The facts
- Who files
- OSFI's reporting requirements tables list it for: Canadian life insurers (including insurance holding companies and non-operating life companies); foreign life insurers; Canadian fraternal benefit societies; foreign fraternal benefit societies. Source
- How often
- Quarterly, plus an annual filing at year end. Source
- Deadline
- Quarterly filing: within 45 days. Annual filing: within 60 days. Subject to the Late and Erroneous Filing Penalties (LEFP) framework. Source
- Format
- XML, Excel. OSFI's federal filing requirements table (Section V) marks this filing as: XML file: Yes; special Excel file (OSFI665): Yes. The LIFE returns are filed through RRS. Source
- How it is filed
- Filing routes recorded for the OSFI: Regulatory Reporting System (RRS); Regulatory Data Hub (RDH). See how firms file with the OSFI.
- Status
- In forceOSFI has published 2027 versions of the insurer returns for IFRS 18. The 2027 pages say insurers with a December 31, 2026 year end use the new returns from January 1, 2027, and those with an October 31, 2027 year end from November 1, 2027. Filed in the Regulatory Reporting System (RRS). OSFI's Data Collection Modernization initiative will replace RRS with a new platform, the Regulatory Data Hub (RDH); OSFI says the launch is now targeted for spring 2027 and asks filers to keep using RRS until then. Financial filing for insurers moves to RDH in Release 3; OSFI says more details on financial returns will come in 2027. Source
- Group
- Life insurers: financial statements
Templates (18)
The tables and forms inside the return. Plain name first, the OSFI's code in brackets.
- Certification (10.006)
- Assets (20002)
- Liabilities and Equity (20004)
- Liability Roll Forward (Analysis by measurement component (Insurance contracts not measured under the PAA)) - excluding Segregated Funds (20012)
- Segregated Funds - Liability Roll Forward (Analysis by measurement component (Insurance contracts not measured under the PAA)) (20013)
- Liability Roll Forward (Analysis by remaining coverage and incurred claims (all insurance contracts - excluding Segregated Funds)) (20014)
- Segregated Funds - Liability Roll Forward (Analysis by remaining coverage and incurred claims) (20015)
- Liability Roll Forward (Reinsurance contracts held analysis by measurement component (Contracts not measured under the PAA - excluding Segregated Funds)) (20016)
- Segregated Funds - Liability Roll Forward (Reinsurance contracts held analysis by measurement component (Contracts not measured under the PAA)) (20017)
- Liability Roll Forward (Reinsurance contracts held analysis by remaining coverage and incurred claims (all contracts - excluding Segregated Funds)) (20018)
- Segregated Funds - Liability Roll Forward (Reinsurance contracts held analysis by remaining coverage and incurred claims (all contracts)) (20019)
- Statement of Profit or Loss (20022)
- Statements of Policyholders' Equity in Participating Account (20040)
- Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss) and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) (20042)
- Head Office Account (20044)
- Statement of Cash Flows (20050)
Show all 18 templatesShow fewer
- Statement of Changes in Equity (20054)
- Notes to the Financial Statements (20060)
Schedules (worksheets) in lf1-2024-en.xlsx, named from the workbook's table of contents or schedule titles. Source
Validation rules
1,571 rules, as counted from the OSFI's published material. Software can run them exactly as published. Source
How they are written: Excel workbook, one row per rule (Rule ID, Rule Type, Description and a Formula or Expression column in OSFI's RRS rule syntax, for example EqualWithinThreshold([P2000217001],-1*([P2001465919]+[P2001565919]),1,0)).
The validation rules published for the next (2027) version, lf1-2027-q1-t1-09-10-2026-validation-en.xlsx, list 1584 rules.
How they were counted
Counted 1571 rows with a rule in the 'Validation rules' sheet of lf1-2025-q2-t2-validation-en.xlsx (1571 error).
Counts are in the OSFI's own unit, so they are not comparable with other regulators' counts.
Public data
Published firm by firm. OSFI publishes data from this return institution by institution, with industry totals, as CSV files on the Government of Canada open data portal: "LF1 - Life Core Financial Statement Return (Active)" in the Life insurance companies dataset; "LF1 - Life Core Financial Statement Return (Active)" in the Fraternal benefit societies dataset. Source
Where it is published (CSV)
- OSFI financial data: Life insurance companies (open.canada.ca)
Firm by firm · CSV (long format: one row per institution, period and data point address, with English and French labels)
Institution-by-institution data, with industry totals, from OSFI's returns for life insurance companies, one CSV file per return: LCA - LICAT (Active); LCQ - LICAT (Active); LF1 - Life Core Financial Statement Return (Active); LF2 - Life Supervisory Quarterly Return (Active); LF3 - Life Supervisory Annual Return (Active). The dataset is updated quarterly (last updated on the portal 2026-10-11) and also holds 8 CSV files for returns OSFI no longer collects, a data dictionary and a user manual. The dataset page gives 2026 publication dates: monthly returns on or about the 15th of each month; quarterly returns about a week after the due date (Q1 due May 15, published May 23; Q2 due Aug 14, published Aug 22; Q3 due Nov 14, published Nov 22; Q4 due March 1, published March 19). Source
- OSFI financial data: Fraternal benefit societies (open.canada.ca)
Firm by firm · CSV (long format: one row per institution, period and data point address, with English and French labels)
Institution-by-institution data, with industry totals, from OSFI's returns for fraternal benefit societies, one CSV file per return: LCA - LICAT (Active); LCQ - LICAT (Active); LF1 - Life Core Financial Statement Return (Active); LF2 - Life Supervisory Quarterly Return (Active); LF3 - Life Supervisory Annual Return (Active). The dataset is updated quarterly (last updated on the portal 2026-10-11) and also holds 8 CSV files for returns OSFI no longer collects, a data dictionary and a user manual. The dataset page gives 2026 publication dates: monthly returns on or about the 15th of each month; quarterly returns about a week after the due date (Q1 due May 15, published May 23; Q2 due Aug 14, published Aug 22; Q3 due Nov 14, published Nov 22; Q4 due March 1, published March 19). Source
Official documents (27)
The OSFI's own files, with the size and SHA-256 fingerprint of each as downloaded on 11 November 2026, so anyone can tell whether a copy is the same version.
- Reporting Requirements for Life Insurance Companies and Fraternal Benefit Societies
List of returns · HTML · November 2025
- Life Insurance Return (2026)
Instructions · HTML · 28 September 2026
- Life Insurance Return (2026) - Section I - Introduction
Instructions · HTML · September 2024
- Life Insurance Return (2026) - Section II - Filing Requirements
Instructions · HTML · November 2019
- Life Insurance Return (2026) - Section III - Definitions
Instructions · HTML · July 2025
- Life Insurance Return (2026) - Section IV - Detailed Instructions
Instructions · HTML · July 2025
- Life Insurance Return (2026) - Section V - Jurisdictional Requirements
Instructions · HTML · June 2024
- Life Insurance Return (2026) - Section VI - Change Control Log
Release note · HTML · October 2025
- Life Insurance Return (2027)
Instructions · HTML · September 2026
- Life Insurance Return (2027) - Section I - Introduction
Instructions · HTML · September 2026
- Life Insurance Return (2027) - Section II - Filing Requirements
Instructions · HTML · September 2026
- Life Insurance Return (2027) - Section III - Definitions
Instructions · HTML · September 2026
- Life Insurance Return (2027) - Section IV - Detailed Instructions
Instructions · HTML · September 2026
- Life Insurance Return (2027) - Section V - Jurisdictional Requirements
Instructions · HTML · September 2026
- Life Insurance Return (2027) - Section VI - Change Control Log
Release note · HTML · September 2026
- IFRS 18: Presentation and Disclosure Standard impact on Federally Regulated Insurer Reporting to OSFI
Guidance · HTML · 10 September 2026
- LF1 - Q4 2024 Core financial quarterly return (clean)
Template · XLSX · 125.8 KB · 5 September 2024
SHA-256
1629455e880bshow in full1629455e880b630353ed7584e3cc8dfbfa359c489f6173b0b29e15c1bb3610a4 - LF1 - Q4 2024 Core financial quarterly return (tracked changes)
Template · XLSX · 126.7 KB · 5 September 2024
Version with tracked changes against the previous version.
SHA-256
72dbd3deab97show in full72dbd3deab97098be299d750b33f841fff1dfe800621cf11d7c192a9db3ce758 - LF1 - Q2 2025 Core financial quarterly return validation rules
Validation rules · XLSX · 164.3 KB · 13 June 2025
SHA-256
032640ed4488show in full032640ed448833d67359fa9585b2ba912750cc9145dc9ef0156125c42e74de3b - LF1 - Q4 2024 sample XML
Sample · XML · 260.0 KB · 8 November 2024
SHA-256
ffca9b0f2b52show in fullffca9b0f2b52b8282c2c64f5c66df97c5eecb9c3bf08975d09893c8fa67b4909 - LF1 - Q4 2024 sample XSD
Schema · XSD · 1.5 MB · 8 November 2024
SHA-256
fa28601c69efshow in fullfa28601c69ef980005ed76631045582aa7ae207154c6f0ce8a70f18eec893a85 - LF1 - Q1 2027 Core financial quarterly return (clean)
Template · XLSX · 157.0 KB · 8 September 2026
SHA-256
912016430fedshow in full912016430fed27bfc20f598fa85817212813e445173f944ed4a2e54e0d70b609 - LF1 - Q1 2027 Core financial quarterly return (tracked changes)
Template · XLSX · 158.9 KB · 8 September 2026
Version with tracked changes against the previous version.
SHA-256
412b121f54c1show in full412b121f54c1463369fcc79b7159879e52a4086943bf5a5b49f76e6ca8ea9942 - LF1 - Q1 2027 Core financial quarterly return validation rules
Validation rules · XLSX · 173.3 KB · 8 September 2026
SHA-256
0246ad61add8show in full0246ad61add8cfb5c9e1297957b052d823f03ab5f09fb87bcdc9156fb6cebb76 - LF1 - Q1 2027 sample XML
Sample · XML · 261.6 KB · 8 September 2026
SHA-256
492392209400show in full4923922094005f22829f3524ae3b0fa6b878e555eab7fb4c5c9890501ccaec38 - LF1 - Q1 2027 sample XSD
Schema · XSD · 2.0 MB · 8 September 2026
SHA-256
251d56313b53show in full251d56313b537bc93a190e7f686aaabb025a2b6643f20137afe8961ce2e5eae6 - Manage Financial Returns User Guide for Insurance Companies and Private Pension Plans
Filing rules · PDF · 2.4 MB · 5 February 2024
SHA-256
8365ae545e5ashow in full8365ae545e5a1ad6b3b9e3048c93aeba75708d7dbcbd768ac4a02f9236d4fd95
Sources
Every page and document this return's facts were read from.
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-2027-section-ii-filing-requirements
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/reporting-requirements-life-insurance-companies-fraternal-benefit-societies
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-2027-section-v-jurisdictional-requirements
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/about-osfi/progress-our-initiatives/modernizing-we-collect-data-institutions
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-2026
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-section-introduction
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-section-ii-filing-requirements
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-section-iii-definitions
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-section-iv-detailed-instructions
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-section-v-jurisdictional-requirements
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-section-vi-change-control-log
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-2027
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-2027-section-introduction
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-2027-section-iii-definitions
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-2027-section-iv-detailed-instructions
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/life-insurance-return-2027-section-vi-change-control-log
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/ifrs-18-presentation-disclosure-standard-impact-federally-regulated-insurer-reporting-osfi
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/lf1-2024-en.xlsx
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/lf1-2024-dft-en.xlsx
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/lf1-2025-q2-t2-validation-en.xlsx
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/lf1-2024-q4-t4.xml
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/lf1-2024-q4-t4.xsd
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/lf1-2027-q1-t1-09-10-2026-return-releve-en.xlsx
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/lf1-2027-q1-t1-09-10-2026-return-releve-trck-en.xlsx
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/lf1-2027-q1-t1-09-10-2026-validation-en.xlsx
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/lf1-2027-q1-t1-09-10-2026.xml
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/lf1-2027-q1-t1-09-10-2026.xsd
- osfi-bsif.gc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/rrs_mcr_ins_EN.pdf
- open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/1358284b-26e7-4c69-abd8-398d3da2c270
Knowing exactly what is collected, in what format and under which rules is the first step to real-time supervision. Line4 builds SupTech software for financial regulators that runs checks like these as each return arrives.
Line4's text and records here are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Please credit: “Source: Line4 regulatory submissions library (CC BY 4.0), https://www.line4.ai”. The regulators' documents, forms, taxonomies, rules and data belong to them: see OSFI's reuse terms. This describes what regulators publish. It is not legal or regulatory advice: always rely on the regulator's own text.
Last checked 11 November 2026.
