Products for individuals
Insurance
Along with helping you build and manage your investments, we can help you choose insurance to help reduce financial risk to you and your family. We provide clients with unbiased insurance planning advice to help you make life’s important financial decisions. We’ll strive for your satisfaction throughout the life of your insurance policy.
Individual life insurance
Insurance can help you manage risk. But it also has many tax advantages. Together, we can decide which insurance products are right for you.
Whether you want to cover estate taxes or help maintain your family’s lifestyle after you die, we can recommend life insurance to suit your needs. While you’re living, some permanent life insurance policies can build a cash value you can draw upon as needed for personal or business opportunities.
Disability insurance
Your ability to earn an income is likely your most valuable asset. A disability insurance policy may help ensure you can meet your daily financial needs if you’re unable to work. We offer disability insurance for professionals, business owners and employees.
Critical illness insurance
The chances of suffering from and surviving a critical illness are greater than you think. Critical illness insurance can help you meet the financial burdens caused by a critical illness or condition. It offers a one-time, lump-sum benefit you can use however you choose.
Health and dental insurance
To supplement your provincial government plan’s coverage, we offer enhanced healthcare protection for actively employed individuals and their families and for people at or near retirement age.
Life insurance
Having the right life insurance protection can make a big difference to your life and the lives of those closest to you. Life insurance can be used to help protect the people and things you love. It can mean the difference between leaving your estate financially secure and leaving behind debts and an inadequate income.
If you’re unsure, we can help you determine which type of life insurance may meet your short-term and long-term needs and preferences for flexibility and risk.
Types of life insurance
Term life insurance
Term life insurance generally provides the most coverage for the lowest initial cost.
Permanent life insurance
Permanent life insurance protects you for your lifetime by providing a death benefit. It also has the added benefit of building cash value that you can draw on later. There are two types of permanent life insurance: participating life insurance and universal life insurance.
Participating life insurance
Participating life insurance (or whole life insurance) provides permanent life insurance protection with a tax-advantaged cash value component. Participating insurance doesn’t require hands-on management by the policyowner. Instead, Canada Life’s professional investment managers manage the assets of the participating account which back the cash value.
Universal life insurance
Universal life insurance provides a traditional life insurance component with a tax-advantaged investment component. You select an investment mix that is as individual as you are—taking into account your financial goals and circumstances and the amount of investment risk with which you’re comfortable. This type of policy is attractive for people who want to actively manage their life insurance policy.
Charitable giving
If charitable giving is an important part of your financial strategy, we can work with you to ensure the funding of your favorite charitable organizations is considered in your estate plan.
Disability insurance
Accidents and illnesses are facts of life. They can happen to anyone at any time. Did you know:
- One in three people, on average, will be disabled for 90 days or longer at least once before age 65 1
- The average length of a disability that lasts over 90 days is 2.9 years. 1
We can provide disability coverage that’s designed to help address your needs and protect your ability to earn an income—something that could be jeopardized the second a disability strikes. We can help tailor disability insurance to your needs.
References
1 CIA 86-92 Aggregate Table & 1985 Commissioner’s Disability Table A (Experience Table)
Critical illness insurance
No one plans to get sick, but when something unexpected happens, you can help yourself and your family by being financially prepared.
Critical illness insurance is designed to help financially support patients before, during and after treatment by providing a lump-sum benefit when a critical illness, as defined by the policy, is diagnosed, and you satisfy the waiting period.
Consider some of the potential uses for the funds from a critical illness insurance policy:
- Modifications to your home
- Private nursing or domestic help
- Timely treatment outside Canada
- Additional staff to run your business
Health and dental insurance
As Canadians, we’re fortunate to have one of the best healthcare systems in the world, but government healthcare coverage may not provide all you need.
You may be left to pay for expenses such as:
- Prescription drugs
- Dental visits
- Eye exams
- Paramedic services
- Ambulance transport
Enhanced healthcare plans can help protect you against these and other unexpected health and dental expenses.
Mutual funds
Mutual funds, including our exclusive Quadrus Group of Funds, are offered through our mutual fund dealer, Quadrus Investment Services Ltd.
Mutual funds allow individuals to pool their savings in a portfolio of investments managed by professional money managers. Because of the large amount of money in the pool, mutual funds can diversify a portfolio more widely than an individual may be able to when investing on their own.
- Registered retirement savings plan (RRSP)
- Registered education savings plan (RESP)
- Registered retirement income fund (RRIF)
- Tax-free savings account (TFSA)
- Registered disability savings plan (RDSP)
Features and benefits
Mutual funds offer a number of features and benefits, including:
Liquidity
Mutual fund units may generally be redeemed at any time. The redemption value will depend on the unit value on the day of redemption and may be lower or higher than the purchase price.
Diversification
While an investment in a single company or industry exposes an investor to the ups and downs of that company or industry, mutual funds allow investors to diversify their portfolios among many different companies and industries within Canada and across the world. Through a selection of funds managed by different fund managers, investors may also benefit from diversity of investment style.
Returns
Mutual funds offer the potential for higher returns compared to guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) and deferred annuities. However, mutual funds also carry more risk.
Professional management
Unit holders benefit from the expertise of professional managers who have training and experience in the investment field. Fund managers continually research and monitor markets, trends and the companies in which they invest to maintain proper diversification, and to maximize returns consistent with the fund’s objectives.
Cost-effectiveness
Mutual funds are one of the most cost-effective ways to own a diversified, professionally managed portfolio. Mutual funds allow you to invest in several different companies at a fraction of the cost of buying individual units of each of the companies in similar proportions to the mutual fund.
Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the Fund Facts before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.
Segregated funds
Like a mutual fund, a segregated fund pools money from thousands of investors which professional fund managers invest in a variety of securities. Segregated fund policies are only available through insurance companies and take the form of individual, variable life insurance contracts offering certain guarantees to the policyholder such as reimbursement of capital upon death. As required by law, these funds are fully segregated from the company’s general operating funds. Advantages for some investors include:
Death benefit and maturity guarantees
Segregated fund policies protect part or all of your capital investment. Canada Life offers two types of capital guarantees—death and maturity guarantees.
Estate bypass
When you designate a beneficiary other than your estate, the value of your segregated fund policies flow directly to the beneficiary, generally bypassing the estate and potential probate fees.
Creditor protection potential
Laws may protect a segregated fund policy in the event of bankruptcy or other action by creditors. It’s important to note that potential creditor protection depends on court decisions, which can be subject to change and can vary for each province. This protection cannot be guaranteed.
Any amount allocated to a segregated fund is invested at the risk of the policyowner and may increase or decrease in value.