The Canadian critical illness insurance market has come a long way from its modest beginnings in 1995. What started as a niche product has grown into a broadly competitive landscape, one that now counts nearly twenty insurers offering a wide variety of coverage options to adults and children alike. Alain Thériault, writing in the October 2025 edition of Insurance Journal, delivers a detailed, data-rich examination of where the market stands today — and the product divergences that advisors need to understand.
A Market That Recovered Quickly
The numbers tell a mixed story entering 2025. Thériault reports that individual critical illness insurance sales declined in 2024, with policies falling 6% and new annualized premiums dropping 1% compared to 2023. And yet the market's resilience was swift. According to LIMRA's survey for the first quarter of 2025, sales increased by 11%, in both policy count and premium volume. That rebound matters. In 2024, 137,743 individual CI policies were sold, generating $159.3 million in new annualized premiums. The foundation is larger than it might appear.
Underwriting: Simplified vs. Full
A key structural divergence in the market sits at the underwriting level. Humania Assurance and Canada Protection Plan stand apart by each offering four products, all of which carry simplified issue features. Most others listed through InsuranceINTEL require full underwriting. Assumption Life occupies a middle position, initially offering its Vital Protection product via simplified issue, with full underwriting triggered only by an affirmative answer to health or lifestyle questions. As Thériault writes, "All four options offered by Canada Protection Plan have this feature." That reach toward accessibility is not incidental — it reflects a deliberate market positioning aimed at middle-class and family clients.
Age Ranges: Who Gets Covered
The comparative table that anchors this report reveals meaningful disparities in issue age ranges. Eight out of nineteen insurers will issue at least one coverage option to prospects aged 18 to 65, with term to 75 (T75) being the most commonly offered coverage in that window. At the outer edge, Humania Assurance's ProHealth Cancer covers applicants from 18 to 80 — the widest adult range in the market. For children, several insurers offer dedicated products: Desjardins with Health Priorities from birth to age 25, Humania's Children360 from 30 days to 15 years, and Canada Life's Child LifeAdvance Critical Illness, with coverage beginning at 60 days.
Face Amounts: From $5,000 to $3 Million
The coverage spread is equally wide. At the low end, Humania Assurance accepts insured amounts as small as $5,000 in its Insurance Without Medical Exam and ProHealth Cancer products, making it the standout for breadth of access across income levels. At the high end, Canada Life, Desjardins Insurance, iA Financial Group, and Sun Life each offer coverage limits up to $3 million.
Term and Conversion Architecture
The report also maps the term coverage landscape with precision. T75 is universal. Foresters Financial is the only insurer offering T80. Seven insurers offer T100: Beneva, BMO Insurance, Empire Life, iA Financial Group, Equitable, Manulife, and Sun Life. On conversion, Desjardins, Empire Life, and iA Financial Group stand out by allowing conversions until the insured reaches age 65. Co-operators is the most restrictive, setting the limit at 50. Thériault notes that "three other insurers offer the T65, but also offer the T75: Desjardins Insurance, ivari, Manulife, and RBC Insurance."
The Long-Term Care Bridge
One of the more consequential findings in the report concerns the connection between critical illness coverage and long-term care. RBC Insurance allows policyholders to convert CI coverage into long-term care insurance between ages 55 and 65, provided the policy has been in force for at least two years. The daily benefit scales with face amount: $110 for policies between $25,000 and $99,000, rising to $200 for policies valued between $250,000 and $2 million. As Thériault observes, "This conversion option is valuable in a long-term care insurance market that has become virtually nonexistent since the summer of 2021."
Five Key Takeaways for Advisors
- The CI market rebounded strongly in Q1 2025, with 11% sales growth, signalling renewed client interest following a soft 2024.
- Simplified issue products remain concentrated at Humania Assurance and Canada Protection Plan, making them go-to options for clients with underwriting concerns.
- Coverage for children varies significantly by insurer; advisors serving family clients should map issue ages carefully before making recommendations.
- The RBC Insurance CI-to-long-term-care conversion feature fills a meaningful gap in a near-depleted standalone LTC market.
- Face amount minimums differ widely. For advisors serving middle-income clients, insurers accepting as little as $5,000 open conversations that might otherwise stall on affordability.
Footnote:
1 Thériault, Alain. "Critical Illness Insurance: A Product with a Broad Target." Insurance Journal, vol. 29, no. 4, October 2025, pp. 13–16. Insurance Journal Publishing Group.
