The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association wants to see the removal of regulatory barriers that are holding back Canadian insurance business in 2026, says its president and chief executive officer Stephen Frank.
Following a turbulent year in Canada-U.S. trade and political relations, Frank says it’s more important to ensure there’s a business environment that supports a strong private sector that can “generate the kind of wealth that Canadians need to sustain our standard of living.”
One of his priorities for this year is to actively harmonize inter-provincial trade and regulatory barriers that are actively holding back health care in Canada.
Read: CLHIA focusing on continued support for virtual health care, innovation in 2025
Building on work to simplify the disability claim process across insurers and making it so physicians only have to file one form across the industry, he hopes to see the process be further automated this year.
“A physician could fill that on their tablet or their laptop and that would be a straight through electronic form that would come into the carriers and initiate the claims. All that paper, all the faxing, all the cost that goes with that, we’re really hoping to make a real dent in it.”
This effort is part of a larger campaign to address what he sees as a doctor shortage in Canada by reducing the burden and manhours put in paperwork tasks. “We’re going to have a big focus on our role in making the system as efficient as possible in health and things we can do to be part of that,” Frank says.
Read: Canadian insurers paid out record $143.3BN in health, retirement benefits in 2024: CLHIA
He points to the cost of regulatory compliance — reaching $1.3 billion for the industry in 2024, a 63 per cent increase since 2019, according to the CLHIA’s data — as a significant burden for insurers and players of the financial services space in Canada.
Carrying on the momentum for virtual health-care solutions, Frank says the CLHIA will continue to invest in the technology, noting there’s growth opportunities in remote regions across the country. This year, he says, is all about ensuring virtual care and broad technology innovations continue to be supported and grow.
“We’ll work with governments to make sure they understand how it fits within the system, how it complements and can really help them get to their goals as well.”
Read: CLHIA pre-budget submission highlighting VPLAs, auto features, pharmacare and virtual health care
The organization has recognized a significant ramp-up for reimbursements for mental-health services due to an unmet demand from the population. In 2024, more than $900 million was spent on counselling and other mental-health services, Frank says.
In December 2025, the CLHIA participated in a roundtable report from the Mental Health Commission of Canada and stressed collaboration will be key to ensure Canadians receive the mental-health care they need.
“We see tools like virtual care and other things as really an important piece of how we’re going to tackle the mental health . . . [crisis] in Canada,” he says. “We’ve got a lot of things we can do to help — virtual care is just one example.”
Read: CLHIA releases critical illness insurance guide to provide clarity, highlight benefits