Assuris is a non-profit organization under Canadian Federal regulation to protect policyholders in the event that a life insurer should become insolvent. It is designed to allow a block of policies to be transferred to a solvent company, where the policies will continue to be honoured (similar to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the USA). Per the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions: "Assuris' mission is to mitigate the impact on Canadian policyholders of the financial failure of a life insurance company."
Every life insurer that is authorized to sell policies in Canada is required by the various provincial, territorial and federal regulators to become a member of Assuris. Assuris was founded in 1990 as CompCorp, changing their name to Assuris in 2005.
Policies are protected as follows:
Monthly income policies up to $2000, health expenses policies up to $60 000, death benefits on policies up to $200 000 and cash values up to $60 000
The last insurer to have its policies guaranteed by Assuris was Union of Canada Life.