EquiNet Equitable Life's advisor site

Site Search

772 results for click to access MAKEMUR.com how to get goods out of customs without waiting pay

  1. How first-time homebuyers are sourcing their down payments Did you know that the primary sources for down payments among first-time homebuyers* are:
    • Savings outside of a RRSP (59%)
    • Gifts (38%)
    • Savings within a RRSP (31%)

    While 71% of potential first-time homebuyers in Canada are aware of the First Home Savings Account (FHSA), only 33% of them are taking advantage*.

    Equitable wants to help first-time homebuyers take advantage of all the benefits a FHSA has to offer. Clients who contribute to an Equitable FHSA between May 1 and September 30, 2025 will be entered into our Close to Home contest, for a chance to win one of two $8,000 prizes. Whether opening a new Equitable FHSA or making an annual contribution, this is a fantastic opportunity to help clients get closer to owning a home.

    Advisors, your efforts matter too! You have a chance to win a $1,000 prize if the client you are assisting, in alignment with their unique homeownership needs, is selected as a winner. At Equitable, we believe that when we grow together, success is mutual.

    Don’t forget about Equitable’s user-friendly online application, EZcomplete®, or online transaction platform, Equitable’s EZtransact®. These tools are fast, simple, and could bring clients closer to achieving their goals.

    Want to learn more? Speak to your Director, Investment Sales.

    *Source: 2024 CMHC Mortgage Consumer Survey
    Equitable’s Close to Home Contest: No purchase necessary. Contest period May 1, 2025 to September 30, 2025.  Clients enter by making a deposit to an Equitable FHSA during the contest period or by submitting a no-purchase entry. Two prizes of $8,000 CAD each to be drawn on October 15, 2025 will be awarded. The servicing advisor for the policy to which the selected entrant made the deposit is also an eligible winner and will receive a $1,000 CAD prize. For example, if an Equitable client is a winner of the $8,000 prize, the client’s servicing advisor wins a $1,000 prize.  Open to legal residents of Canada of the age of majority. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received during the Contest Period.  For full contest rules, including no-purchase method of entry, see the full contest rules. 

    Date posted: August 14, 2025
  2. [pdf] FeelingBetterNow
  3. Give the Gift of a Head Start
  4. [pdf] Managing a Retirement Savings Plan tax refund
  5. About
  6. Making it easier to do business with Equitable We wanted to share some exciting updates with you that focus on enhancing your experience with Equitable®. Improving your journey with us is a top priority, and we continually seek ways to make doing business simpler and more convenient.

    The following are our latest enhancements designed specifically to benefit you.

    New annual premium payment options for Life and Critical Illness plans
    ● Great news! We recently introduced new additional payment methods for clients making their first and subsequent annual insurance premium payments.
    ● And - we're thrilled to introduce a new lower annual premium requirement of $2,500 for clients who wish to pay their annual premiums by Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD)!
    ● Learn more about these changes here.

    Improved forms for requesting in-force illustrations
    ● We understand the importance of efficient workflows, and that's why we have recently updated and improved the following forms to make requesting inforce illustrations even easier:
    ● Term, CI & Whole Life Illustration and Quote for inforce policies
    ● Universal Life Illustration and Quote for inforce policies

    For these and other Equitable forms, navigate to EquiNet® -> Individual Insurance -> Forms.
     
    We trust that these improvements will be met with enthusiasm! And this is just the beginning – stay tuned for more enhancements in the new year!

    Questions? Please reach out to your local wholesaler or our customer service team.

     

    ® or TM denote trademarks of The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada

  7. Explore Equitable EZBenefits™

    A better group benefits solution for your small business clients

    Running a small business isn't easy, especially for companies with smaller budgets and fewer resources. It can be tough to find a competitively priced benefits plan with the features that clients want. That’s why we created Equitable EZBenefits™, a benefits solution designed with the needs of small businesses in mind.

    Options to fit every need
    Available to organizations with between 2 and 25 employees, EZBenefits offers a range of plan design options to match different needs and budgets. * Whether your client owns start-up or a growing company, we’ve got them covered. Plan options include a mix of Life, Health and Dental coverage. ** Clients can also add Long-Term Disability (LTD) coverage or a Health Care Spending Account (HCSA).

    Embedded services to support health and wellness
    To provide employees with added support for both their physical and mental wellbeing, all our plan design options include:
    ● Anytime, online access to medical professionals through our Virtual Healthcare solution from Dialogue,
    ● Access to professional counselors – via the telephone, the web or in-person – through our Employee and Family Assistance Program from Homewood Health®, and
    ● Online resources to help manage health, financial and family challenges through Homeweb, Homewood Health’s online wellness portal.

    Extra HR support for EZBenefits clients
    EZBenefits also comes with built-in HR support through Equitable’s partnership with Citation Canada® (formerly HRdownloads). It takes the heavy lifting out of common human resource tasks with HR support tools and services. Features include:
    ● an award-winning cloud-based human resource information system (HRIS) to provide help from onboarding to offboarding and everything in between,
    ● access to a library of over 3,000 HR documents, templates, compliance resources and articles, with 25 free document downloads,
    ● a free Workplace Diversity and Inclusion online training course, and
    ● one free Life HR advice call with a seasoned HR expert.

    A streamlined process to optimize your time
    We know that advising small business clients can be challenging. We’ve created a streamlined benefits process that provides rapid quotes, hassle-free plan implementation, simplified renewals and that is easy to administer. That way, you can spend more time advising your clients and building your business – and less time with administrative back and forth.

    Pricing stability for long-term stability
    When it comes to attracting and retaining talent, we know your small business clients are competing with larger organizations that have big budgets and lots of resources. That’s why we’ve designed EZBenefits to provide long-term pricing stability for health and dental benefits.

    Find out more
    To learn more about EZBenefits, watch our video to learn more or view our brochure. You can also visit info.equitable.ca/ezbenefits for more details or to request a quote. If you have questions, contact your Equitable Life Group Account Executive. If you don't have an Equitable Life Group Account Executive, email us at EZBenefits@equitable.ca.

    * Not available in Quebec.
    ** Dental coverage is not included with the Bronze plan design option.
     
  8. Savings & Retirement - Updated Application Forms There are some important updates to share with you. The applications listed below have been updated for content and formatting. The changes also include the removal of maximums for Quebec Life Income Funds.Equitable will accept the previous versions until March 31, 2025, but on April 1, 2025, only the new versions will be accepted.
    Form # Application New Version Previous Version
    1383 Pivotal Select TFSA Application 2024/11/01 2023/05/29
    1384 Pivotal Select Registered/Non-Registered Application 2025/01/01 2023/05/29
    2086 Pivotal Select FHSA Application 2024/11/01 2023/08/01
    796 Daily/Guaranteed Interest Account TFSA Application 2024/11/01 2024/07/01
    799 Daily/Guaranteed Interest Account Registered/Non-Registered Application 2025/01/01 2024/07/01
    2087 Daily/Guaranteed Interest Account FHSA Application 2024/11/01 2024/07/01


    Updated Form Names

    Equitable has updated the names of the Special Quote Request forms for the DIA/GIA and Payout Annuity.
    New Name Previous Name When to use
    Custom Quote – DIA/GIA
    (Form # 686)    		 GIA Special Quote Request form Any deposit to the Daily Interest Account or Guaranteed Interest Account that is equal to or greater than $1 million.
    Payout Annuity - Custom Quote
    (Form #687)    		 Payout Annuity Special Quote Request form Any non-standard annuity quote (i.e., exceeds maximum deposit or age, pension matching, etc.)


    Simplified Conversion Process for Legacy Products

    The simplified conversion process should make things easier for advisors. By using the RRSP to RRIF Conversion Form #1673, you can convert legacy products, like RRSP to RRIF and LIRA to LIF, without the need to complete an application.

    If you have any questions, reach out to your Director, Investment Sales.

    Posted January 27, 2025
  9. EAMG Market Commentary August 2022 HEADER.png
     

    August 2022

    The S&P 500 fell into bear market territory over the first half of 2022 with the index down -20.6%. This represented a top 10 ranking amongst the most dismal back-to-back quarterly performances going back to 1928. While comparisons have been made to the inflation driven bear market of 1973-74, the economic backdrop today has some significant differences including greater production capacity (factory utilization rates are running about 20% lower vs the 70’s) and a meaningful decline in raw industrial prices which have fallen -11% over the quarter. While these economic anecdotes are potential positives for the future, it’s important to remain cognizant that prices remain elevated.

    As such, the US Federal Reserve seems to be taking every opportunity to telegraph their intentions of raising interest rates at the expense of both market and economic performance, so long as inflation remains a threat. Given this hawkish tone, the market narrative has morphed from fears of inflation to a fed driven recession. As a result, the move in the bond market has been swift with the 10-year treasury yield peaking at approximately 3.5% in June to today’s level of 2.7% (lower rates = higher bond prices). This positive bond performance reflects the consensus view that inflation is temporary (2023 CPI forecasts are approximately 3.6% vs the second quarter’s 8.7% CPI reading) and could allow the Fed to adjust their higher interest rate trajectory downward. The Fed also remains confident that a soft landing is achievable, and a recession avoidable.

    Investors seem less convinced however, given the Fed has never been able to engineer a soft landing before, and so it’s no surprise equity markets entered a bear market over the quarter, and currently remain in a technical correction (defined as losses greater than -10%). To better assess future performance, we closely monitor earnings results to understand how companies are navigating these economic trends. With nearly 80% of the S&P 500 reported, the results have been better than expected, but still the EPS beat rate and magnitude of beats (actual vs expectation) remain below 5-year averages. This tells us companies are finding today’s economic conditions more challenging than the recent past. Consumer sectors including marketing, retail, autos and textiles posted the 2nd worst performance vs other sectors while the Financials sector saw the greatest challenges with aggregate EPS falling by -15% year-over-year. Wall Street analysts have started to revise S&P 500 forward growth estimates lower, a trend which we expect will continue for several quarters ahead. The forward (12-month blended) P/E ratio of 17.5 times remains 1.5 multiple points above the long-term average which potentially suggests risks may not be fully priced in.

    In terms of the S&P/TSX Composite, after declining nearly -14% in Q2 as recession fears around the world jeopardized the global demand outlook, its’ since rebounded over 4.0%. Still, valuation remains below longer-term averages at 11.8x forward earnings with the heavier weighted Financials and Energy sectors trading at 9.5x and 7.9x, respectively. TSX earnings expectations have stalled as of late but downward revisions are lagging US and European counterparts. Additionally, the domestic labour market remains tight which has allowed the Bank of Canada to continue its aggressive rate hike path to curb soaring inflation. For most of 2022 the TSX has benefitted from surging commodity prices but an economic slowdown in China resulting from its commitment to a zero-Covid policy and a potential global recession could prove to be a challenge for the Canadian market.

    Equity markets on average lose 30% of their value in recession led bear markets. If we use this as a potential road map, it suggests the S&P 500 could have further to fall. Using past performance as a forward-looking tool however is an imperfect technique and used in isolation of what’s happening today can often mislead.

    Accounting for today’s backdrop, we come up with three scenarios of varying probabilities. The first is the most optimistic and includes an engineered soft landing by the Fed, meaning no recession and inflation cools. A less optimistic view is the fed tames inflation with higher interest rates but tips the economy into a mild-to-moderate recession. The outcome would be consumer spending and corporate hiring slow as a result of tighter financial conditions, and therefore financial results are negatively impacted. The least optimistic scenario is one where stagflationary conditions emerge as inflation continues to accelerate at the expense of growth despite higher interest rates, in other words the Fed loses control. The net result would be similar to our second scenario but with much more dire results in terms of unemployment, household spending and impacts to corporate profitability. While we don’t rule out any of the above scenarios completely, we assign the highest probability to the second one where macro economic issues get resolved at some point in the future, but the full effects of inflation and a possible recession have yet to be priced into the market. Currently, this view translates into a slight underweight equity position versus our benchmark with a tilt towards low volatility and defensive strategies along with an overlay of value and dividend paying securities. In other words, we’ve de-risked the portfolios relative to our benchmark to manage potential downside risks but remain meaningfully invested an on absolute basis. As always, time in the market tends to overcome trying to time the market, and so employing a strategic and diversified strategy is often the most prudent approach.


    Downloadable Copy



    ADVISOR USE ONLY
    Any statements contained herein that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements represent the portfolio manager’s best judgment as of the present date as to what may occur in the future. However, forward-looking statements are subject to many risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and are based on the portfolio manager’s present opinions and views. For this reason, the actual outcome of the events or results predicted may differ materially from what is expressed. Furthermore, the portfolio manager’s views, opinions or assumptions may subsequently change based on previously unknown information, or for other reasons. Equitable Life of Canada® assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained herein. The reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors carefully and not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Investments may increase or decrease in value and are invested at the risk of the investor. Investment values change frequently, and past performance does not guarantee future results. Professional advice should be sought before an investor embarks on any investment strategy.

  10. Extending premium relief for Dental and Extended Health Care benefits

    We know this is a challenging time for Canadian employers and we continue to look for ways to help your clients manage while still supporting their employees.

    As many health practitioners continue to keep their offices closed due to the pandemic restrictions, plan member use of dental benefits and some health benefits remains lower than normal.

    So, we are pleased to announce that we are extending premium relief for all Traditional and myFlex insured non-refund customers for Health and Dental benefits for the month of May, as follows:

    • A 50% reduction on Dental premiums in all provinces except Saskatchewan, where a 25% reduction will apply due to the re-opening of dental clinics in early-May; and
    • A 20% reduction on vision and extended healthcare rates (excluding prescription drugs) in all provinces, which equates to an 8% reduction on Health premiums.

    These reductions are effective for May 2020 and will appear as a credit against the next available billing. We will assess the situation monthly and expect to continue with monthly refunds for as long as the current crisis period continues. The size of the credit may change over time as dentists and other health practitioners gradually reopen their offices. We will confirm premium credits for June (if any) at a later date. Credits for subsequent months will be communicated on a month-by-month basis.

    In order to be eligible for the monthly credit calculation and payout, a policy must be in force on the first of the month and remain in force thereafter. The monthly credit calculation is based on employees in force on the May bill. If employees experienced layoffs during the month, that would not affect eligibility for a premium credit as long as the benefit itself is not terminated.

    We expect that claims experience and premiums will return to normal once the current pandemic restrictions are lifted.

    In the meantime, plan members will continue to have full access to their benefits coverage throughout the pandemic. In many cases, dental offices remain open for emergency services, and a variety of healthcare providers are available virtually.

    Commissions

    We know the pandemic has put financial strain on your business as well, so we will continue to pay full compensation. Although your overall commission will be unaffected by these premium reduction adjustments, you may see a temporary reduction in your commission payments if you are on a pay-as-earned basis. We will begin to process the commission top-up payments in mid-June and will reflect both April and May premium credits.

    Communication

    We will be communicating this premium relief program to your clients later this week.

    Questions?

    If you have any questions, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager. In the meantime, we have provided some Questions and Answers below. You can also refer to our online COVID-19 Group Benefits FAQ.