The latest analysis from Ernst & Young LLP (EY) on business mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the insurance sector, in Canada and globally, shows Canadian firms doubling the number of business deals made with firms overseas.
According to analysis provided to the Insurance Portal, in 2025 the Canadian insurance sector reported 34 publicly disclosed deals, up from 29 reported in 2024. The total disclosed deal value was $4.6-billion. (All figures in U.S. dollars.) In 2024 companies refrained from disclosing deal values.
Canadian firms acquiring overseas targets made 10 deals in 2025, up from five in 2024. Overall disclosed deal value was $10-billion, compared to $100-million the year before. Conversely, non-Canadian firms acquiring Canadian targets made just six deals during the year, down from eight in 2024. Deal value was just $400-million in 2025. No deals had disclosed values in 2024.
When combined with data from the United States to compile its North America research, M&A activity fell in 2025, a five per cent year-over-year decline in the number of publicly disclosed deals. The majority of this activity occurred in the United States. Together, the number of deals from both countries reached 947 during the year, compared with 998 reported in 2024.
Globally, M&A transactions rose 49 per cent, thanks in part to a significant number of deals taking place which exceeded $1-billion. In total, 93 deals exceeded this threshold, representing 81 per cent of total deal value. In 2024, just 54 deals exceeded this amount.
“Banks, insurers and asset managers across the world’s major financial services markets publicly disclosed 2,236 deals in 2025 – up slightly from 2,219 deals in 2024, which at the time was a 10-year peak,” the firm’s researchers write. Total disclosed value for global financial services M&A deals in 2025 rose notably from $282.1-billion in 2024 to $418.9-billion in 2025.
“Around 10 per cent of all financial services deals in 2025 were driven by private equity or venture capital firms,” they add, “with the rest of the transactions taking place between corporate institutions.”
