IWF Group team members were instrumental in legislative initiatives leading to passage by the Province of Alberta of the Captive Insurance Companies Act and related Regulations (together the “Act”), both of which came into force 1 June 2022.  

The Act enables the formation of captive insurance entities as an alternative to traditional insurance markets to help reduce current cost and availability pressures on Alberta and Canadian businesses. In particular, the legislation now provides the opportunity for individual businesses and associations to better address an insurance market where, increasingly, insurers and reinsurers are reducing or, indeed, eliminating capacity for certain risks such as oil and gas, mining, technology, directors’ and officers’ liability and cybersecurity risk.

The Act also represents an opportunity for Alberta to establish itself as a preferred, business-friendly domicile for captive insurance companies outside of the more traditional offshore jurisdictions such as Barbados, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

Importantly, and unique to Alberta, the Act allows captive insurance companies to be formed as limited partnerships, a structure that can benefit from First Nations participation.