If your Montréal corporation holds more cash than the business needs, two decisions shape how much of it your family ends up keeping: how that surplus is invested, and whether part of it belongs in a corporate-owned life insurance policy. That is the work I do. I'm Anton Ivanov, a Financial Security Advisor and Mutual Fund Dealing Representative in Québec, in the field since 2004 and independent since 2008.
I work mostly by video call, in English or French, with owners across the Montréal area and the rest of Québec. The first call takes 30 minutes, and I don't charge for advice, then or later. More about me is on the About page.
Why a Québec corporation needs its own approach
The small business rate depends on paid hours. For 2026, a Québec corporation pays about 12.2% on its first $500,000 of active business income (9% federal plus 3.2% Québec), but the full Québec reduction requires 5,500 paid hours a year. Above the limit, or without the hours, the rate is about 26.5%. Current figures are on the tax rates page.
Passive income above $50,000 costs the business. Once the corporation earns more than $50,000 a year of passive investment income, its small business limit shrinks by $5 for every dollar over, and it disappears at $150,000. That makes the type of income your investments produce as important as the return. Interest counts in full, while capital gains count at half and only when they are realized. The SBD grind calculator shows what this costs at your numbers.
Investment income is taxed heavily inside the corporation. In Québec, investment income earned in a corporation is taxed at about 50% in 2026, and only part of that comes back when dividends are paid. Growth inside an exempt life insurance policy is not taxed as it builds and does not count toward the $50,000.
Getting money out is where much of the tax is decided. At death, the death benefit of a corporate-owned policy, less the policy's adjusted cost basis, can be paid to your family tax-free through the capital dividend account. Québec's civil law and notarial rules also shape estate freezes, wills and shareholder agreements, which is why I work alongside your notary rather than around them.
What I help with
Corporate investing. Investing the surplus inside your corporation with tax in mind: choosing investments that are taxed lightly inside a corporation, keeping passive income from eating into the small business deduction, and coordinating what you hold in the corporation with what you hold personally. Mutual funds are offered through WhiteHaven Securities Inc. Segregated funds, which are insurance contracts, are offered through iAssure Inc.
Corporate-owned life insurance. Funding the tax your estate will owe at death, moving money out of the corporation through the capital dividend account, funding a buy-sell agreement between partners, protecting the business against the loss of a key person, and reviewing policies you already own.
Where the two meet. Whether a dollar of surplus belongs in an investment account or in a permanent policy changes the tax your corporation pays every year and the tax your estate pays at the end. I hold both licences so I can show you both sides, projected 10, 20 and 30 years out.
Group benefits. Group insurance for you and your employees, and group retirement plans such as a group RRSP or a DPSP.
How I work with your accountant and notary
I don't prepare tax returns, draft legal documents or give tax opinions. Your CPA leads the tax side, and your notary or lawyer the legal side. I bring the investment and insurance side. Every recommendation comes in writing, with the reasons, the trade-offs and the cost, so you and your accountant can look at the same numbers.
Being independent means I compare mutual funds from a large variety of fund families and 14 Canadian insurers, including all the large ones, before recommending one. The steps from the first call to the yearly review are on what to expect when you work with me.
Who this fits
Most of my clients own a Canadian-controlled private corporation, often with a holding company, keep more in it than the business needs, and already work with a CPA. If you're not sure whether your surplus is large enough for any of this to matter, that is what the first call is for.