Insurance Companies

OSFI regulates and supervises federally regulated life insurance companies (including branches, foreign subsidiaries, fraternal and mutual companies) and their subsidiaries, and federally regulated property and casualty insurance companies (including branches, foreign subsidiaries, and mutual companies) and their subsidiaries.

The Canadian life insurance industry comprises three large conglomerates, whose international operations are an important component of their business, and a number of smaller life insurers, which tend to be less diversified than the conglomerates. A number of Canadian life insurers are part of the global operations of foreign financial institutions. The Canadian life and health insurance industry provides a wide range of products including individual and group life insurance, individual and group annuities, and supplementary health insurance.

The vast majority of the property and casualty (P&C) industry is federally regulated. Unlike the Canadian banking and life insurance industries, there has historically been a significant degree of foreign ownership in the P&C industry (nearly half of the Canadian industry, by premium volume, is foreign owned). It is also less concentrated than the banking or life insurance industries, with 10 companies controlling roughly 60 percent of the market share. The Canadian P&C insurance industry provides a range of private home, car and business insurance.

• Life and Fraternal Companies
• Property and Casualty Companies