Federal pension plans: Main regulatory changes to watch
The federal government has recently introduced several regulatory changes that will have a direct impact on pension plans under its jurisdiction.
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Group Annuity Purchases in Canada in 2025 – Managing Risks and Seizing Opportunities
Last updated on March 12, 2026
At a glance
- After a record-setting year in 2024, the Canadian group annuity purchase market experienced a moderate slowdown in 2025. Transaction volume reached $6.8B, a decline of nearly 40% compared with the $11B recorded last year, and roughly 10% below the average of the previous three years.
- This slowdown can be explained by the following key factors:
- Economic uncertainty and market volatility complicated the planning of certain transactions and the management of liquidity risk.
- Several organizations chose to prioritize their internal operations, given the economic and geopolitical context.
- In practice, the year unfolded in two distinct phases. Early in the year, few transactions were completed, allowing insurers to dedicate more time to each transaction and offer particularly competitive quotes to plan sponsors ready to act quickly. The competitiveness observed in the market likely contributed to many organizations choosing to move forward later in the year, resulting in a surge of transactions in the second half of the year.
- Some insurers showed increased interest in inflation‑indexed annuity transactions, which certainly heightened competition and made it possible to obtain attractive pricing conditions.