5
Premiums
Total premium revenue in Canada rose to
$106 billion in 2016.* Year-over-year growth
was led by life insurance, up 9.8%; followed
by health insurance, up 2.3%; and annuities
(including segregated funds), slightly down
0.8%.
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 2016 include:
• nearly $1.7 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;
• $7.3 billion in tax contributions – twice the industry's corresponding share of Canadian GDP;
• employing 154,800 Canadians – 57,400 full-time employees and 97,400 agents/advisors; and
• extensive and growing foreign operations, creating many well-paying head-office jobs in Canada.
Consumer complaints
Consumers typically resolve their complaints directly with their insurance company. In some cases, the
industry's third-party dispute resolution service, the OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance (OLHI), is
used to provide free, impartial dispute resolution services for policyholders. OLHI handled around 2,100
consumer complaints in 2016, down from 2,400 a year ago. 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.
2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
$20B
-
$40B
$60B
$80B
$100B
$120B
Segregated funds
Annuities
Health
Life
*Including premium revenues of $8.4 billion from foreign branches operating in Canada
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