The Canada Deposit Insurance Corp. has released its 2005 annual report highlighting a very positive year for Canadian depositors and CDIC members.

CDIC member institutions reported strong financial results. For their 2004 fiscal year their profits reached an historical high of $14.4 billion, with most members reporting excellent asset quality measures along with strong capital levels, as well as improved governance and risk management processes.

For the ninth consecutive year there was not a single failure of a CDIC member institution.

“Canadians’ deposits with CDIC member institutions will be better protected than ever before,” said Guy Saint-Pierre, CDIC’s President and CEO, commenting on the federal government’s decision to raise the limit on insured deposits with member institutions to $100,000 from $60,000.

Premium rates for members decreased by one third for 2005. The premium rates that member institutions pay to CDIC according to its system of differential premiums are, in 2005, at their lowest levels ever. CDIC is funded by these premium revenues and does not receive federal tax dollars.

During 2005, CDIC reduced the regulatory burden on its members. CDIC recommended its Standards of Sound Business and Financial Practices be repealed in order to reduce the burden on its members as well as to eliminate any unnecessary overlap of activity between CDIC and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. In addition, new federal institutions taking retail deposits will now automatically be members of CDIC.