The Canadian insurance industry saw strong growth in 2014 despite low interest rates and a sluggish Canadian economy, according to the 2015 edition of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance (CLHIA) Facts, which was released on Monday by the Toronto-based Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Inc. (CLHIA).
“The strong performance of the Canadian life and health insurance industry highlights the trust Canadians have in our companies, and that we continue to offer products and services that our customers need and value,” said Frank Swedlove, president and CEO of CLHIA, in a statement.
A few key statistics from this year’s Factbook include the following:
- Industry assets in Canada increased 11.5% in 2014 to $721 billion. Almost 90% of that total was held in long-term investments, funding long-term capital and infrastructure investments.
- The insurance industry saw year-over-year growth of 7.7% in premium revenues 2014 for a total of $99.4 billion—an achievement not seen since 2007. Annuity premiums rose 13.9% while life and health insurance premiums grew by 5% and 2.9%, respectively.
- The industry paid out $83.5 billion to Canadian policyholders and annuitants in 2014.
- Almost 22 million Canadians held roughly $2.5 trillion in individual life insurance policies and about $1.7 trillion in group plans for a near total of $4.2 trillion.
- 155,000 Canadians worked full-time as employees, agents or independent advisors in 2014.
- Total tax contributions from the insurance industry to all levels of government amounted to over $3.4 billion. The industry also collected and remitted $2.2 billion in retail sales tax on selected life and health insurance products.
- Foreign operations of Canadian insurers account for $61.6 billion or 41% of worldwide premiums, and $729 billion or 51% of their global assets.
These statistics were compiled on the basis of surveys of member companies, analyses of their annual returns and data supplied by federal and provincial departments of insurance.