Westcoast Actuaries

What Westcoast Actuaries does

Westcoast Actuaries Inc. is an independent, privately held actuarial consulting firm headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, with a secondary presence in Toronto, Ontario. Founded via the merger of Stephen Cheng's practice into Westcoast Actuaries Inc. in 2002 (Cheng's practice dates to 1994), the firm serves clients across all Canadian provinces and territories. It operates three core service pillars: Individual Pension Plans (IPPs) for business owners, incorporated professionals, and highly compensated employees; Group Pension & Supplementary Pension consulting for corporate, public-sector, and union-sponsored clients, including Retirement Compensation Arrangements (RCAs) and Supplementary Executive Retirement Plans (SERPs); and Actuarial Evidence services providing expert witness and litigation support to legal professionals in divorce, criminal, wrongful dismissal, and disability matters.

Revenue is generated almost entirely through professional services fees across five streams: ongoing actuarial consulting, IPP administration and implementation, actuarial evidence and litigation support, flat-fee RCA managed service packages, and recurring pension administration. The firm supplements consulting with two proprietary client-facing digital tools — the IPP Online Illustration Tool and the IPP On-Line Pension Adjustment (PA) Calculator — to support self-service estimation and member pension adjustments. Go-to-market is primarily direct enterprise engagement via phone, email, and in-person consultations, layered with referral channels from financial planners, accountants, wealth advisors, and the legal community, plus thought-leadership content through regular blog publishing and presentations at IAFP and STEP Canada conferences. The operating model is founder-led (Managing Director Stephen Cheng) and depends on a small bench of credentialed actuaries (FCIA, FSA designations) qualified as expert witnesses in BC, Saskatchewan, and Ontario courts.

Name

Westcoast Actuaries

Legal name

Westcoast Actuaries Inc.

Website

https://westcoast-actuaries.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Westcoast Actuaries Inc. is an independent Canadian actuarial consulting firm in Vancouver and Toronto that designs and administers Individual Pension Plans, group and supplementary pension arrangements, and provides court-recognized actuarial evidence and litigation support to business owners, corporate clients, and legal professionals across Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Actuarial Consulting Services: Professional consulting fees for pension plan design, actuarial valuations, and regulatory compliance services for corporate, public sector, and union-sponsored clients.
2. IPP Administration and Implementation: Fees for implementing and administering Individual Pension Plans for business owners, incorporated professionals, and key executives, including actuarial reporting and compliance.
3. Actuarial Evidence and Litigation Support: Expert witness and consulting services for legal professionals, including pension division valuations for divorce proceedings, criminal rate of interest calculations, and wrongful dismissal assessments.
4. RCA Service Package: Flat annual fee arrangement for all administration services necessary to implement and maintain a Retirement Compensation Arrangement on an ongoing basis.
5. Pension Administration Services: Ongoing pension plan administration services including preparation of plan member statements, regulatory filings, and actuarial valuation report drafting.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Westcoast Actuaries is an independent actuarial consulting firm providing pension and benefits advisory services to corporate, public sector, and individual clients across Canada. Its core offerings include Individual Pension Plans (IPPs) for business owners and incorporated professionals, Group Pension and Supplementary Pension services for employers, and Actuarial Evidence for legal and litigation support, supplemented by independent investment consulting.

Product overview

Westcoast Actuaries is an independent actuarial consulting firm offering a suite of advisory and administration services organized around three core pillars: Individual Pension Plans (IPPs) for business owners and executives; Group Pension and Supplementary Pension services for corporate and public-sector clients; and Actuarial Evidence for legal and litigation support. The firm's product portfolio also includes investment consulting, Retirement Compensation Arrangements (RCAs), and Supplementary Executive Retirement Plans (SERPs). Supporting the IPP service are two proprietary self-service tools — the IPP Online Illustration Tool and the IPP Online Pension Adjustment (PA) Calculator — both hosted on the firm's web infrastructure. The offering is fundamentally a professional services practice rather than a software-as-a-service platform, delivering its capabilities through consulting engagements, actuarial reports, and online calculation tools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Individual Pension Plans (IPPs) A defined benefit registered pension plan for business owners, incorporated professionals, and highly compensated employees, providing higher contribution room than RRSPs that increases with age, with tax-deductible employer contributions and estate planning advantages.
• Group Pension & Supplementary Pension Actuarial consulting and administration services for corporate, public sector, and union-sponsored defined benefit pension plans, including actuarial valuations, plan design, and governance.
• Actuarial Evidence Expert consulting and litigation support for legal professionals, financial advisors, and individuals, including matrimonial pension division valuations, criminal rate of interest opinions, life estate valuations, fair market value of life insurance, charitable remainder trust valuations, wrongful dismissal assessments, and long-term disability settlements.
• Investment Consulting Independent investment counsel providing impartial expertise to help clients develop effective investment strategies for prudent management and risk mitigation.
• Retirement Compensation Arrangements (RCAs) Non-registered supplemental retirement arrangements for high-income earners and business owners, providing additional tax-deductible contributions beyond registered plan limits, operated on a defined contribution or money purchase basis.
• Supplementary Executive Retirement Plans (SERPs) Non-registered defined benefit plans providing pension benefits exceeding the maximum limits prescribed by tax legislation for highly paid executives, available in funded, unfunded, or partially funded arrangements.
• Unfunded Defined Contribution SERPs Notional account-based SERPs with customizable vesting schedules and a variety of investment options, allowing participating executives to actively manage their notional account balances.
• IPP Online Illustration Tool An online calculator providing illustrative projections of IPP asset accumulation based on age, years of T4 income history, current salary, and assumed investment returns of 5% per year net of fees.
• IPP Online Pension Adjustment (PA) Calculator A proprietary online calculator for IPP members to calculate annual Pension Adjustment amounts based on their pensionable earnings and plan details.

Quantifiable outcome

• IPPs can provide 30-50% higher yearly contribution room compared to RRSPs for suitable candidates
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI) Pension Division Review ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 March 2019Stephen Cheng, Managing Director and Senior Consulting Actuary of Westcoast Actuaries, appointed as one of the experts on the BCLI Pension Division Review Project committee. The committee reviews Part 6 of the Family Law Act, the Division of Pensions Regulation, and allied legislation to form recommendations to reform the law. Stephen is a court-recognized expert for the valuation of pension benefits upon relationship breakdown.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Eckler Ltd. Canadian actuarial and pension consulting firm offering similar services across group pensions, retirement planning, and actuarial valuations. Closely comparable in size and Canadian market focus.
• PBI Actuarial Consultants Ltd. Canadian boutique actuarial consulting firm providing pension, benefits, and investment consulting services. Comparable in size and specialization, directly competing for mid-market Canadian plan sponsors.

Broad incumbents

• Mercer (Canada): Global HR and actuarial consulting firm with a substantial Canadian pension actuarial practice serving corporate, public sector, and union-sponsored plans. Overlaps in DB pension design and actuarial valuations but operates at much larger scale.
• Aon (Canada): Global professional services firm with Canadian actuarial and retirement consulting capabilities. Competes for the same group pension and actuarial valuation mandates as Westcoast but as part of a broader risk and HR practice.
• WTW (Willis Towers Watson, Canada): Global advisory firm with significant Canadian actuarial and benefits consulting. Directly comparable actuarial valuation, DB plan design, and group retirement services, but with broader HR technology and consulting portfolio.
• TELUS Health (formerly LifeWorks / Morneau Shepell): Major Canadian-origin HR, benefits, and actuarial consulting firm now part of TELUS Health. Competes in pension administration, actuarial valuations, and group benefits consulting for Canadian employers.
• KPMG Canada (Actuarial Services): Big 4 firm with an actuarial and pension consulting practice in Canada. Serves corporate and public-sector DB plan sponsors with valuations and regulatory compliance; not specialized but directly competes for the same RFPs.
• Deloitte Canada (Actuarial Services): Big 4 actuarial practice providing pension and benefits consulting to Canadian employers. Overlaps on actuarial valuations, plan design, and compliance work but within a broader audit and consulting platform.

Others

• Industrial Alliance (iA Financial Group): Large Canadian insurance and financial services company offering group retirement plans, annuities, and pension-related products. Adjacent rather than directly competitive, but interacts with Westcoast's corporate plan clients.
• Manulife Financial: Major Canadian life insurer and wealth manager offering group retirement plans, annuities, and pension de-risking solutions. Thematically adjacent rather than directly competing for Westcoast's IPP and litigation support work.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/westcoast-actuaries-inc-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Westcoast Actuaries