Your corporation has built real wealth. Let’s plan what it does next.
Corporate wealth planning, built on life insurance: protect the company, keep capital working through an Immediate Financing Arrangement, and give retained earnings a tax-advantaged place to grow, coordinated with your accountant and lawyer.
Alberta at a glanceCorporate tax figures for Alberta, where GroRight is based
Important: these figures are for a Canadian-controlled private corporation in Alberta for 2026. Each province and territory sets its own corporate tax rates, so the rates that apply to your corporation may be different, and all rates can change. Confirm the figures for your situation with your accountant.
Is this you?
- 01
Your corporation holds more than it needs to run the business over the next few years.
- 02
Passive investment income inside the company is growing, or you’re not sure how close it is to $50,000 a year.
- 03
You want permanent life insurance but don’t want to tie up capital the business could use to grow.
- 04
The business depends on you, a partner or a key employee, and there’s no plan if that changes suddenly.
- 05
You have an accountant and lawyer, and want someone to coordinate the insurance side with them.
Four costs most owners don’t see until later.
Surplus taxed at investment rates
Money left in a corporate investment account is taxed each year at roughly 47% in Alberta before any refund, so a large surplus can quietly lose a lot of its growth to tax.
A shrinking small business rate
Once passive investment income passes $50,000 a year, the corporation starts losing access to the low small business rate on its active income.
Capital locked inside a policy
Paying for permanent coverage can tie up cash the business would rather use. An Immediate Financing Arrangement is one way to borrow it back, at a real cost.
A sudden loss with no plan
The death of an owner, partner or key employee can hit revenue, lenders and ownership all at once if nothing is funded in advance.
Four areas, one coordinated plan.
Give retained earnings a long-term home
Compare a corporate investment account with corporate-owned whole life or universal life, and decide what belongs where.
Retained earnings planning →GrowthKeep capital working with an IFA
Pair permanent coverage with a separate lender so capital paid into the policy can be borrowed back for the business.
How an IFA works →Tax-sheltered growthGrow inside an exempt policy
Growth within Income Tax Act limits isn’t taxed each year, and a death benefit can credit the capital dividend account.
Tax-efficient planning →Corporate protectionProtect the people the business runs on
Key-person coverage for continuity and insurance-funded buy-sell agreements so remaining owners can buy out an estate.
Key-person protection →Also see buy-sell funding, corporate whole life and estate & wealth transfer.
Not sure where to start?
Answer 7 quick questions and see which planning areas may be worth reviewing for your corporation. Your answers stay in your browser.
Two owners, one surplus, three decisions.
Two equal shareholders run a profitable Alberta company that holds a few years of operating reserves plus a growing investment account. Their accountant has flagged that passive income is getting close to $50,000 a year, they have a shareholders’ agreement that isn’t funded, and they’d like to expand within five years.
| Question | What a plan might review |
|---|---|
| Where should surplus sit? | How much stays liquid, and whether part moves into a corporate-owned participating whole life policy to slow growth in passive income. |
| How do we keep capital for growth? | Whether an Immediate Financing Arrangement fits their cash flow, borrowing costs and lender requirements. |
| What if one of us dies? | Coverage sized to fund the buyout in the shareholders’ agreement, reviewed with their lawyer. |
A hypothetical scenario to show the kind of questions a plan covers, not a recommendation or a projected result.
A clear, three-step process.
Discovery Call (30 minutes)
We learn how the business is structured, what it holds and what you want it to do. No cost and no obligation.
Review with your advisors
We look at the options that fit, with illustrations from the insurers, and coordinate with your accountant and lawyer.
Decide and put it in place
If something makes sense, we handle the application and underwriting and review it with you over time.
Answers before you book.
How much does a corporation need in retained earnings before this is worth discussing?
Do I need to replace my accountant or lawyer?
Is corporate-owned life insurance better than investing inside the corporation?
What is an Immediate Financing Arrangement, and who is it for?
Is this tax planning legitimate in the eyes of the CRA?
Do you work with business owners outside Alberta?
Guides for business owners.
Let’s look at your corporation together.
A free 30-minute Discovery Call on Microsoft Teams. We’ll tell you honestly whether there’s something worth planning now.