Great-West Lifeco and its subsidiary, The Canada Life Assurance Company (Canada Life), have announced that they will forgo in-person annual meetings in favour of a virtual-only format.

In a joint statement, the companies said that the format change is being made “to protect the health and well-being of our employees, customers, investors and communities in light of the ongoing public health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Both annual meetings will be held virtually on May 05, 2022.

The companies stated that registered shareholders, voting policyholders and duly appointed proxyholders will be able to attend the 2022 annual meetings online through a live video webcast. More details on how to participate in the virtual meetings can be found on Great-West Lifeco and Canada Life’s respective websites.

All shareholders and voting policyholders have been encouraged by the insurers to submit their voting instructions in advance of the meetings; those who submit voting instructions in advance do not need to attend the meetings to vote, the companies noted.

Read more: Canada Life, ClaimSecure introduce new bundled benefits offering

Earlier this month, Canada Life launched a new bundled offering called SecurePak. The group benefits package combines Administrative Services Only (ASO) health and dental coverage; out-of-country travel insurance; life insurance; accidental death and dismemberment insurance; and stop-loss insurance. Aimed at plan sponsors with 25 to 200 plan members, the bundle also features the claims processing capabilities of ClaimSecure, which Canada Life acquired in September last year.