Life insurance in Richmond
CWCC works with Richmond families, business owners and households with international ties 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 British Columbia, where Jose Salloum is a licensed life insurance agent with the Insurance Council of British Columbia.
This page is general information and financial education. It is not personalized financial, insurance, investment, tax or legal advice, and reading it creates no professional-client relationship. Participating whole life insurance is an insurance product, not an investment; its primary purpose is the death benefit. Dividends are not guaranteed: they are declared annually by the insurer’s board of directors based on the performance of the participating account, and past performance does not indicate future results. Guarantees described are contractual obligations of the issuing insurer and depend on its financial strength; they are not government-backed. Insurance products are not deposits and are not insured by CDIC. Policyholder protection is provided by Assuris within its published limits. Policy loans accrue interest and reduce the death benefit and available cash value until repaid; under section 148 of the Income Tax Act a policy loan is a disposition and a taxable gain can arise where proceeds exceed the adjusted cost basis. Creditor protection varies by province and circumstance and is never absolute. Suitability can only be assessed through individual consultation. CWCC is a firm registered with the AMF (602293); its advisors earn commissions paid by insurers on products placed. CWCC is not registered with CIRO and provides no securities advice.
In plain language: this page describes what we do and how the pieces fit together. It cannot tell you what you should do, because we have not met. Dividends are not guaranteed. The insurer’s board decides, one year at a time. The guarantees come from the insurer, not the government, and a policy is not a deposit. When a client places a policy through us, the insurer pays us a commission: you should know that when you weigh anything we write. And when a question belongs to securities, we say so rather than pretend our licence stretches that far.
What makes Richmond different
Richmond shares British Columbia law with Vancouver and Burnaby. What sets it apart is the mobility of its households, and mobility changes which tax rules apply to them.
Families spread across several countries. This is the most consistent reality here. One spouse works abroad while the family lives in Richmond; elderly parents remain elsewhere; adult children study or settle in a third country.
Established business immigration. Many households own companies, property or investments outside Canada, sometimes for longer than they have lived here.
High property values. British Columbia probate fees are calculated on the value of the estate’s assets, not on the cash available.
Airport proximity and a service economy. Transport, logistics, international trade: a great deal of self-employment and variable pay.
Tax residence is not immigration status
This is the costliest confusion in Richmond, and an easy one to make: both notions share a word.
A question of fact
In Canada, tax residence is determined by facts and residential ties: where your home is, your spouse, your dependants, your property, your accounts, your provincial health coverage, your driver’s licence. It does not follow automatically from citizenship or permanent resident status.
A person can therefore be a Canadian tax resident while spending much of the year abroad, or cease to be one while keeping their immigration status. Tax treaties with other countries also contain rules for resolving cases of dual residence.
We do not give tax advice and we do not determine your residence. That question belongs to a specialist in international taxation. We raise it because the answer changes everything that follows.
Ceasing to be a resident: the deemed disposition on departure
This is the rule most overlooked by mobile households, and it produces a bill at a moment nobody expects.
The principle
When a person ceases to be resident in Canada, the Income Tax Act provides that they are generally deemed to have disposed of most of their property at fair market value immediately before departure. The accrued gain then becomes taxable, even though nothing has been sold.
This is commonly called departure tax. Certain categories of property are excluded from that deemed disposition: broadly, including real property situated in Canada and registered plans such as an RRSP.
The point that concerns insurance
The list of excluded property generally includes an interest in a life insurance policy in Canada, subject to exceptions provided by statute, including segregated fund contracts.
That means a Canadian policy held by a person ceasing to be resident does not generally receive the same treatment as a securities portfolio at the moment of departure. This is not a general tax exemption, and it says nothing about how the destination country will treat the policy, which is often the more important question.
This point must be verified by an international tax specialist before any decision. We mention it because it is rarely explained, and because a mobile household benefits from knowing the exact position of each of its assets rather than discovering it afterwards.
The separated family
When one spouse works abroad and the other remains in Richmond with the children, the two are not necessarily in the same tax position. The absent spouse’s residential ties, home, family, property, often remain in Canada, which has consequences for the taxation of their worldwide income.
That bears directly on coverage: who owns the policy, who pays it, who is insured and who is named beneficiary are not details when the people concerned fall under different tax regimes. Those choices are made with your tax specialist, not alone.
British Columbia succession law
Probate fees. They are calculated on the value of the assets making up the estate. Policy proceeds paid to a named beneficiary generally do not form part of it.
Varying a will. The Wills, Estates and Succession Act allows a spouse or a child to ask the court to vary a will that does not make adequate provision for them. For a family whose children live in different countries and have received unequal help during the parents’ lifetime, the distribution deserves to be documented with a lawyer in the province.
A will made abroad. It may be valid in British Columbia, partly valid, or inoperative. Foreign real property generally falls under the law of the place where it sits. Many families assume a single will covers their entire worldwide estate: often it does not.
Reporting foreign property. A Canadian resident holding specified foreign property above a threshold must file an annual return with the Canada Revenue Agency. That belongs to your accountant.
Our seven service areas, seen from Richmond
Life insurance
Term, permanent, participating whole life. Here the ownership structure matters as much as the amount, because the people concerned may fall under different tax regimes.
Living benefits
Critical illness, disability, long-term care. Worth checking carefully: many contracts contain restrictions tied to extended stays abroad. Read the contract before you need it.
Group insurance
For a small-business employer, a recruiting tool. For the member, coverage that ends with the job.
Wealth creation
RRSP, TFSA, FHSA, RESP. Note: a foreign country’s treatment of a TFSA is not Canada’s, and a mobile household should check that before accumulating in one.
Investment options
Segregated funds, mutual funds, ETFs, GICs. Education, and segregated fund contracts placed under our insurance licence. For securities held through a dealer: a CIRO-registered representative, which CWCC is not.
Succession planning
Will, executor, designations, probate fees, a foreign will, property outside Canada, non-resident beneficiaries.
Financial sovereignty
The layer that connects the other six. See below.
The Infinite Financial Sovereignty® strategy in Richmond
The strategy we call Infinite Financial Sovereignty® rests on the approach widely known as The Infinite Banking Concept®, originated by R. Nelson Nash. It uses a participating whole life insurance policy issued by a Canadian mutual insurer as the place capital accumulates on a tax-deferred basis, accessed through a policy loan rather than by applying to an outside lender.
Three clarifications, non-negotiable: a policy loan is a genuine loan issued by the insurer, it accrues interest, and it reduces the death benefit while outstanding. Dividends are never guaranteed. And this is not a bank: a policy is an insurance contract governed by provincial insurance legislation, it is not a deposit account, and protection comes from Assuris rather than CDIC.
And the decisive qualification here. This strategy rests entirely on the Canadian tax treatment of a Canadian policy held by a Canadian resident. For a household that may leave Canada, or where one member is already subject to another tax regime, the analysis must be done by an international tax specialist before anything is put in place. The destination country may treat a policy quite differently from Canada, and the result can be the reverse of the one intended.
For a household that remains Canadian resident, the strategy requires a long horizon and sustained premiums. Chapter 8 of the book exists to help a reader conclude that it is not for them.
The book Infinite Financial Sovereignty®, Simplified sets out the full mechanics.
How this approach compares
An honest comparison does not declare a winner.
| Element | Conventional approach | Coordinated IFS™ approach |
|---|---|---|
| Liquidity at death | Depends on selling assets, sometimes abroad | Capital paid outside the estate, without liquidation |
| Probate fees (BC) | Calculated on the value of estate assets | Beneficiary designation: proceeds outside the estate |
| Household that may leave Canada | To be examined with an international tax specialist | Not to be put in place before that examination |
| Growth | Market-dependent; not guaranteed | Contractual guaranteed values, plus dividends that are not guaranteed |
| Horizon required | Variable | Long: cash value is generally lower than premiums in the early years |
This table claims no superiority. A participating policy is an insurance contract; comparing it to the market as though it were a fund would be a category error.
Who this is for in Richmond
- Households spread across several countries. Tax residence, policy ownership, non-resident beneficiaries.
- Families holding property outside Canada. Annual reporting, a foreign will, the law of the place where the property sits.
- Business owners and the self-employed. No group plan, variable income.
- Owners with high property values. Probate fees calculated on value.
- Families wishing to divide unequally. A will can be varied in British Columbia.
And who it is not for: until your tax residence and your spouse’s have been clarified, no permanent structure should be put in place. That verification comes first.
What a first meeting covers
Thirty minutes, online, no products and no obligation.
Your situation
Where each family member lives, income and country of employment, property held and where, your will, existing coverage.
What is missing
The real gaps. In Richmond the answer almost always starts with a question of tax residence to clarify.
An honest answer
If your first step is an international tax specialist, we will tell you and we will wait.
How a meeting works
All of our meetings are held online, by video. This is where that format earns its place: one spouse in Richmond, another abroad and an adult child elsewhere can all take part in the same meeting. The time difference is accounted for: we set an hour that works for everyone.
Check us out independently
No form in this section, nothing to book. Before trusting anyone with money the right instinct is to verify, and nothing here should discourage it.
The AMF register
Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc. is registered as a firm with the Autorité des marchés financiers under number 602293. Both a firm’s registration and an advisor’s certificate can be confirmed in the AMF’s public register.
The full profile
Licensing, designations and issuing bodies, with how to confirm each one. About Jose Salloum.
Or search for yourself
Google.ca “Jose Salloum” Financial Security Advisor
Google.ca “Jose Salloum” Authorized IBC Practitioner
Google.ca “Jose Salloum” participating whole life insurance Canada
Google.ca “Canadian Wealth Creation Centre” AMF
These links open a Google Canada search in a new tab. What appears there is Google’s ranking, not a recommendation from this site.
Frequently asked questions. Richmond
Are you licensed in British Columbia?
Yes. Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc. is licensed to place insurance in British Columbia, and Jose Salloum is a licensed life insurance agent with the Insurance Council of British Columbia.
I am a permanent resident but spend half the year abroad. Am I a tax resident?
That is determined by facts and residential ties, home, spouse, dependants, property, provincial health coverage, not by immigration status. Tax treaties also provide rules for resolving dual residence. We do not determine your residence: that question belongs to a specialist in international taxation.
What happens if we leave Canada?
When a person ceases to be resident, the Income Tax Act provides that they are generally deemed to have disposed of most of their property at fair market value, making the accrued gain taxable even without a sale. Certain categories are excluded, broadly including real property situated in Canada and registered plans. An international tax specialist should examine your situation before any departure.
And a Canadian life insurance policy?
The list of property excluded from the deemed disposition on departure generally includes an interest in a life insurance policy in Canada, subject to exceptions provided by statute, including segregated fund contracts. This is not a general tax exemption, and it says nothing about how the destination country will treat the policy, often the more important question. To be verified with an international tax specialist before any decision.
Can I name a beneficiary who lives abroad?
Generally yes. A death benefit is usually received tax-free in Canada by the named beneficiary. What the beneficiary’s country of residence does with it is a separate question, as are timing and banking compliance at the destination.
Is an insurance policy a bank?
No. A participating whole life insurance policy is an insurance contract governed by provincial insurance legislation. It is not a bank, does not carry on banking, is not a deposit account and is not insured by CDIC. Protection comes from Assuris, within its published limits.