Canadian life and health insurers collectively paid out $143.3 billion in insurance and retirement benefits in 2024, 12% higher than in 2023, according to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s (CLHIA) annual factsheet published Tuesday.
At the same time, insurers collected $168 billion in insurance premiums and annuity contributions, up $11 billion compared to 2023. The bulk of premiums came from annuities (43%), followed by health insurance (39%) and life insurance (18%).
Of the 145 life and health insurers in the country, 119 offer health insurance, 66 offer life insurance and 32 offer retirement products.
In 2024, about 30 million Canadians had life and health insurance. Nearly seven-tenths (69%) of products were sold as group plans, with the rest sold as individual plans.
Life insurance
According to CLHIA, 23 million Canadians collectively held a total of $6 trillion in life insurance last year. Life insurance benefits amounted to $8.9 billion in death benefits and $9.7 billion in living benefits, cash surrenders and dividends.
More than four-fifths (83%) of life insurance products were bought by individuals through an agent. Total premiums for life insurance were $29.6 billion in 2024. The average protection per insured household was highest in Alberta at $606,000 and lowest in Nova Scotia at $369,000, compared with the national average of $509,000.
Out of all in-force policies, 40% were individual term life, 34% were group term life, and individual term and universal life were both at 13%.
Health insurance
Health insurance was the most popular type of coverage, with 27 million people covered. Health policies paid out $53.3 billion in benefits, including $16.6 billion for drug coverage. Health insurers accounted for 38% of total prescription drug spending in Canada.
In comparison with life insurance, a greater proportion (91%) of health policies were purchased through a group plan. Health premiums in 2024 were $65.9 billion. Just 3% of the premiums were profits for insurers, 85% was paid out as benefits, 9% went to operating costs and 3% to taxes.
Retirement savings
In addition, 10 million Canadians have their retirement savings managed by insurers. Last year, insurers paid out $71.4 billion in retirement benefits, including annuity payments.
Seven in ten annuities were bought through a group plan. There were $72.9 billion in annuity payments made in 2024. Accumulation annuities have grown on average 6% per year since 2014, largely driven by group sales.
Of the $3 trillion in Canadian pension assets, insurers managed about $420 billion. One-third of employer-based pension plans, or $222 billion, were managed by insurers. At the same time, insurers managed 9% of individually owned plans, or $198 billion.