Tax-efficient insurance and wealth planning for Alberta families and business owners — life insurance, critical illness coverage, estate planning, and corporate structuring built to outlast a single generation.
I work with two kinds of clients. The first is individuals and families across Sherwood Park and Edmonton who want a straightforward plan for protecting their income and passing on what they've built — no business required. The second is incorporated business owners — tradespeople, partners, professionals, and founders — who need their personal and corporate planning coordinated instead of handled separately, often because retained earnings are sitting in the corporation with no formal succession plan and coverage that hasn't been looked at in years. Whichever one sounds like you, this is exactly the kind of planning I do.
Every recommendation is weighed against your full picture — your income and your family, and, if you're incorporated, your company's balance sheet too.
Life insurance, critical illness, and disability coverage built around your actual income, debts, and family — whether or not a business is involved. The goal is a straightforward answer to what happens to the people who depend on you if something happens to you.
Get an instant quote →Life and critical illness coverage structured to fund buy-sell agreements, protect against the loss of a key person, and move surplus corporate cash tax-efficiently rather than leaving it exposed to passive income tax inside the company. We look at how coverage is owned, who's named as beneficiary, and how the capital dividend account is affected before any policy is put in place.
Coordinating your personal assets — and corporate holdings, if you have them — so more of what you've built reaches your family instead of the tax bill. This includes reviewing how your estate will be taxed on death, whether probate can be reduced, and how personally-held versus corporately-held insurance changes the outcome for your beneficiaries.
For owners planning to pass the business on rather than sell it: structuring ownership transitions across generations, funding buy-sell agreements between family members or partners, and making sure the next generation inherits a business that's actually set up to be run, not just owned.
Working with an independent advisor under a managing general agency means your policy recommendation isn't limited to one insurance company's product shelf. I compare underwriting, pricing, and policy design across the major Canadian carriers and recommend whichever fits your specific health profile and business structure best — not whichever is easiest for me to sell.
"The plans that last aren't the ones with the best return in year one — they're the ones still standing when your kids are running the business."
— Ethan Marchand
I grew up with limited resources and started working early, which taught me that discipline and a long view build more security than any single lucky break. That's the lens I bring to every plan I put together — not a quick sale, but a foundation meant to outlast me and be handed to the next generation.
I'm based in Sherwood Park, Alberta, and work with individuals, families, and incorporated business owners who want their insurance and wealth planning to actually reflect their real life — not a generic template. Whether you're trying to figure out what happens to your family if something goes wrong tomorrow, or you're a tradesperson, professional, or founder juggling that same question alongside a business, that conversation is where I'd start.
Not at all. A good share of my clients are individuals and families with no business involved at all — they just want straightforward life, critical illness, or estate planning. Business owners tend to need an extra layer of corporate coordination, but the personal planning underneath it is the same conversation either way.
Yes. Key person insurance protects the business from the financial impact of losing an owner or essential employee, but it typically pays out to the corporation, not your family. Personal life insurance is a separate layer that protects your household's income, debts, and long-term goals directly.
When a corporation owns a life insurance policy, the death benefit (less the policy's adjusted cost basis) can generally be credited to the company's capital dividend account, allowing that amount to be paid to shareholders tax-free. It also allows surplus corporate cash to grow inside an exempt policy rather than being taxed annually as passive investment income.
A buy-sell agreement is a legal contract that determines what happens to a business owner's share of the company if they die, become disabled, or exit. Funding that agreement with life insurance ensures the remaining owners have the capital to buy out a departing owner's share without straining the business or forcing a sale.
It depends on personal income replacement needs, outstanding debt, business valuation, buy-sell obligations, and estate tax exposure. Most business owners need coverage calculated separately for personal protection and for business purposes, since the two serve different goals.
Personally-owned insurance is paid for with after-tax personal dollars and pays out directly to your named beneficiaries. Corporately-owned insurance is paid for with corporate dollars, which can be more tax-efficient for business owners, but the ownership, beneficiary designation, and tax treatment need to be structured carefully.
Earlier than most owners think. Succession planning isn't a retirement-year task — it shapes how you structure ownership, insurance, and corporate accounts for years leading up to a transition, whether that transition is to family, a partner, or a sale.
Based in Sherwood Park, working with business owners throughout Edmonton, Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc, Spruce Grove, and the greater Edmonton metro area. Meetings available in person or by video call.
Fill out the contact form ahead of time, or book a meeting directly. Prefer a more direct approach? Call or text me at 780-868-0552 or email ethan@marchandwealth.ca — whatever's easiest for you.
