This is a list of Canadian insurance companies.
The top insurance providers in Canada are Manulife, Canada Life (subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco), Sun Life Financial, Desjardins, and IA Financial Group (aka Industrial Alliance). [1] [2] Smaller insurers include those operating as subsidiaries of banks, such as CIBC Insurance and TD Insurance. [2]
Company | Acquired by / Merged into | Year acquired | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Aetna Canada Assurance | Maritime Life | 1999 | |
Canada Life Assurance Company | Great-West Lifeco. | 2003 | |
Clarica Life Assurance (formerly Mutual Life Assurance Co.) | Sun Life Financial | 2002 | |
Commercial Union Life Assurance | Manulife | 2001 | |
Confederation Life Assurance Co. | Manulife and Maritime Life | 1995 (receivership) | Purchase of its Canadian business units |
Crown Life Assurance Co. | Canada Life Assurance | 1998 | |
Dominion Life Assurance Company | Manulife | 1985 | |
Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co. (aka The Dominion) | The Travelers Companies | 2013 | Acquired by The Travelers Companies in November 2013, and became part of its subsidiary, Travelers Canada |
Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company | Munich Re | ||
Imperial Life | Desjardins Group | 1994 | |
Kings Mutual Insurance Company | Heartland Farm Mutual | 2021 | |
La Capitale | Beneva | Merged with SSQ Insurance to create Beneva. | |
Laurentian Life | Imperial Life | 1993 | |
Liberty Health | Maritime Life | 2003 | |
London Life Insurance Company | Great-West Lifeco. | 1997 | |
Maritime Life | Manulife | 2004 | Purchased by Manulife as part of the John Hancock Insurance acquisition. |
Metropolitan Life | Mutual Life | 1998 | Canadian operations purchased by Mutual Life (which later became Clarica Life Assurance) |
Mutual Life Assurance Company | Sun Life | 2002 | |
Mutual of Omaha | RBC Insurance | 1998 | Purchase of its Canadian operations |
New York Life | Canada Life Assurance Company | 1994 | Purchase of its Canadian operations |
North American Life | Manulife | 1995 | Merged |
North Waterloo Farmers Mutual | Heartland Farm Mutual | 2016 | Merged with Oxford Mutual to form Heartland Farm Mutual |
Ontario Blue Cross | Liberty Health | 1995 | Group insurance operations obtained |
Oxford Mutual Insurance Company | Heartland Farm Mutual | 2016 | Merged with North Waterloo to form Heartland Farm Mutual |
Prudential Assurance Co. | Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada | 1996 | Purchase of its Canadian operations |
Prudential Insurance Co. of America | London Life Insurance Company | 1995 | Purchase of its Canadian operations |
Royal & SunAlliance Ins. Co. | Maritime Life | 2001 | Purchase of its Canadian operations |
UnumProvident | RBC Insurance | 2004 | Purchase of its Canadian operations |
SSQ Insurance | Beneva | Merged with La Capitale to create Beneva. | |
State Farm | Desjardins Financial Security | 2014 | |
Waterloo Mutual Insurance Company | Economical Insurance | 1980 | |
Westbury Canadian Life | RBC Insurance | 2004 | |
Western Life Assurance Company [12] | Wawanesa Life | 2020 | Amalgamated |
Zurich Life Insurance of Canada | Manulife | 2001 | Canadian group life & health business purchased |
Putnam Investments is an investment management firm founded in 1937 by George Putnam, who established one of the first balanced mutual funds, The George Putnam Fund of Boston.
The Desjardins Group is a Canadian financial service cooperative and the largest federation of credit unions in North America. It was founded in 1900 in Lévis, Quebec by Alphonse Desjardins. While its legal headquarters remains in Lévis, most of the executive management, including the CEO, is based in Montreal.
The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Glenview, Illinois since 2022. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993, but was still partially owned by Sears until it became an independent company completely in June 1995. The company also has personal line insurance operations in Canada.
Big Five is the name colloquially given to the five largest banks that dominate the banking industry of Canada: Bank of Montreal (BMO), Scotiabank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD).
President's Choice Financial, commonly shortened to PC Financial, is the financial service brand of the Canadian supermarket chain Loblaw Companies.
John Hancock Life Insurance Company, U.S.A. is a Boston-based insurance company. Established April 21, 1862, it was named in honor of John Hancock, a prominent American Patriot.
Manulife Financial Corporation is a Canadian multinational insurance company and financial services provider headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company operates in Canada and Asia as "Manulife" and in the United States primarily through its John Hancock Financial division. As of December 2021, the company employed approximately 38,000 people and had 119,000 agents under contract, and has CA$1.4 trillion in assets under management and administration. Manulife at one point serviced over 26 million customers worldwide.
The Canada Life Assurance Company, commonly known as Canada Life (Canada-Vie), is an insurance and financial services company with its headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The current company is the result of the 2020 amalgamation of The Great-West Life Assurance Company, London Life Insurance Company and The Canada Life Assurance Company, along with their holding companies. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco.
Primerica, Inc. is a multi-level marketing company that provides insurance, investment and financial services to middle-income families in the United States and Canada.
A mutual insurance company is an insurance company owned entirely by its policyholders. It is a form of consumers' co-operative. Any profits earned by a mutual insurance company are either retained within the company or rebated to policyholders in the form of dividend distributions or reduced future premiums. In contrast, a stock insurance company is owned by investors who have purchased company stock; any profits generated by a stock insurance company are distributed to the investors without necessarily benefiting the policyholders.
Great-West Lifeco Inc. is a Canadian insurance-centered financial holding company that operates in North America, Europe and Asia through five wholly owned, regionally focused subsidiaries. Many of the companies it has indirect control over are part of its largest subsidiary, The Canada Life Assurance Company; the others are managed by Great-West Lifeco U.S. LLC, a U.S. based subsidiary. Great-West Lifeco is indirectly controlled by Montreal billionaire Paul Desmarais Jr. through his stake in the Power Corporation of Canada, which owns 72% of Great-West Lifeco. The hyphen in the company's name was originally a typesetter's error.
Wawanesa Insurance—officially The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company, also known as Wawanesa Mutual or simply Wawanesa—is a Canadian mutual insurance firm, as well as among Canada's ten largest property and casualty insurers.
The Maritime Life Assurance Company was a Canadian insurance company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was founded in 1922 and in 2004 it became fully integrated with Manulife Financial, with the Maritime Life brand being retired. In 2004 it had 2700 employees.
Assurant, Inc. is a global provider of risk management products and services with headquarters in Atlanta. Its businesses provide a diverse set of specialty, niche-market insurance products in the property, casualty, extended device protection, and preneed insurance sectors. The company's main operating segments are Global Housing and Global Lifestyle.
Banking in Canada is one of Canada's most important industries with several banks being among its largest and most profitable companies.
Desjardins Financial Security (DFS) is the life and health insurance arm of Desjardins Group, the leading financial institution in Quebec and the largest cooperative financial group in Canada. DFS registered a record-breaking revenue data in 2016, with a year-over-year increase of 12.5%. In terms of written premium, the industry ranks second in Quebec, and fifth in Canada.
Donald Arthur Guloien is a Canadian business executive. He was the President and CEO of the financial services company, Manulife, the largest insurance company in Canada.
Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America is a retirement plan recordkeeping financial holding company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, United States. It is the second-largest retirement plan provider in the United States.
The North American Life Assurance Company, commonly known as North American Life, was an insurance company headquartered in Newtonbrook,Toronto, Ontario.