Canada’s insurance market continues to show resilience despite ongoing global and domestic pressures, but organic growth is expected to moderate in the years ahead, according to Jean-François Chalifoux (pictured), president and CEO of Beneva.
Speaking with Insurance Business, Chalifoux described the industry as “extremely robust, resilient and dynamic,” even as it adapts to climate change impacts, inflationary pressures, and geopolitical uncertainty.
The Beneva chief pointed to several positive signs across the market. He highlighted continued job creation within the sector, as well as sustained investments in IT, artificial intelligence, and digitalization to boost productivity and customer experience.
He also pointed to consolidation as a sign of the sector’s ongoing dynamism.
Earlier this year, Beneva announced its intention to merge with Gore Mutual, one of Canada’s oldest property and casualty insurers. The deal, which is to be finalized in 2026, will create a combined organization with more than 6,100 employees, serving 3.8 million members and customers, backed by about $8 billion in premium and $27 billion in assets.
Beneva previously said that this will solidify its position as the seventh-largest insurer in Canada by total premium and make it the tenth-largest property and casualty insurer nationwide. It will also remain the third-largest property and casualty insurer in Quebec.
After several years of premium growth fueled by inflation, Chalifoux observed that the market is showing signs of stabilization. This is particularly visible in commercial lines, he said.
“We see signs of stabilization, especially on the commercial insurance [side], where we see rates declining and… capacity increasing,” he said.
On the life and health side, Chalifoux noted that slowing inflation will likely mean slower natural growth, particularly for group health insurance.
While he expects the market to remain dynamic, Chalifoux cautioned that growth rates are unlikely to match the inflation-driven pace of recent years. Insurers, he said, will need to remain disciplined and selective in their strategies.
“We certainly see that growth, or natural growth, [is] going to slow down in the coming years,” Chalifoux said.
That discipline, he added, is about balancing opportunity with caution. “We want to continue to grow, but it’s important for us to grow profitably,” Chalifoux said. This means being highly selective about which markets to enter and what kinds of risks to underwrite.
“In this kind of market, underwriting discipline will remain key,” he said, stressing that profitability must be prioritized over volume as conditions shift.
Looking ahead, Chalifoux identified climate change and regulation as two of the most prominent forces shaping the Canadian insurance market through 2026.
“Climate change is definitely an issue,” he said, noting that the past three years – from 2022 to 2024 – brought particularly severe challenges. While 2025 has so far avoided the same level of catastrophe losses, wildfires remain active in many regions and rainfall patterns continue to create volatility.
“We definitely see an increase in weather-related patterns, an increase in frequency and severity of it. And so we need, as an industry, to monitor that carefully,” Chalifoux said.
At the same time, he pointed to Canada’s regulatory environment as a growing pressure point for insurers. He described an intensifying compliance burden that, while rooted in important goals such as consumer protection and transparency, risks stretching industry capacity.
“Each regulatory initiative has a positive outcome. However, this increased workload is happening in many areas of the business, across all the regions, across all lines of business. It diverts some of our attention from innovation [and] serving customers better, to increasing compliance requirements,” Chalifoux said.
He emphasized the importance of predictability and coordination among regulators and lawmakers across sectors, particularly in a relatively small and mature market like Canada. Without careful calibration, he cautioned, compliance demands could come at the expense of innovation, digitalization, and customer service improvements.
“We do believe that it is manageable and that we could accomplish both goals of protecting consumers while encouraging innovation and digitalization,” he added, stressing that the right balance would allow insurers to pursue productivity gains while continuing to enhance the customer experience.
