Key Takeaways
- Strong financial stability: Sun Life is one of Canada’s largest and most established insurers, with an A+ (Excellent) AM Best rating.
- Wide product range: Offers term (5–40 years), whole life, and universal life insurance, plus critical illness and disability coverage.
- Participating whole life leader: Sun Life’s Sun Par policies provide cash value and potential dividends, making them popular with high-net-worth Canadians.
- Higher premiums: Term and permanent policies tend to be more expensive than digital-first or low-cost competitors.
- Advisor-driven model: Coverage is accessible mainly through advisors, with limited digital tools compared to newer online providers.
- Mixed customer reviews: Financial strength is unquestioned, but policyholders report frustrations with claims processing and service delays.
Sun Life life insurance review (2025 update)
Sun Life is one of Canada’s largest life insurance providers and a major global financial services company. Headquartered in Toronto, it offers a wide range of products—including life, health, critical illness, disability, and travel insurance—alongside wealth management and investment solutions.
Here’s our comprehensive of Sun Life’s life insurance, including who it’s good for, cost, customer reviews, and more.
Sun Life life insurance: Our verdict ★★★☆☆ 3.7/5
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★★★☆☆ (4.2/5.0)
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★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)
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★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)
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Sun Life is a good option if you're seeking life insurance with an investment component—aka, permanent or whole life insurance policies with cash value. These types of policies are best suited for individuals with a high-net-worth who have already maxed out their tax-free accounts, like TFSAs and RRSPs, since whole life insurance typically delivers lower returns than traditional investments.
Overall, Sun Life offers competitive pricing and has a solid reputation, but customer service feedback is mixed, and their digital tools lag behind those of newer online-only providers.
Sun Life is best for:
Ideal for high-net-worth individuals that want their policy to double as an investment they can access during their lifetime.
To find the best life insurance companies in Canada, we evaluated over 20 of the largest and most well-known insurers in the country using three categories:
- Affordability: To determine which insurers charge the lowest premiums, we gathered over 2,000 life insurance quotes. Our price data spans smokers, non-smokers, and birth sex, across six age groups from 18-70 and five products (including term and permanent life insurance).
- Customer service: To find out which life insurance companies offer the best customer experience, we averaged review scores from the Better Business Bureau, Trustpilot, Insureye, and Google. We also counted the number of contact methods each insurer offers to its customers.
- Industry reputation: To ensure our recommendations were financially sound, we reviewed each life insurance company’s financial stability ratings from leading credit agencies A.M. Best, Morningstar DBRS and S&P Global. We incorporated Glassdoor reviews to reflect each insurer’s ability to manage and support its employees.
All three categories received a final, averaged score out of 5. After adding the results together, we had a definitive list of the best life insurance providers in Canada.
PolicyMe does not receive compensation for any life insurance reviews.
PolicyMe, Canada’s top-rated term life insurance
Sun Life life insurance: pros & cons
Pros
- Strong legacy: Sun Life was founded in 1865 and has an A+ A.M. Best. rating
- Product range and flexibility: Sun Life offers term life, whole life, and universal life insurance.
- Advisor network: Broad access to licensed advisors across Canada for tailored coverage.
- Digital access: Online quotes are available for term insurance; however, the process is not fully digital and is mostly advisor-driven.
Cons
Higher premiums: Sun Life’s term and permanent policies are generally more expensive than digital-first or low-cost competitors.
Advisor-driven process: Most applications require working with an advisor. This can mean more time, less convenience, and additional fees compared to fully online insurers.
Mixed customer service reviews: Many policyholders report frustrations with long wait times, delayed claims processing, and difficulty reaching support.
Limited digital tools: While online quotes are available for some products, Sun Life’s digital experience lags behind newer, digital-first providers.
Lower investment value: Whole life insurance policies typically deliver lower returns than traditional investment options, like ETFs and TFSAs.
Sun Life life insurance cost and value
Sun Life Canada offers a wide range of life insurance products, including term, whole, and universal life insurance. The costs in the table below are for the Sun Life Go Term Life Insurance policy with $100,000 in coverage:
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18-year-old female
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$25.46/mo
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$33.64/mo
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18-year-old male
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$33.18/mo
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$53.64/mo
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30-year-old female
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$26.38/mo
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$47.28/mo
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30-year-old male
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$33.64/mo
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$65.00/mo
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40-year-old female
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$40.92/mo
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$103.18/mo
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40-year-old male
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$53.18/mo
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$149.08/mo
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50-year-old female
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$96.82/mo
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$229.08/mo
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50-year-old male
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$143.18/mo
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$452.33/mo
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60-year-old female
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$325.44/mo
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$582.22/mo
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60-year-old male
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$474.50/mo
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$1,006.28/mo
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70-year-old-female
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$561.92/mo
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$1005.68/mo
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70-year-old-male
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$831.14/mo
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$1554.68/mo
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Sun Life life insurance reviews and customer service
Overall customer service rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0
While Sun Life is known for its financial strength and comprehensive policy options, customer feedback on service is mixed:
Google: 3.2
Trustpilot: 1.2
Insureye: 2
These ratings point to some challenges with accessibility and claims responsiveness. However, many customers note that issues are typically resolved in time.
Sun Life term insurance products at a glance
The tables below outline Sun Life’s core life insurance options, including term life insurance, permanent life insurance, and universal life insurance policies.
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Sun Life Go Term
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$100,000 – $1,000,000
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10 or 20 years
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No fees for conversion, terminal illness benefit included
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Sun Life Go Simplified Term
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$50,000 – $100,000
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10 years
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No medical underwriting, quick coverage
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SunSpectrum Term
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$50,000 – $1,000,000
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Up to 30 years
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Flexible term lengths, convertible to age 75, optional riders like accidental death and critical illness
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SunSpectrum Permanent Life
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$250,000 – $10,000,000
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Lifetime
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Whole life policy with flexible premiums, cash value, and dividend options
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Sun Universal Life II
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$250,000 – $10,000,000
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Lifetime
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Universal life with investment features and guaranteed lifetime protection
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Sun Par Protector II
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$25,000 – $15,000,000
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Lifetime
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Whole life with cash value, investment account options, and 10 Pay, 20 Pay, or Life Pay premium structures
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Other insurance products from Sun Life
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Express Critical Illness
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$25,000 or $50,000
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Covers 1–7 illnesses (basic only covers cancer), no medical exam, instant approval, 30-day cancellation
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Sun Critical Illness
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Adults: $25,000 – $3M Children: $25,000 – $1M
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Covers 26 full-payout illnesses, 5 additional childhood illnesses, advisor-assisted application
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Disability Insurance
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Varies
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Short-term (first 120 days) and long-term coverage to age 65
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Personal Health Insurance
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Basic, Standard, Enhanced
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Covers prescription drugs, medical needs, and optional dental coverage. Online application available.
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How Sun Life compares to other insurers
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Financial Strength (AM Best)
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A+
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A+
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A+
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N/A
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Term Options
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5–40 years, advisor-driven
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Similar flexibility
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Similar flexibility
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10–30 years, streamlined and cost-effective
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Conversion Flexibility
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Convertible to permanent until age 75
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Varies by policy
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Varies by policy
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Guaranteed renewability and simple
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Online Experience
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Moderate (some tools, advisor required)
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Moderate online tools, has an app for some benefits
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Limited
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Fully digital, fast quotes, easy online access by desktop or mobile, user-friendly application process
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Best For
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Legacy brand, investment-oriented coverage
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Integrated banking
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Traditional long-term planning
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Affordability, convenience, and speed
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Sun Life life insurance vs. PolicyMe life insurance
Both insurance companies are heavyweights in the business, and here’s how they stack up in three areas Canadians care about most:
Cost
Because Sun Life relies on advisors and traditional processes, its term policies often come at a higher cost. PolicyMe streamlines the experience online, passing those savings on to applicants.
Customer experience
Sun Life’s advisor-driven model can mean slower application processing, along with mixed customer feedback on claims handling and service responsiveness.
By contrast, PolicyMe delivers a faster, simpler, and more transparent experience: applicants receive instant quotes, approvals can happen in minutes, and support consistently earns top ratings. In fact, PolicyMe is rated 4.8/5 on Reviews.io, with customers praising the platform for its ease of use, affordability, and the peace of mind it provides their families.
PolicyMe, Canada’s top-rated term life insurance
The bottom line: Who should consider Sun Life?
Sun Life can be a strong choice for those seeking whole life insurance with cash value—especially high-net-worth individuals.
For most Canadians, however, whole life insurance isn’t essential. It tends to be more costly and complex, and the returns are often lower than what you’d earn from other investments. In many cases, combining a term life policy with investments in an RRSP or TFSA will provide far greater returns.
FAQ
Yes, if you have a permanent life insurance policy, like whole or universal, that builds cash value. You can access this through withdrawals or policy loans. Term life insurance policies have no cash value, so they cannot be cashed out.
It depends on your needs. Sun Life is a reputable, established insurer that works well for those seeking advisor-guided coverage or permanent policies with investment features.
Our goal is to provide you with honest, trustworthy information to help you make informed decisions. While our content is created with insurance experts, it is for educational purposes only and should not be considered definitive professional financial advice.
We recommend seeking the counsel of a licensed financial advisor before making any decisions regarding insurance or personal finance.
