STATEMENT TO THE
HOUSE OF COMMONS STANDING COMMITTEE ON
FINANCE
by the
Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association
March 23, 2010
I. Introduction
Mr. Chair, members of the Committee, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to be here today on behalf of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association. I am joined today by Frank Swedlove, President of the CLHIA. We welcome the opportunity to share our views with the Standing Committee on Finance on the adequacy of retirement savings among Canadians.
The CLHIA is a voluntary association whose member companies account for 99 per cent of Canada's life and health insurance business. Over two-thirds of Canada's pension plans, primarily Defined Contribution (DC) plans for small and medium-size businesses, are administered by Canada's life and health insurance industry. The industry also provides a wide range of financial security products such as life insurance, annuities and supplementary health insurance to about 26 million Canadians.
The Canadian life and health insurance industry commends the Standing Committee for its focus on retirement income security. We very much share your interests. This is an area that is highly meaningful to our customers, who rely on us for financial security -- whether it be through life and health insurance or lifetime income solutions that we offer through pensions, annuities, RRSPs and RRIFs.
As an industry, we've been giving this a lot of thought, both in terms of serving our customers and staying abreast of their changing needs, but also in terms of the role that we play and the contribution that we make to the broader fabric of Canadian society.
Today, we'd like to focus on the adequacy of retirement savings. In so doing, we'll touch on the various components that make up retirement savings and the role that government and the private sector should play. We'll talk about behavioural challenges. And we'll make a few specific suggestions that, in our view, will go a long way to improving retirement savings for all Canadians.
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