Control over policy: as a policyowner, Canada Life My Par Gift gives the charity greater assurance that it’ll receive the insurance proceeds. This is because the single premium is used to purchase a paid-up policy. And since no further premiums are required, the policy won’t lapse from non-payment of premiums. Also, this is unlike other methods (i.e donor-owned policy with charity named as beneficiary) where beneficiary designations may change, or the proceeds could pass through the estate and be exposed to other costs or obligations.

Access cash value: as a policyowner, the charity may choose to access the policy’s cash value to fund their charitable initiatives. A policy’s cash value may be accessed through a policy loan, cash withdrawal or by using the policy as collateral for a loan.

Cash value not affected by disbursement quota: as with any life insurance policy, Canada Life My Par Gift policy’s cash value is excluded in calculating a charity’s disbursement quota, which requires charities to spend a minimum amount on charitable activities to keep their charitable status with the Canada Revenue Agency. As such there may be advantages for a charity in holding a life insurance policy in comparison to other investments.