Bank of Nova Scotia is expanding its presence in the insurance market with the launch of a home and auto insurance program, new life and health insurance products and its first storefront insurance centre.

ScotiaLife Financial, Scotiabank’s new Canadian insurance brand, launched on Monday a home and auto insurance offering that provides coverage for vehicles, including motor homes and snowmobiles, as well as residential and vacation homes, condominiums and the personal property of renters.

“Our new home and auto insurance offer is something our customers have been enquiring about for some time now,” said Mark Cummings, senior vice-president and head of insurance Canada at Scotiabank, who spoke at the launch of the products in Toronto on Monday.

The company also launched two new life and health products for Scotiabank customers. The first is ScotiaLife Critical Illness Insurance, which complements customers’ existing disability insurance and extended health care plans, paying a one-time lump-sum benefit following diagnosis of heart attacks, cancer or strokes, with up to $100,000 of coverage.

The second, ScotiaLife Health and Dental Insurance, offers coverage that includes emergency travel protection and optional dental coverage for individuals not covered by an employer plan or looking to supplement existing plans.

“We felt we needed to expand our product range,” said Robin Hibberd, executive vice-president of personal lending and insurance at Scotiabank.

Although the launch comes in the midst of a major recession, it comes at a time when consumer demand for insurance products is robust, according to Hibberd.

“Demand in general around insurance products has remained strong,” he said in an interview on Monday. “In tougher times, people do look at how are they going to take care of their financial needs as it relates to protection.”

Chris Hodgson, group head of Canadian banking at Scotiabank, said the company had been developing the new products for the past couple of years, as part of an effort to expand the bank’s presence in the insurance market.

“We see a very significant opportunity for Scotiabank to grow our business in Canada from coast to coast to coast in this area,” he said. “We also see an opportunity for this to augment our wealth management business, and we’ll be looking for ways to look at products and services that help that part of our business, too.”

Added Hodgson: “Insurance is a very important part of our Canadian banking business.”

Also on Monday, ScotiaLife Financial launched its first insurance centre as a new distribution channel for the products. The company decided to open the branch in Mississauga, Ont., where it operates its second-largest bank branch in Ontario.

“We wanted to put our new centre where we had high traffic,” said Hibberd.

He said the company would assess the popularity of the first insurance centre before determining whether to establish additional locations across the country.

ScotiaLife also enhanced its online distribution capabilities on Monday, with changes to its website. The site features more comprehensive product information, and now allows prospective clients to get online quotes on insurance products, from home and auto to critical illness and life insurance.

The changes were designed to make the experience simple for consumers, according to Hibberd.

“Our research has shown that Canadians want simple, straight-forward products that easy and convenient to access,” he said. “Online is a perfect way to buy these kinds of products.”