Great-West Lifeco Inc. is a Canadian insurance-centered financial holding company that operates in North America (Canada and United States), Europe and Asia through five wholly owned, regionally focused subsidiaries.

[12] It built its head office in the exchange District in Winnipeg on the corner of Rorie Street and Lombard Avenue.

[13] The original name of Canada Life included the word Assurance in place of insurance, something that was more common among British companies.

Great-West's founder started the company as an attempt to raise capital needed locally to develop farm land and retail businesses.

[1] Great-West's first president was Winnipeg mayor Alexander Macdonald who took on that role in 1892; the founder Jeffry Hall Brock was managing director.

[15] In 1906, Great-West entered the American market starting in Fargo, North Dakota, followed by Michigan and Minnesota in 1920 and later Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Kansas, California, and Pennsylvania in the early 1940s.

Great-West's early success in Western Canada was due in part to high insurance rates and a lack of financing available to farmers.

In 1969, Great-West was purchased by Power Corporation of Canada of Paul Desmarais, and was subsequently made into a wholly owned subsidiary.

The takeover prompted the resignation of Great-West president David E. Kilgour, whose exit and severance settlement was negotiated by his son-in-law, John Turner, through Fraser Elliott.

[25] A merger of several divisions and subsidiaries to be renamed, the Canada Life amalgamation received approval from the Canadian government in November 2019.