ❖ is highly competitive. Within Canada, 99 life and health insurers allow for a highly competitive market to provide Canadians with an extensive selection of product choice. Canadian-controlled firms have 81 per cent of the Canadian market. ❖ pays out $76.2 billion a year in benefits, or almost $1.5 billion a week. Of this total, over 90 per cent goes to living policyholders as annuity or disability benefits, reimbursement of health care costs, policyholder dividends, cash surrender values and matured endowments. The remainder goes to beneficiaries as death claims. ❖ is a major investor in Canada's economy with assets of $646.6 billion in the country at the end of 2013. This pool of capital provides one of the country's most important and largest sources of long-term institutional investments in Canada, with almost 90 per cent of Canadian assets (or over $570 billion) held in long-term investments. ❖ plays an important role in meeting the financing needs of all levels of government in Canada. The industry holds federal securities valued at $27.1 billion; provincial securities, amounting to $68.7 billion; and municipal securities, totalling $9.6 billion. In 2013, the industry's investments in government securities totalled $105.4 billion or 16 per cent of total assets. ❖ is well capitalized. The Minimum Continuing Capital and Surplus Requirements (MCCSR) ratio, which measures each Canadian life and health insurer's capital strength, averaged 239 per cent at the end of 2013, significantly above the regulator's requirement of 150 per cent and the 213 per cent reported at the end of 2012. ❖ is a major employer. In total, about 150,100 Canadians earn some or all of their livings from the industry. Some 66,400 people work full time for life and health insurance providers in Canada. In addition, 83,700 independent insurance agents earn at least part of their incomes from the life and health insurance business. Mutual funds $164.5 Stocks $100.1 Reinsurance assets $37.4 Mortgages $42.4 Other $36.9 Cash $17.3 Real estate $19.4 Assets in Canada – 2013 (billions) Corporate $123.2 Government $105.4 Bonds 1 Part Total: $92.2 billion Total: $646.6 billion 2 Premiums in Canada – 2013 (billions) Individual life $13.0 Group life $4.2 Insured $23.9 Uninsured $13.7 Health plans Group annuities $24.7 Individual annuities $12.7 Industry Profile