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Participating life insurance

Get the best of both worlds

Lifelong insurance protection for your family with the potential to grow your wealth tax-free.

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  • Yours for life

    Lifelong protection with premiums that won’t go up.

  • Guaranteed value

    Your cash value is guaranteed to grow.

  • Share in the experience

    Your policy may receive a dividend.

What is participating life insurance?

It’s lifelong coverage that pays whomever you choose a tax-free payment when you die. Your policy is guaranteed to grow in cash value as long as you pay your premiums. Cash value is the value of the insurance policy that you can access as cash. Your insurance payout is reduced when you access your cash value.  

Your payments are pooled in a separate account called the participating account with other policyowners. The funds are professionally managed and may provide you with a dividend. 

Insurance protection for your whole life

Strong, flexible and built on a foundation of guarantees, participating life insurance gives you lifelong protection and value you can access for cash.

How does it work?

  • Pay your premiums and your policy’s cash value grows tax-free, within limits 
  • Your payments go into the participating account that is professionally managed 
  • That money is used to pay for expenses, taxes, insurance claims and other items 
  • You may receive dividends based on the participating account’s performance 
  • You can take your dividend as cash, buy more insurance or pay for your existing coverage  
  • Whomever you choose receives a tax-free payment when you die 

Is this the right insurance for you?

  • Funding your kid’s future

    Access your policy’s cash value to help pay for things like post-secondary education.

  • Emergency expenses

    Navigate unexpected costs like home repairs by accessing your policy’s cash value.

  • Leaving a legacy

    Help your family or the charity of your choice enjoy what you’ve worked so hard to build.

How much does it cost?

Participating life insurance can be more expensive than term and universal life insurance because of the policy’s guarantees. 

There are several variables that determine the cost of your policy. Here are a few of the main factors: 

  • Age

    Generally, insurance is less expensive when you’re younger.

  • Health

    Family history, chronic diseases and lifestyle can increase costs.

  • Gender

    Women live longer than men on average, so insurance may cost less.

  • Occupation

    If you have a dangerous job, your insurance costs can be higher.

Canada Life My Par Gift™

Make a bigger impact with your charitable giving using Canada Life My Par Gift participating life insurance.

Learn more

Your policy's cash value

Guaranteed growth

When your policy’s cash value grows, the new total is automatically guaranteed and is protected from declines, unless you use it for some other purpose. The only way it can be reduced is if you use the cash value.

Flexible access

You can access your policy’s cash value in several ways: Borrow from your policy, use it as collateral for a third-party loan or withdraw cash value. This may affect your coverage, and you may have to pay taxes.

Participate in your account's earnings

If the participating account performs better than expected, we may distribute dividends from these earnings. You can use dividends in one of several ways:  

  • Increase your coverage, which may increase the policy’s cash value
  • Decrease or stop your payments
  • Take your dividends as cash

Get help with your Canada Life products and services.

Contact us

Additional information

Submit a claim online

Notify us of a death and/or make a claim on a wealth or life insurance policy bought through an advisor.

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Canada Life and design and Canada Life My Par Gift are trademarks of The Canada Life Assurance Company.