Life insurance in Ajax
CWCC works with families, multigenerational households, commuters and business owners in Ajax and Durham Region on life insurance, living benefits, succession planning and capital strategy: entirely online. The firm is registered with Quebec’s AMF under number 602293 and is licensed to place insurance in Ontario, where Jose Salloum is a licensed life insurance agent with FSRA.
A point about titles
In Ontario the titles “Financial Planner” and “Financial Advisor” are protected under the Financial Professionals Title Protection Act. We do not use them. Jose Salloum is a licensed life insurance agent here: that is what his FSRA licence permits.
What makes Ajax different
Ajax grew quickly and its population is among the most diverse in Durham Region, which shows in how households are put together.
Many multigenerational households. Elderly parents, adult children and grandchildren under one roof or a few streets away.
A commuting population. Long drives west, and budgets calculated on two incomes.
A neighbouring energy sector. With specialised jobs and solid group plans.
Families who arrived in Canada recently. Several bring a parent into the country, which raises particular questions.
You cannot insure someone simply because you want to
This is the central question here, and it is the one families ask most often, almost always in the same situation: an adult child who would like to take out protection on an ageing parent.
Two requirements, not one
For a policy to exist on another person’s life, two separate conditions have to be met, and people often run them together.
The first is insurable interest. Whoever takes out the policy must have a genuine interest in the insured person continuing to live. A close family tie, financial dependence or a business relationship generally creates one. The requirement is not a formality: it exists precisely to prevent a wager being placed on another person’s life.
The second is the insured person’s consent. They have to sign, answer the medical questions themselves, and take part in the underwriting.
From that follows a consequence many people had not considered: it cannot be done discreetly. A child cannot insure a parent without their knowledge, however good the intentions and even when paying the premiums personally.
When the interest has to exist
One useful clarification: insurable interest is generally assessed at the time the policy is taken out, not at the time of the claim.
A validly issued policy therefore does not become void merely because the relationship changes afterwards. That matters for business partners who separate and for couples who separate, but it is a legal question and your lawyer should settle it in your case rather than us.
The conversation to have with the parent
In practice the obstacle is almost never legal. It is human: somebody has to ask a parent to answer medical questions and to agree to protection being taken out on their life.
What helps, from what we see, is putting the question the right way round. It is not about anticipating a death: it is about making sure the person who ends up organising everything does not have to borrow in order to do it. Framed that way, the request generally lands better.
What remains if the answer is no
It is worth naming honestly what remains where the parent refuses, or where their health puts ordinary protection out of reach.
- A policy the parent owns and consents to owning, whose premiums you pay. That is the simplest route where the hesitation is about cost rather than principle.
- Setting the money aside yourself. Without insurable interest or consent, it is sometimes the only honest answer, and it beats a shaky arrangement.
- Guaranteed issue products, which exist but whose benefit is generally graded during the early years. They still require the insured person’s consent.
We will tell you which of the three applies to your situation, including where the answer is the second one and it does not go through us.
A note for business partners
Between partners, insurable interest generally exists without difficulty. What causes trouble is the structure: who owns the policy, who pays the premiums, and what the shareholders’ agreement actually provides on the death of one of them.
Those three have to agree with one another. A policy held one way and an agreement drafted another way produce a result nobody intended. Setting the structure belongs to your lawyer and your accountant; we execute afterwards.
What Ontario adds
Estate Administration Tax is calculated on the value of assets passing through the estate. A death benefit paid to a named beneficiary does not pass through it.
In a multigenerational household one check is worth making: where several adults contributed to buying a property without all appearing on title, that should be documented by a lawyer while everybody still agrees.
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Jose Salloum Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc.
Read the guideWhat we do for families here
When we are asked to insure another person, we check the two requirements before discussing an amount or a product. That avoids building a plan on a base that will not hold.
We then prepare the conversation with the person concerned, and we are glad to have them attend the meeting to ask their own questions.
We send you to your lawyer for any structure between partners and for the agreement that goes with it.
The first meeting
Half an hour, by video, at no cost and with nothing to sign. If the meeting is about a parent, invite them: the conversation is shorter and fairer when the person concerned is there. At the end you will know whether what you have in mind is possible, and if it is not, you will know why.
Frequently asked questions
Can I insure my father or my mother?
Two conditions have to be met: insurable interest, which a close family tie generally creates, and the insured person’s consent, since they must sign and answer the medical questions themselves. It cannot be done without their knowledge.
What is insurable interest?
It is the requirement that whoever takes out the policy has a genuine interest in the insured person continuing to live. A close family tie, financial dependence or a business relationship generally creates one. The rule exists to prevent a wager on another person’s life.
Does the interest have to exist at the time of death?
It is generally assessed at the time the policy is taken out rather than at the claim, so a validly issued policy does not become void merely because the relationship changes afterwards. That is a legal question: have your lawyer settle it.
What if my parent refuses or is not insurable?
Three routes remain: a policy the parent owns whose premiums you pay, setting the money aside yourself, or a guaranteed issue product whose benefit is generally graded in the early years. All three still require consent.
Do you meet people in Ajax?
All meetings are held online, which lets several family members attend. The office is in Laval and the firm is registered with the AMF under number 602293.
Are dividends guaranteed?
No. The scale is set each year by the insurer’s board according to how the participating account performed. What the contract records as guaranteed stays guaranteed; the scale varies.
A thirty-minute discovery meeting
A first conversation establishes whether this fits. No illustration is prepared and nothing is arranged.
Often the answer is no, and you will hear it during the call rather than in a proposal afterwards.
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About the author
Jose Salloum is a Financial Security Advisor (Conseiller en sécurité financière) licensed by the Autorité des marchés financiers in Quebec, by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, and by the Insurance Council of British Columbia. Licensed since 2001, he works with Canadian families, business owners and incorporated professionals.
He is the founder of Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc. (CWCC), registered with the AMF, and of its educational branch IBCFinancial.com. He holds the Infinite Banking Concepts® Authorized Practitioner certification from the Nelson Nash Institute, a private certification rather than a regulatory licence.
CWCC is not registered with CIRO and does not provide securities advice. This page is general education and not advice on any individual file.
Important disclosures
This page is education, not advice. The content is general information prepared by Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc. It does not take your circumstances into account and is not a recommendation to buy, hold or cancel any contract. CWCC is not registered with CIRO and does not provide securities advice. The firm places insurance in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and New Brunswick; clients elsewhere are served by advisors licensed in their province.
Nothing here was written with your file in front of us. Read it to understand the subject, then judge it against your own situation, ideally with someone who is licensed where you live and who has seen your numbers.
Tax treatment depends on your own circumstances. The tax treatment described depends on the contract remaining exempt under the Income Tax Regulations and on the reader’s individual circumstances. A withdrawal, a surrender or a policy loan may be a disposition under the Income Tax Act, and amounts above the adjusted cost basis may be taxable in the year they occur. Tax rules change.
The tax result is not automatic and it is not unconditional. It rests on the contract staying within the Canadian rules and on your own situation. Before you rely on any of it, talk to an accountant who has actually worked with these contracts.
Guarantees come from the insurer, not from the government. Guaranteed values in a life insurance contract are contractual promises of the issuing insurer and depend on that insurer’s financial strength and claims paying ability. Dividends on a participating contract are not guaranteed, are declared at the insurer’s discretion and can change. Policyholder protection in Canada is provided by Assuris within its published limits; deposit insurance does not apply to insurance contracts.
The guarantees written into a contract are real, and they are the insurer’s. The dividend is not a guarantee at all; it is what the insurer decides to declare each year. Know which numbers are which before you make a plan around them.
Borrowing against a contract carries its own risks. A policy loan or a loan secured by a contract accrues interest. If the balance and interest are not managed, the death benefit is reduced, and a contract that lapses with a loan outstanding can produce a taxable gain in that year. Third party lenders set their own terms and can change them.
A loan is a loan. Interest builds whether or not you pay it, and a contract that runs out of room while it is owed can cost you both the coverage and a tax bill. This is the part of the strategy that needs the most discipline.