CLIEDIS

What CLIEDIS does

CLIEDIS (legally Canadian Life Insurance Standards Association; formerly Canadian Life Insurance EDI Standards) is a Canadian non-profit standards association founded in 1995, headquartered in London, Ontario, and operated by a two-person staff (Executive Director Darlys Corbitt and Implementation Services Specialist Tana Sabatino). It is the only objective industry-wide body dedicated to advancing standardized electronic data exchange across the Canadian life and health insurance industry. Its mandate is to develop, maintain, and govern the technical artifacts that enable Canadian insurers, distributors, MGAs, and advisors to exchange policy, commission, and application data using common formats and APIs.

The organization's core technical assets are the CITS (Canadian Insurance Standardizations) data feed specifications (Book of Business, Pending, Application Notification, Commission feeds for Life, Critical Illness, and Disability products), the ACORD XML for Life standards (currently v2.48) with CLIEDIS-specific enhancements, the CITS API Design Principles and accompanying Service Catalog, the CAIR browser-based validation and standards-browsing tool, the Code Cross Mapping Tool for normalizing trading-partner requirement codes, and a Business Capability Model describing over 200 capabilities and 130 services focused on distributor-carrier communication. APIs follow the CLIEDIS-defined Design Principles using JSON over REST; Round 1 (live) and Round 2 (planned) define roughly 20 standardized APIs including Cash Surrender Value, Paid-to-Date, Lapse Notifications, Agent of Record Change, Policy Statement Retrieval, and Pricing/Rate Inquiries.

CLIEDIS operates as a member-funded association with one revenue stream: membership dues, which provide company-wide access for all employees of member organizations to the Resource Center, standards documentation, implementation guidance, working groups (DAWG/FAWG), and events. Adoption is anchored on a working-group and event-driven go-to-market model (Annual Seminars, Circle of Influence executive roundtables, CAILBA National Conference appearances, webinars) plus a community-led model where carriers and distributors collaborate on data standards. Notable participating carriers include Manulife, Sun Life, Canada Life, iA Financial, Empire Life, RBC Insurance, BMO Insurance, Equitable, ivari, and Desjardins; notable distributors include PPI, Financial Horizons, HUB Financial, and IDC WorldSource; iPipeline is the first technology-vendor platform to implement the CITS APIs. The geographic footprint is Canadian-only, and since March 2023 the website and materials have been offered fully bilingual in English and French.

Name

CLIEDIS

Legal name

Canadian Life Insurance Standards Association

Website

https://cliedis.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CLIEDIS is the Canadian non-profit standards association that develops and maintains CITS data feeds, ACORD XML, and standardized APIs for electronic data exchange across the Canadian life and health insurance industry, serving carriers, distributors, MGAs, and technology vendors through a member-funded model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: CLIEDIS generates revenue through membership fees. All employees of member companies have access to services, tools, and support. Resources include standards documentation, implementation guidance, and technical specifications available exclusively to members.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

CLIEDIS develops and maintains standardized data exchange standards, APIs, and validation tools for the Canadian life and health insurance industry. Its core offerings include the CITS (Canadian Insurance Standardizations) data feeds, ACORD XML for Life standards accessed through the CAIR tool, and a growing portfolio of standardized CITS APIs for real-time policy and commission data exchange between carriers and distributors. Members gain access to a Business Capability Model, Service Catalog, API Design Principles, implementation best practices, and the member-only Resource Center.

Product overview

CLIEDIS is the only objective resource dedicated to advancing standardized data exchange for the Canadian life insurance industry. The organization operates a platform of interconnected products: the core CAIR tool provides browser-based access to ACORD XML standards; CITS Feeds deliver standardized policy data between insurers and distributors; and the CITS API program enables real-time, on-demand data exchange via industry-level APIs. Supporting products include the Business Capability Model and Service Catalog (defining 200+ capabilities and 130+ services for API development), the Code Cross Mapping Tool (for CITS requirement code standardization), and member-exclusive resources in the Resource Center. The organization also maintains API Design Principles and Implementation Best Practices to guide sector-wide API adoption.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CAIR: A tool for browsing ACORD XML standards for life insurance
• CITS
• DAWG

Products and services

• CAIR Browser-based tool for accessing and working with ACORD XML for Life standards, providing the current ACORD XML for Life version (up to v2.48) with CLIEDIS-specific enhancements to support CITS feeds, APIs, and internal ACORD usage for life insurance implementations.
• CITS Feeds Standardized data feeds based on Canadian Insurance Standardizations (CITS) for exchanging policy data between insurers and distributors, including Book of Business feeds, Pending feeds, Application Notification feeds, and Commission feeds covering Life, Critical Illness, and Disability products.
• CITS APIs Industry-level APIs defined by CLIEDIS for standardized data exchange in the Canadian life insurance distribution chain, providing real-time, on-demand access to policy and commission data across the Round 1 suite (Current Cash Surrender Value, Paid to Date, Renewal Premium, Transfer Out Notification, Lapse Notifications, Policy Statement Retrieval, Agent of Record Change Notification, Commission Released Notification, Coverage Level Premium).
• CITS Requirement Code Cross-Mapping Tool Tool that maps CITS requirement codes across the industry, allowing members to filter by trading partners to better understand the data received for CITS Pending Feeds and standardize across carrier implementations.

Quantifiable outcome

• External API implementation much easier, faster, and cheaper through standardized design principles
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ivaricoreTechnology or Integration · 9 November 2024ivari is the first insurance carrier to implement and go live with CLIEDIS APIs on November 9, 2024. They provide Current Cash Surrender Value and Paid to Date APIs through iPipeline to distributors Financial Horizons and PPI. ivari uses APIs throughout their enterprise, making external provisioning a small lift.
• iPipelinecoreTechnology or Integration · 9 November 2024iPipeline is the first technology vendor to implement CLIEDIS APIs, enabling distributors on their platform to access real-time carrier data. They serve as the platform for ivari's API delivery to Financial Horizons and PPI.
• ManulifecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024Participated in CLIEDIS Circle of Influence event with key insurance executives to discuss API technology needs. AVP Brett Mulligan noted increased industry enthusiasm for APIs.
• Sun LifecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024Participated in Circle of Influence event and API initiatives. Michelle Nelles serves on CLIEDIS Board.
• Canada LifecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024Participated in Circle of Influence event with key insurance executives to discuss need for better data using API technology.
• Financial HorizonscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024Initial distributor to receive CLIEDIS APIs from ivari via iPipeline. Heather LeBlanc to present on key learnings from initial API implementation.
• PPIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024Initial distributor to receive CLIEDIS APIs. PPI VP Julie Martin cited excitement about real-time data access enabling better advisor servicing.
• HUB FinancialcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024Leading distributor participating in Circle of Influence event on API technology for data exchange.
• IDC WorldSourcecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024Participated in Circle of Influence event with key industry executives to discuss API technology needs.
• CAILBAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024CLIEDIS announced API Roadmap at CAILBA National Conference June 2024. CAILBA Technology Committee discusses feeds and APIs challenges.
• Empire LifecoreTechnology or Integration · 4 May 2023Empire Life received CLIEDIS approval for Book of Business feed produced weekly including in-force, out-of-force, orphans and agent transfers. Feed complies with CITS standard.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ACORD: Global non-profit insurance standards body that develops and maintains the ACORD XML for Life standard that CLIEDIS adopts and extends via its CAIR tool. The most directly comparable organization—same standards-body model, same insurance vertical, same EDI/data exchange charter—operating at international scale rather than Canadian-only.

Broad incumbents

• ASC X12: US-based ANSI-accredited standards body developing EDI standards across healthcare, insurance, finance, and other verticals. Comparable as a long-standing EDI standards-issuer serving the insurance industry, with analogous governance and member-funded model.
• Verisk Data Exchange / Insurance Data standards initiatives: Established insurance data and analytics vendor with industry-shaping data standards and feeds across life and P&C insurance. Comparable as a data-standards-influencing commercial player in the Canadian and broader insurance ecosystem.

Regional players

• Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA): Canada's national trade association for life and health insurers, serving overlapping members (Manulife, Sun Life, Canada Life). Comparable as a member-funded Canadian insurance industry body, though focused on advocacy and policy rather than technical data standards.
• CAILBA (Canadian Association of Insurance and Life Brokers and Advisors): Canadian industry association for life insurance distributors and advisors. Overlapping ecosystem participant whose members (distributors, MGAs) are CLIEDIS's primary data-exchange customers; its Technology Committee is a forum where CLIEDIS roadmap items are surfaced.
• Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC): National industry association representing private P&C insurers in Canada. Shares the member-funded association model serving Canadian insurers, though oriented toward property and casualty rather than life and toward advocacy versus technical standardization.

Emerging players

• HL7 International (Health Level Seven): Global non-profit standards body for healthcare data interoperability (FHIR, HL7 v2/v3). Comparable operating model—member-funded, develops and maintains technical interoperability standards for an industry vertical—applied to healthcare rather than insurance.
• Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE): Non-profit initiative driving cross-vendor interoperability through integration profiles used in healthcare. Comparable as a member-driven interoperability initiative that promotes standardized integration between vendors in a regulated industry.
• Object Management Group (OMG) / industry consortia: International standards consortium developing interoperability specifications for multiple verticals. Comparable as a member-funded, multi-stakeholder standards development body, with finance and insurance use among its many domains.
• NACHA: US-based non-profit that governs the ACH electronic payments network and associated standards. Analogous standards-body/operating-rules model applied to financial services rather than insurance data exchange.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cliedis
• Xx.com/cliediscanada

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 CLIEDIS