A new TD Insurance survey, released August 5, 2026 and available here1, lands a pointed diagnosis of where Canadian household financial behaviour stands right now: stretched by cost-of-living pressures and tempted to reduce the very protection built to absorb the shocks that rising costs make more likely. The findings, drawn from a nationally representative Leger Opinion panel of 1,500 Canadian adults surveyed between June 19 and June 29, 2026, describe a country caught between competing imperatives -- managing costs today while preserving financial protection for tomorrow.
Survey Facts at a Glance
- 33% of Canadians say they would consider reducing their insurance coverage to save money
- 84% don't fully understand what their insurance does and doesn't cover
- 85% recognize the importance of insurance as a financial safeguard
- 62% aren't confident their coverage would fully protect them in an unexpected situation
- 50% admit they don't know what insurance coverage they currently have
- 56% worry that one unexpected expense could force them to make difficult financial choices
- 71% say one surprise expense could undo months of progress toward their savings goals
- Nearly 3 in 10 Canadians say they would be more likely to reduce insurance coverage when their budget is tight
Gen Z findings:
- 55% of Gen Z say they would consider reducing coverage when budgets are tight
- 58% of Gen Z say they have been putting off reviewing their insurance
- 44% of Gen Z say insurance is confusing
About the survey: Conducted via the Leger Opinion panel, June 19-29, 2026; nationally representative sample of 1,500 Canadian adults, weighted by age, gender, and region; margin of error ±2.5%, 19 times out of 20.
One-Third Considering a Risk They Cannot Fully Measure
One-third of Canadians say they would consider reducing their insurance coverage to save money, despite not fully understanding what their policies do and don't cover. This is not a fringe behaviour. It is a mainstream response to financial pressure, and its consequences are difficult to assess precisely because of a second finding that amplifies the first: 84% don't fully understand what their insurance does and doesn't cover. These two numbers together define the problem. Canadians are weighing whether to reduce coverage they cannot fully describe, against risks they cannot fully anticipate.
Kristen Gill, Vice President, General Insurance, TD Insurance, frames the core tension plainly. "When budgets are stretched, it's natural to look for places to save, but before reducing insurance coverage, it's important to understand what's protected, and what isn't to avoid surprises later." That is not a warning about the extraordinary. It is a warning about the ordinary -- the unexpected expense that arrives without notice and finds a household less prepared than it believed itself to be.
The Confidence Gap Is Not Peripheral
The findings point to a growing insurance confidence gap: Canadians are looking for ways to save money at a time when many don't fully understand what their insurance covers or whether it would adequately protect them in an unexpected situation. What makes this particularly striking is the coexistence of recognition and confusion. While 85% of Canadians recognize the importance of insurance as a financial safeguard, half (50%) admit they don't know what insurance coverage they currently have. Knowing that something matters is not the same as knowing how it works or what it actually provides.
More than half (56%) worry that one unexpected expense could force them to make difficult financial choices, while seven in 10 (71%) report concerns that just one surprise expense could undo months of progress toward their savings goals. These are not abstract anxieties. They are the expressed vulnerability of households who, at the same time, are considering reducing the coverage designed to prevent exactly these scenarios.
Younger Canadians Carry the Greatest Exposure
Gen Z shows a greater likelihood of reducing insurance coverage, while also expressing confusion and uncertainty. The numbers among this cohort are instructive: 55% say they would consider reducing coverage when budgets are tight, 58% say they have been putting off reviewing their insurance, and 44% say insurance is confusing. This is a generation that is both most inclined to act and least equipped to evaluate the consequences of acting. The compounding of confusion with intent to reduce coverage is precisely the condition under which costly mistakes are made.
Gill returns to the structural point with clarity. "Insurance isn't only about protecting what you own today, it's about being prepared when the unexpected happens. Without the right coverage, an unexpected event could mean dipping into savings that were set aside for other goals." For younger Canadians in the early stages of accumulation, that is not an abstract risk. It is a direct threat to the compounding trajectory that long-term wealth-building depends on.
What the Survey Implies About Behaviour Under Pressure
The report is not simply a picture of confusion. It is a picture of what confusion does under pressure. Households that do not understand their coverage are making trade-offs they cannot properly evaluate. The survey's FAQ section reinforces this: "Reducing coverage may lower premiums, but it can also leave you with less financial protection." Before cutting, TD Insurance counsels reviewing -- understanding the impact of changes and exploring alternatives such as bundling, alumni or professional preferred rates, multi-vehicle discounts, or hybrid and electric vehicle discounts.
The survey identifies a set of life events that should, at minimum, trigger a coverage review: purchasing a home, moving, renovating, acquiring a vehicle, starting a business, changes to household composition, and acquiring high-value belongings. These are not obscure edge cases. They are the ordinary milestones of a life in motion.
Five Key Takeaways for Advisors
1. The confidence gap is an advisory opportunity. 84% of Canadians say they don't fully understand their coverage. For advisors, this is not background noise -- it is an opening for client education and deeper engagement on protection planning as an integrated component of financial strategy.
2. Budget pressure does not reduce risk; it concentrates it. Clients reducing insurance to manage costs are often reducing their capacity to absorb the very shocks that strained budgets make more likely. This is a compounding risk that advisors should surface proactively.
3. Gen Z is a high-priority segment for early intervention. Younger clients are simultaneously the most likely to cut coverage and the most likely to misunderstand what they are cutting. Early advisory relationships built around insurance literacy can shape better long-term habits.
4. Coverage reviews should be embedded in life-event checklists. The survey's list of review triggers -- home purchase, renovation, vehicle acquisition, business formation, family composition changes -- maps directly onto the events that already drive advisor-client conversations. Insurance review should be standard protocol at each inflection point.
5. The savings-protection trade-off is a financial planning conversation, not an insurance conversation. The finding that 71% of Canadians worry one unexpected expense could erase months of savings progress means that insurance adequacy is directly linked to savings plan resilience. Advisors who connect these dots for clients are delivering materially better financial plans.
Footnote:
1 TD Insurance. "Budget Pressures Have 1-in-3 Canadians Considering Cutting Back on Insurance, Despite Many Not Knowing What They're Putting at Risk." TD Bank Group Newsroom, 5 Aug. 2026, https://td.mediaroom.com/2026-08-05-Budget-pressures-have-1-in-3-Canadians-considering-cutting-back-on-insurance,-despite-many-not-knowing-what-theyre-putting-at-risk.
