Life Insurance
Canadian Premier Life Insurance Company: The Complete and Authoritative Review [2021]
December 1, 2021
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14 minutes
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Looking for the best life insurance in Canada? You've come to the right place to make the right choice for you and your family.
We've put together the go-to resource with reviews on the top life insurance providers, helping you find the best life insurance in Canada for your specific needs. You can shop with confidence and know you made the best choice to fit your needs.
Looking for pricing highlights from the top life insurance companies in Canada? Here's a quick summary of the average price you can expect, depending on your needs and the type of coverage you are interested in.
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All prices in this article are based on a healthy individual purchasing a 20-year term life insurance plan with $500,000 in coverage, unless otherwise stated.
You can check out the table below to see a sample of monthly premiums and how they vary based on your insurer.
Premiums based on 20-year term coverage of $250,000 for a 30-year old man, non smoker.
* Policies sold by PolicyMe are underwritten by Canadian Premier Life Insurance Company and other life insurance carriers
Now that you’ve seen how much life insurance can cost in Canada, let’s dive into reviews of individual life insurance companies in Canada. We’ll look at ease of application, trustworthiness and everything else you need to know about r the top life insurance providers in Canada so you can make an informed decision.
When you're signing an agreement that can last decades, it's important to take the time to weigh your options.
But what factors should you be considering? Some of the factors you'll want to consider include:
With all of this in mind, let’s look at some of the best and most well-known life insurance companies in Canada and whether they’re right for your specific needs.
Here are some recommendations to help you avoid getting caught in the weeds trying to choose an individual life insurance provider. Note that there's no third party site that reviews every life insurance company in Canada, so we've included ratings where available.
All companies are scored by customers on a scale of 0 to 5!
PolicyMe started out as a life insurance broker, seeing firsthand how inefficient the current life insurance process was. This inefficiency caused increased prices and application times for traditional insurers.
With this knowledge, PolicyMe launched Canada's first fully digital life insurance product.
This eliminated unnecessary administrative and distribution costs, passing the savings down to policyholders — people applying for a new policy can expect the lowest premiums in Canada with PolicyMe, when compared to the rest of the industry.
Most of PolicyMe's policies are issued by Canadian Premier Life Insurance Company, a federally-regulated life insurance company that's been operating in Canada for over 60 years, with over $300M in assets and $40M in claims paid (across all product lines) in 2020.
Price: For a 35-year old woman, PolicyMe life insurance costs $23.44/month. For a 35-year old man, it costs $31.29/month.
At PolicyMe, we’re intentional with the products we offer because we know that our customers are intentional with how they spend, save and invest their money.
We’ve cut unnecessary steps and expenses to offer you the most affordable product in Canada, with the same quality of coverage. The result? You get the protection you need and at a price that you can afford.
Want to see for yourself? Get a quote in seconds and apply in 20 minutes or less, all online and without the hassle.
Founded in 1896, Wawanesa is one of the oldest insurers in Canada. Its headquarters sits in Manitoba, but they are licensed in all provinces across the country.
Price: You're looking at $36.66/month or $439.9/year for coverage as a man, and $28.80/month or $320.00/year for a woman.
Price: For a woman, the Sun Life term life insurance cost would fall in the $23 to $33 per month range. The same plan would cost $29 to $41 monthly for a man.
Price: Premiums start at an average of $24.26 per month for a woman, or $32.63 per month for a man.
Read full RBC Life Insurance review here.
Price: Premiums start at an average of $26.10 monthly premiums for a woman, or $33.30 monthly premiums for a man.
Read full BMO Life Insurance review here.
Price: At the lowest range, the rates start at approximately $28 per month for a woman, or starting at $37 per month for a man.
Read full TD Life Insurance Review here.
Life insurance for couples may not seem like the most romantic purchase you can make with your partner, but it's definitely one of the most important ones.
There are also some major benefits of buying life insurance as a couple, including:
It's important to note, while these are great perks, they don't apply to every life insurance provider. Not every company provides discounts for applying as a couple, and you also both have to be approved for coverage.
If one partner applying is declined, it impacts both applicants.
On top of this, you must make sure that both parties in the couple are sharing one death benefit. In the scenario that you share this benefit, the payout will be lower than if you had two separate policies.
Here are our reviews for life insurance for couples.
Price: For a 35-year old woman, PolicyMe life insurance costs $23.44/month. For a 35- year old man, it costs $31.29/month. When couples apply together, they get 5% off their policies, saving them time and money. The entire application process takes less than 20 minutes per application.
With our streamlined process, you can select your own coverage amount and length without the hassle of upselling or pressure. And by bundling you and your partners applications together, we are able to cut down on inefficient administration costs and pass the savings back to you.
Choose your own coverage amount and term length, so you can get the right kind of life insurance to protect your family when they need it most.
Founded in 1887, Manulife is one of the biggest insurers in Canada, with over 30 million customers worldwide. Manulife offers a wide range of life and health insurance products as well as group life insurance plans. Many customers may recognize the brand if they have some health coverage through work.
Price: Assuming a man and woman couple, your life insurance would cost $60.55/month to cover both of you. If you and your partner are both men, you're looking at $69.68/ month. If you and your partner are both women, your monthly rate would sit at around $51.10/month.
Read full Manulife Life Insurance review here.
Price: If you choose Assumption Life, you would be looking at $73.80 per month for a joint life insurance policy to cover you and your partner.
Price: Priced out separately, a Canada Life insurance plan would cost $27.45/month or $305.00/year for a man and $26.55/month or $295.00 year for a woman.
Read full review of Canada Life insurance here.
If you’ve already had a health crisis, you know how important it is to protect and provide for your loved ones. But a pre-existing condition or a family history of serious medical issues may also make it harder to secure coverage at all.
However, there are still options out there! You can find some great providers who don't require any type of medical tests beforehand.
Here is our top recommendation.
Canada Protection Plan is a leading provider of No Medical & Simplified Issue Life Insurance in Canada. That means that they do not require the extensive medical telephone exams needed with the other insurers in Canada.
However, this isn't a good option if you're just avoiding a nurse visit. You'll end up paying a lot more, because their coverage is for people who are typically seen as 'high risk'.
Price: For a man, coverage would cost you $85.95/month, and coverage for a woman would cost you $60.30/month.
Read full Canada Protection Plan Insurance review here.
It's no surprise that tobacco products put people at higher risks for health issues. Because of this, life insurance for smokers tends to be priced at higher rates.
And keep in mind that it's not just a cigarette that makes you a smoker in the eyes of certain life insurance providers. If you have had a cigarette, cigar, e-cigarette product (including vapes and juuls), or any other tobacco product within the last 12 months, you can expect to pay the smokers rate.
If you're a smoker, it's especially important to find the best price available, given you're already at a higher price range — up to 200% higher than the average life insurance price. Here are our top recommendations:
Founded in 1892, iA Financial Group is one of the largest insurance and wealth management groups in Canada, with operations in the United States.
Price: As a smoker, a man would be looking at $89.10/month or $990.00/year. For a woman with the same coverage, you would be looking at $67.05/month or $745.00/year.
Price: For the same term, ivari would cost $72.00/month or $800/year for a woman and $96.75/month or $1,075.00/year for a man smoker.
Price: Foresters would cost $109.80/month or $1,220.00/year for a man and $80.55/month or $895.00/year for a man smoker.
Armed with these reviews and personalized quotes on the best life insurance in Canada, you’ll be able to sign up with the confidence you’re making the right choice for you and your loved ones.
To get the right policy for you:
PolicyMe empowers you with genuine advice that’s specific to your real-life financial and family needs. No jargon and no industry terms that could confuse you into buying more than you actually need.
Instead, we help you proceed with confidence and provide you with resources that guide you towards the best financial decisions for you and your loved ones. With our streamlined, online process, you can select your own coverage amount and term length without the hassle of upselling or pressure.
Life insurance is for anyone who has a spouse, partner, or children who rely on them financially. You can get individual life insurance or buy plans as a couple, depending on your needs.
This means that if your monthly income helps support your family's expenses (anything from groceries to debt payments to monthly retirement savings contributions, etc.), you're probably someone who needs life insurance.
To put it simply, life insurance is an agreement with an insurance company. You pay a monthly fee and in return, your insurance company agrees to pay out a lump sum of cash to your family if you pass away during the time that your insurance policy is active.
The structure of a life insurance policy is simple — you pay premiums each month to an insurance company over an agreed period of time.
If you pass away when the policy is active (while you are still paying premiums), the insurance company promises to give your loved ones a tax-free lump sum cash payment (the "death benefit") if anything happens to you.
This death benefit will help your loved ones reach their financial goals, paying monthly bills, and maintain their lifestyle, even if your paycheck isn't coming in to help support them. This is why 33 percent of parents with children under the age of 18 have term life insurance.
As the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada explains further:
“The death benefit paid from a life insurance policy is a tax-free, lump-sum amount that can be used to:
Term life insurance pays out a tax-free death benefit to your loved ones only if you die within a specified number of years (usually 10, 20, or 30 years).
Term life is the right option if you want protection for the years that matter most (when you still have a mortgage & children in the house).
For most people, the term life insurance company they choose is the one that offers them the best rate. Check out some sample life insurance quotes for a healthy-woman applying for $500,000 of 20-year term life insurance. For reference, the average life insurance protection per household in Canada is $442,000, as noted by the Canadian Life & Health Insurance Association.
* Policies sold by PolicyMe are underwritten by Canadian Premier Life Insurance Company and other life insurance carriers **rate for applicants with health risks, as CPP is the top recommended choice Once you submit your application, it's sent to an underwriter whose job it is to review your information and to calculate the true cost of insuring you. They will review your health, financial wellness, and lifestyle data and set a final price for your policy.
Permanent life insurance pays out a benefit to your beneficiaries no matter when you die (hence why it is called permanent insurance). Permanent life insurance comes in a couple of different forms, including whole life, universal, or variable life insurance.
49 per cent of Canadians that bought life insurance through an advisor (i.e. not through their work) bought a permanent policy. However, many don't realize that brokers are incentivized to sell you permanent coverage instead of term coverage because they typically receive 5-10x more commission.
Permanent life insurance policies are much more expensive than term life insurance policies because the policy also acts as an investment account. Your premiums are designed to build cash value over your life. But don't be fooled — this is NOT a cost-free financial investment, and it turns out to be much more expensive and inflexible than other ways of investing.
Permanent life insurance policies tend to be less straightforward than term insurance. You'll want to understand all the fine print and details before buying this kind of policy.
For example, be sure to know the terms of the cash value component. Every permanent life policy has a guaranteed interest rate so you should understand how these differ by company.
There are three main ways to buy:
You'll want to look at different providers and see their prices before buying anything. Asking numerous providers will help you decide who to go with when it's time to buy.
When you’re looking for a reliable life insurance partner, trust is an imperative. Many Canadians feel more comfortable with one of the big life insurance companies, such as Manulife or Sun Life. Still others form a relationship with an agent or broker and put their trust in that person.
Another indicator of insurer trust are the customer reviews. PolicyMe is a trusted insurer by Canadians, with consistently positive customer reviews. Whatever direction you choose to go, do your homework!
There are three factors to choosing the best life insurance policy: price, time, and process.
Get several quotes for a point of comparison and analyze them for competitive pricing, how responsive the company is to policyholders and whether they support digital or electronic documents. It’s a good idea to consider the stability of the insurer as well, especially when it comes to a life insurance policy with a longer term.
Manulife, Sun Life and Canada Life may be the biggest providers of term life insurance in Canada, but size isn’t everything. When it comes to competitive pricing, streamlined application processes and reliable coverage, PolicyMe offers the best package.
Manulife may be the largest life insurance company in Canada, perhaps even in the world. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Manulife operates in Asia and Europe, as well as in Canada and the United States. The company was established in 1887 and brings in more than $60 billion in revenue.
Canada Life may be the oldest life insurance company in Canada. Nearly 200 years of experience exist between the three companies that make up today’s organization: The Great-West Life Assurance Company, London Life Insurance Company and The Canada Life Assurance Company.
According to the CLHIA, there are more than 150 life and health insurance providers in Canada. This offers a lot of choice to Canadians looking for coverage, with a wide range of products available. The three largest include Manulife, Sun Life and Canada Life, but Canadians can secure coverage from smaller independent and insurtech carriers as well.
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Laura brings 7 years of experience working in insurance & strategic operations as a management consultant at Oliver Wyman, after experiences at Manulife and Munich Re. In 2017, she launched a successful initiative for the World Economic Forum focused on innovation in insurance, working closely with insurers, tech pioneers, and policy-makers.
