Canada Life’s simple solution for a lasting legacy

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My Par Gift introduces an insurance product with a single premium payment designed for charitable giving

PLANNED GIVING is a bequest that allows donors to have a positive impact on a cherished cause long after they are gone. While the idea is simple, the practicalities can be complicated, especially if someone wants to donate the proceeds of an insurance policy. It’s a problem that experts at Canada Life have been discussing for years, and in March they announced their solution. “There have been a number of complexities and barriers that have made it difficult to use insurance in the planned giving space,” says Andrea Frossard, senior vice president, par insurance solutions at Canada Life. “So we created My Par Gift, a unique, simple solution that addresses the pain points associated with planned giving.”

Canada Life is a leading insurance, wealth management, and benefits provider focused on improving the financial, physical, and mental well-being of Canadians. For more than 170 years, individuals, families, and business owners across Canada have trusted us to provide sound guidance and deliver on the promises we've made. On January 1, 2020, Great-West Life, London Life, and Canada Life became one company – Canada Life – and today, we proudly serve more than 12 million customer relationships from coast to coast to coast.

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My Par Gift is available to people aged 18 to 75

“My Par Gift [is] a unique, simple solution that addresses the pain points associated with planned giving”

Andrea Frossard, senior vice president, par insurance solutions at Canada Life

A key pain point with the use of insurance in charity is the need for donors to maintain regular premium payments. Donors may not always be able to continue to make premium payments. This creates a source of uncertainty for the receiving charity, which could lose the gift if those premiums aren’t paid. My Par Gift solves this problem by creating a single premium payment solution. “The donor just makes a one-time premium payment, and the charity is the owner and beneficiary of the policy,” explains Vikram Malik, vice president, par pricing & special initiatives at Canada Life. “From that point forward, the charity has full control of the policy. They can access the cash values, get any dividends the policy may receive, and of course they also get the death benefit at the end. That's what makes it so simple – for the donor, the charity, and the advisor as well.”

Planned giving has become an increasingly popular form of charity. It can provide tax benefits to the donor, while ensuring they leave a lasting legacy for the organizations and causes they support. However, it’s an area in which insurers have struggled to keep pace. “While there has been a lot of growth in planned giving over the last 15 years, there has been very little growth with insurance in planned giving,” Malik says. “So, when we stepped back and asked why, we saw an opportunity to change how

this insurance could support planned giving.” During a recent interview with Wealth Professional, Frossard and Malik discussed how the idea for My Par Gift began. “This was in the works for almost two years,” Frossard says. “It was a new market for Canada Life. We took the time to learn about the challenges for donors, as well as the nuanced needs of charities.”

“It created a lot of inertia,” Malik says. “We were hearing that ongoing premium payments were triggering difficult conversations between advisors and their clients. By removing those barriers, we enabled new conversations and created new opportunities.”

“The donor just makes a one-time premium payment, and the charity is the owner and beneficiary of the policy”

Vikram Malik, vice president, par pricing & special initiatives at Canada Life

My Par Gift is very new. Launched on March 30, it’s been circulating among advisors and donors for only a few weeks. Asked which charities will benefit most from the introduction of My Par Gift, Malik points to the more than 80,000 registered charities in Canada that would welcome less administration and more certainty. “Some charities may be more likely to embrace insurance,” he says. “Charities that have a legacy planning focus are typically

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Solving problems

The launch

Published 15 May 2023

IN Partnership with

The minimum single premium amount to buy a My Par Gift policy is $10,000

Charity begins at home

Although this particular slice of the insurance market may have been new to the creators of My Par Gift, they are no strangers to the importance of charity. As a company, Canada Life donated over $11 million to communities across the country last year, while employees contributed another $2.3 million on their own. “My Par Gift is very aligned with Canada Life's values,” Frossard says. “When we worked with advisors, charities, and the Canadian Association of Gift Planners to understand the challenges, we saw a way to demonstrate our commitment to others.” One of the first challenges they faced was the complexity surrounding the use of insurance for charity. While it’s typical for an insurance product to be continuously serviced for decades after a policy begins, this ongoing need to revisit the policy was a burden for both the donor and charity.

a good fit, but My Par Gift is really for any charity that wants to invest in its future.” Frossard agrees. “Since its launch, we've heard from a lot of charities that want to learn more. It’s been described as a game-changer, and this is just the beginning.”

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