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Reasons Life Insurance Prices Are Going Up – Here’s Why You Should Lock in Your Rate Today
Key Factors on Rising Life Insurance Prices in Canada
- Introduction
- Overview
- Historical Life Insurance Rates vs. 2025 Rates in Canada
- How Life Insurance Pricing Works in Canada
- What Factors Affect Life Insurance Pricing?
- How Canada’s Aging Population and Longer Life Expectancy Impact Pricing
- Economic & Industry Trends That Are Pushing Rates Higher
- The Role of World Events on Life Insurance Pricing
- How the Canadian Government & Regulations Affect Life Insurance Rates
- The Trump Effect – How His Presidency Shaped Financial Markets & Life Insurance
- Hidden Factors That Could Make Your Life Insurance More Expensive
- How to Lock in the Best Life Insurance Price
- How to Avoid Rising Prices & Get the Best Deal
- Taking Action – How to Buy the Best Life Insurance Policy Today
- Conclusion
Introduction
Life insurance is an interesting product. If you own a whole life insurance policy, it is one of the few insurance plans that you will ever own that is guaranteed to pay out. This is based on the fact that, the last time I checked, the Canadian mortality rate remains unchanged at 100%. Everyone dies eventually. No one knows precisely when they are going to die, but I promise you, it will happen to everyone.
How does this influence life insurance prices?
Let me ask a question… Do you know any actuaries? Life insurance companies employ teams of actuaries, whose job it is to analyze statistics related to the life expectancy of Canadians, and from this data they calculate how much your life insurance premium will be. Life insurance pricing takes into account a large amount of data, and what you will see is that it is expected that in 2025, life insurance prices are going to rise in Canada.
In fact, what should you expect? According to an article posted by Deloitte Center for Financial Services, “Deloitte anticipates that life insurance premiums in advanced markets will increase by approximately 1.5% through 2025.” Read on to find out more about how and why life insurance prices are changing and what you can do as a consumer to limit the effect of any price increase on you.
Source: Deloitte Center for Financial Services – Insurance Industry Outlook
Overview
As is the case with so many things in the world today, life insurance companies are faced with the reality that they may need to increase life insurance prices. With that in mind, we thought it would make sense to provide some background information on the reasons why this is the case and what you can do to help make sure that you get the best life insurance prices possible if you are searching for coverage right now.
The key points that you will see in this article include:
- Historical data on life insurance prices in Canada
- Information on how life insurance prices are determined in Canada
- Why Canadian insurance companies are looking at increasing life insurance prices
- Things that are within your control to get you the lowest life insurance price possible
- Tips on how to get yourself the best prices possible for life insurance coverage.
Historical Life Insurance Prices 2022 vs. 2025 Prices in Canada
As time passes many factors that influence life insurance premiums make their mark. For example, here is a table that compares the premium rates in 2022 for term life insurance versus the current rates.
Table: Historical Term Life Insurance Prices (2022 vs. 2025)
The following is a table of term life insurance price increase comparison: 2022 vs. 2025 (Ages 30–60). The 2025 prices are based on data from the province of Quebec. All prices listed below are based on monthly costs for a healthy, non-smoking individual.
| Age | Coverage | Term | 2022 Price (Male) | 2022 Price (Female) | 2025 Price (Male) | 2025 Price (Female) |
| 30 | $100k | 10 | $9.18 | $7.02 | $9.70 | $7.92 |
| 30 | $100k | 20 | $10.35 | $9.00 | $11.07 | $9.54 |
| 30 | $100k | 30 | $13.50 | $10.53 | $13.77 | $11.34 |
| 30 | $100k | 100 | $55.62 | $49.77 | $61.47 | $55.62 |
| 40 | $100k | 10 | $10.08 | $8.73 | $10.98 | $10.17 |
| 40 | $100k | 20 | $14.40 | $12.42 | $14.91 | $12.51 |
| 40 | $100k | 30 | $22.32 | $17.73 | $23.85 | $18.63 |
| 40 | $100k | 100 | $85.00 | $74.58 | $87.66 | $76.14 |
| 50 | $100k | 10 | $18.81 | $14.49 | $18.97 | $15.48 |
| 50 | $100k | 20 | $33.21 | $25.11 | $32.79 | $25.36 |
| 50 | $100k | 30 | $57.06 | $40.14 | $55.89 | $39.96 |
| 50 | $100k | 100 | $127.25 | $111.25 | $131.67 | $115.11 |
| 60 | $100k | 10 | $48.96 | $35.55 | $48.57 | $35.44 |
| 60 | $100k | 20 | $97.29 | $65.16 | $94.40 | $64.89 |
| 60 | $100k | 30 | n/a | n/a | $n/a | $n/a |
| 60 | $100k | 100 | $214.49 | $179.20 | $223.83 | $188.01 |
Chart: Historical Term Life Insurance Prices by Age (2022 vs. 2025)
How Life Insurance Pricing Works in Canada
Many factors will influence life insurance prices when you apply for coverage. In most cases, an insurer will ask you a few questions during the application process and the original life insurance price that you see will be based on your gender, age, and smoking status.
While these three things play a role in life insurance prices, there are also many other factors as well. When you go through underwriting for your coverage, more data on you is collected and can affect your life insurance pricing.
The bottom line for life insurance pricing is that it comes down to risk management. The insurer looks at your application and calculates how many years they expect to collect premiums for. The higher the risk, the shorter the time frame they expect to collect premiums for and as a result, the higher the price for the life insurance. Here are a few things that can influence how much you pay for life insurance.
Experts Viewpoint
Life insurance companies are not immune to rising costs. When they are faced with increased labour and technology costs a life insurance company must adjust the prices it applies to new policies to reflect the changing economic environment around them.
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What Factors Affect Life Insurance Pricing?
- How Age Affects Pricing: This is pretty straightforward. Assuming that your health is normal, the younger you are, the lower the risk that you will die this year. When your life insurance premium is calculated, one of the key factors is how long the insurer expects to collect the premium from you. The younger you are when you apply, the longer this time frame is, and typically, this will result in a lower life insurance price.
- Differences In Policy Type (Term, Whole Life, Universal): The type of policy you apply for plays a significant role in life insurance prices as well. Term coverage will have a lower price when you are young because it has renewals built into it where the price goes up over the life of the policy. These increases in the life insurance price get larger at each renewal point because, from a purely statistical perspective, the risk that you will die in the next ten years is higher than it was for the previous ten years. Whole life and Universal life insurance pricing is different because the premium that you pay is determined at the time of application and doesn’t ever change. This means that you will pay a higher premium early on in the contract, but there are significant savings as you get older because the premium doesn’t increase as you age.
- Smoker vs. Non-smoker: With the proven health risks associated with smoking, life insurance prices are higher for smokers than non-smokers. This is simply because there is empirical data that smoking shortens your life, so the risk is higher to the insurer that they will pay out the death benefit sooner, and as a result, you will pay a higher life insurance price if you smoke.
- Gender and Life Expectancy: Historically, males have a shorter life expectancy than females. What this means is that if a male and female who are the same age apply for life insurance, the insurer expects to pay out the death benefit for the policy on the male applicant first. Therefore, the life insurance price will be higher for the male because the risk is higher to the insurer. You should note that in this particular case, the term ‘gender’ refers to your biological sex because the differences in life expectancy are linked to the genetics associated with being biologically male or female.
How Canada’s Aging Population and Longer Life Expectancy Impact Pricing
The population in Canada is aging. According to data from Statistics Canada, “Canada’s population is aging, leading to an increase in the average age of Canadians. As a result, an older population faces higher life insurance rates. Insurers perceive greater risk as the average age rises, which contributes to increased premiums. As of July 1, 2024, 18.9% of Canadians are aged 65 and older, with a median age of 40.3 years. Additionally, longer life expectancy extends the period over which insurers are liable, prompting adjustments in premium pricing.“
But why exactly would an aging population impact life insurance pricing?
With improved healthcare and medical procedures making it possible for people to live longer for years, life insurance companies experienced something called the mortality bonus. What this ‘bonus’ reflected was that with the advancement in treatment for certain chronic health conditions, people lived much longer. For instance, someone who has high cholesterol; treatment options were limited for many years, but with the advent of statin medications, now cholesterol can be more easily controlled, and the life expectancy of someone facing that risk factor was increased as well.
However, we are now out of the ‘bonus’ period. The treatment protocols for many chronic conditions are well laid out and accounted for in life insurance pricing.
Faced with the reality of people living longer, life insurance companies now have to deal with the longer duration that they are responsible for when it comes to paying out policies. Since incoming premiums are used to offset the future payout of policies, insurers will need to increase life insurance prices to reflect the reality of people living longer.
Source: Statistics Canada – Canada’s aging population and demographic trends
Why Some People Pay More Than Others (Risk Categories & Underwriting Factors).
One thing to always remember about life insurance is that it is a method of transferring risk from you (the policy owner) to the insurance company that issues the policy. You agree to pay the premium in exchange for the guarantee that when you die, the death benefit will be paid to your beneficiaries.
With this in mind, think about the risk that the company takes on and how it plays a role in determining life insurance prices.
For example, if we look at two different people, both the same age but one of them is a triathlete who leads the healthiest lifestyle that they can and the other smokes a pack of cigarettes a day and leads a sedentary lifestyle with no concern over diet or exercise is it fair for these people to pay the same life insurance price? The risk is much higher in one case than the other, and while there are no crystal balls to predict what the future holds, if you are taking on the risk of life insurance for these two people you would expect the non-athlete to pay a higher life insurance price because the risk is higher of that policy paying out sooner.
People pay different life insurance prices based on their lifestyles and health. The more risk factors that are present for you, the higher the amount you will pay.
In addition, certain jobs (pilots, for example), a poor driving record, risky hobbies (spelunking anyone?), or your family’s health history showing a predisposition to genetic health problems will all lead to situations where you will pay a higher life insurance price than someone with no risk factors.
How AI and Predictive Analytics Are Changing Pricing Models.
Another huge advancement that is affecting every aspect of life for Canadians is the use of AI. This isn’t using ChatGPT to write your university thesis for you, though. Instead, this is the use of AI to perform predictive analysis on huge amounts of data, allowing insurance companies to fine-tune life insurance price models across the industry. The ability to use advanced artificial intelligence quickly analyze large amounts of data has provided the opportunity for insurers to use predictive modelling so they can refine their pricing models.
For more information, you can check out the Canadian Institute of Actuaries report “The Use of Predictive Analytics in the Canadian Life Insurance Industry, where they discuss how AI and predictive analytics are transforming pricing models in the life insurance sector.“
Source: Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) Report
Economic & Industry Trends That Are Pushing Rates Higher
Economic trends play a significant role in life insurance pricing. A life insurance company will take the premiums that it receives and invest them, allowing them to grow. This growth is essential to the insurance company’s profitability and long-term risk management strategies. That’s why the predictions for where the economy is headed play a vital role in how life insurance prices are calculated.
When we look at the long-term outlook from the Bank of Canada for key areas that would affect life insurance prices, we see a few predictions worth keeping an eye on.
- Monetary policy – As the central bank reduces interest rates, it will influence life insurance pricing because many insurers rely on investing in fixed-income products to help pay for policy payouts in the future. So when interest rates decrease, leading to lower bond yields and reduced amounts of growth from other interest-paying investments, insurers may need to increase life insurance prices to offset this.
- GDP growth – Canadian GDP is projected to rise to 1.8% in 2025–2026, exceeding potential output. This would create a strain on resources. When there is a strain on resources, there is often a corresponding increase in wages and operational costs for businesses. When things like labour costs, new technology, and processing of claims increase in cost, you may see higher life insurance prices to help offset these costs.
- Population growth – the population growth is expected to slow to 0.5% by mid-2025, in particular due to restrictions on immigration. Again, insurers may face a bottleneck when they are looking at hiring from a smaller pool of working-age Canadians could drive up the administrative costs for the insurer. This would result in higher life insurance prices due to increased costs.
- A weaker Canadian dollar – The Canadian dollar is predicted to be weaker against the US dollar. This means that imported goods that are sold in USD and paid for with CAD will cost more. Insurers face this with things like technology, reinsurance, and international investment, all priced in USD. A weaker Canadian dollar makes them more expensive, again leading to a situation where life insurance prices may be increased to offset these higher costs.
- Inflation – While the Bank of Canada says “Economic growth in Canada is projected to rise to around 1.8% in 2025 and 2026, with inflation expected to remain close to the Bank of Canada’s 2% target, influencing life insurance pricing.” – Source: Bank of Canada, we have recently lived through a period of massive inflation where we saw the effect that inflation has on all aspects of life. This includes increasing the cost of everything that an insurance company faces. Again, as their costs increase we can expect to see life insurance prices increasing as well to help offset the higher costs that the company faces.
Source: Based on the Bank of Canada’s (BoC), Monetary Policy Report, January 2025.
Expert Insights on Rising Life Insurance Prices
Record-high whole life and strong universal life new premium propelled overall market growth in 2024. That said, the number of policies fell 5% in 2024, marking the fourth consecutive year of policy sales declines. With 30% of Canadian adults saying they live with a coverage gap, it is critical for our industry to do more to reach underserved markets,” said John Carroll, senior vice president and head of Life & Annuities, LIMRA and LOMA. “The uncertainty of the trade relationship with the U.S. and the potential for increased inflation could make reaching these markets more challenging in 2025.” Source: LIMRA
Moody’s, Canada Economic Outlook: What It Means For Life Insurance Prices
One of the items that is missing from the Bank of Canada’s forecast is the potential effect that a trade war could have. However, Moody’s economic outlook shows a more negative side of things for Canada by factoring in the potential tariff war that is coming with the United States. The feelings of unease and uncertainty surrounding the potential trade war fuels uncertainty for how life insurance prices will need to be calculated going forward as well.
When we look at the Moody’s report, we see a few areas that should be highlighted.
Economic Uncertainty = Higher Risk for Insurance Companies
As you’ve been able to see from the markets recently, they don’t like uncertainty. In fact, The back and forth declarations from the White House have created an environment where investment markets don’t know from one day to the next what is going to happen. This uncertainty is fuelling fears that economic conditions will get worse, leading to poor investment returns. Insurers rely on investment returns to fund claims in the future, so if returns on equities and bonds get worse, it may become necessary to increase life insurance prices to offset potential investment losses.
Inflation and Higher Costs of Living
We know from recent memory that inflation creates pressure on households due to rising daily costs. One of the side effects of this is that many homes experience a large increase in stress that can trigger all kinds of health issues. If we enter into a prolonged period of higher cost of living, we may see the risk to insurers increase and, as a result, end up paying higher life insurance prices.
Interest Rates and Bond Yields Impact Pricing
This is a big one for insurers. Insurance companies love the stable returns of bonds. But when interest rates are unstable and less predictable, like they will need to be if we get into a trade war situation, those stable bond returns become less reliable. When an insurer can’t forecast what bond yields will be, they may need to rely on passing on some of the potential interest rate risk to policy owners in the form of higher life insurance pricing.
Increased Policy Lapse Risk
If Moody’s forecast is accurate and we do enter into an economic downturn, many people will need to make difficult choices. With a stretched-thin budget, many people are forced to make the decision that they simply can’t afford to pay their life insurance premiums and allow their policies to lapse. If the amount of lapsed policies grows too high insurers may be forced to increase the price of life insurance to offset the decline in incoming premium dollars.
Source: Moody’s, Canada Economic Outlook – 2024-2025 (subscription required)
The Role of World Events on Life Insurance Pricing
COVID-19’s Lasting Impact on Life Insurance (2020-2025)
COVID-19 had many detrimental effects on the population in general. We saw increased stress due to the economic uncertainty that came with the quarantine restrictions, as well as increased mental health issues from people being isolated.
While insurers did see higher claims that were related to people passing away from COVID-19 there have been lingering effects to the population in general. These long-lasting items have an influence that we are still seeing on the life insurance industry and how it calculates life insurance pricing.
Perhaps one of the largest effects that will influence life insurance pricing for years is the gap in preventative medicine that occurred. With the exceptional strain placed on the medical system during COVID-19 and the inability to maintain regular medical screening during this time, there were many situations where early detection of potentially severe medical conditions was missed.
For instance, early detection of several forms of cancer makes the treatment much more straightforward, and there is a high success rate of eradicating the cancer from patients completely.
With preventative screening not possible during COVID-19, what we have seen is an uptick in the severity of these types of illnesses, resulting in higher mortality. With the unexpected increase in mortality, you may see higher life insurance prices to offset these unforeseen risks.
Table: Rising Life Insurance Prices (2020-2025)
| Year | Key Reason for Change |
| 2020 | Higher claims from COVID-19 |
| 2021 | Ongoing health risks, economic uncertainty |
| 2022 | Adjusted risk models, higher demand for policies |
| 2023 | Gradual stabilization, but lingering health concerns |
| 2024 | Continued reassessment, inflation impact |
| 2025 | Global instability, tariffs, and market uncertainty driving prices higher |
How Economic Recessions Affect Life Insurance Prices
Historically, we have seen a pattern when the economy slows down. Job security is reduced, and increases in the cost of living are often associated with these downturns. To combat this and increase the cash in the economy you will see central banks decreasing interest rates to encourage more borrowing and help fuel the recovery.
This combination of factors often leads to an increase in life insurance prices because of the following factors:
- When there is financial pressure in their homes, policy owners may cancel or reduce coverage. As a result, leading insurers to increase premiums for remaining policyholders.
- Additionally, with rising costs that are part of Inflation, the base level costs for insurers increase as well, making policies more expensive.
- With their reliance on fixed income investment, insurance companies face the fact that lower interest rates reduce their investment returns. This leads to increased life insurance prices.
How the Canadian Government & Regulations Affect Life Insurance Rates
The government also plays a role in the pressure being applied to the pricing of life insurance products in Canada. Recently, there have been changes to something called the Life Insurance Capital Adequacy Test. This test was created to make sure that life insurance companies maintained enough capital to meet their obligations and withstand financial risks associated with their investments.
In 2025, the LICAT guidelines are being made more strict, insurers say that this will increase their operational costs because they will need to maintain more capital on hand to meet the changing requirements. The regulations are aimed at making sure that insurers can continue to meet their cash-on-hand requirements even if they experience unexpected investment losses. As a result, this increase to the amount of capital required will, in all likelihood, increase life insurance prices.
Source: OSFI Annual Risk Outlook 2024–2025
The Trump Effect – How His Presidency Shaped Financial Markets & Life Insurance
With his return to the Oval Office, U.S. President Donald Trump in a very short time frame has created all kinds of havoc with his approach to policy making. One of the biggest outcomes since re-taking the office is that there has been a tremendous amount of uncertainty about what he will do and when he will do it.
One thing that all investors know is that financial markets hate the unknown. Even during periods when the news is bad, if it isn’t unexpected you can see that financial markets can analyze data and respond accordingly to whatever is presented to them. What the markets don’t respond well to is when they are continuously faced with unexpected changes, and they can’t predict what will happen next.
Let’s look at some of the influences that the Trump administration has had and how they will affect life insurance prices:
Stock Market Uncertainty
This is a huge one. With the uncertainty in the markets based on things like the on-again-off-again tariff threats, investors don’t know how to factor that into pricing. Insurance companies are among those investors influenced by this uncertainty. Therefore, if the investment returns can’t be counted on, insurers will be forced to increase life insurance prices to compensate for unexpected losses on investments.
Trade Wars
If you listen to the rhetoric from the Oval Office, you would be surprised to hear that most economists predict that if a trade war is entered into, the result will be inflation rearing its ugly head again. This makes sense. Tariffs increase the cost of raw materials used in the production of almost everything. When raw material costs increase, the end users of the product will see an increase in what they pay for it. No manufacturer or seller of goods simply decides to accept lower profits, they increase prices to maintain or increase profits. Insurance companies aren’t immune to the pressure that inflation creates on bottom line costs, and you will see the result being an increase in the price of life insurance faced by the policy owner.
Global Uncertainty
No one outside of the White House walls seems to know what to expect next. Will there be tariffs? When will they start? How many will there be? Is the United States facing a recession? These types of questions lend more and more to the feeling of uncertainty that is proliferating in markets around the globe. As a result, we see the same pattern. Investment markets are shaky when faced with the unknown, and when that happens, it has potentially negative effects on the holdings of insurance companies. In turn, these companies would be forced to increase life insurance prices to offset investment losses.
When adding all of these factors up, what you see is that there is a real feeling of unease in global markets right now because no one seems to be able to predict what the next decision will be coming from the U.S. head of state.
How Canadian Insurers Are Responding
This uncertainty is leading to losses in investment markets, and the result is that if insurance companies lose money due to this uncertainty, they may have no choice but to increase life insurance prices to offset the losses experienced due to the decrees coming from the Oval Office.
Hidden Factors That Could Make Your Life Insurance More Expensive
Aside from the external pressures being faced by insurers, there are a multitude of things that could make your life insurance price higher than you expected. Some of them, may be within your control, and some aren’t, but they all affect your life insurance prices in one way or another.
Examples of these types of factors include:
Personal Lifestyle & Medical Factors
- Type of policy – Term insurance policies have different pricing structures than permanent insurance policies and this will result in you seeing different life insurance prices depending on what style of insurance you apply for.
- Coverage Amount – How much death benefit you apply for determines how much risk the insurer faces. This is a major deciding factor in how much your life insurance will be.
- Age – The older you are when you apply for life insurance, the higher the price will be because we know that you are closer to the end of your life a year from now than you are today.
- Sex – There are still variations in life expectancy between biological males and females that make life insurance prices higher for men than women who apply at the same age.
- Smoking/Vaping – The proven health consequences of the use of nicotine products result in smokers or people who vape having to pay higher life insurance prices than people who don’t partake in nicotine products.
- Health – If you are someone who hasn’t experienced any significant health issues in your life, you will have lower life insurance prices than someone who has been diagnosed with any type of chronic condition.
- Lifestyle – There are certain hobbies and activities that, if you choose to participate in them, increase the risk exposure to an insurance company. So sure, you may enjoy spelunking, but keep in mind that you will pay a higher price for your life insurance than someone who doesn’t have any risky hobbies.
Financial & Personal Factors
- Credit Score – People with good credit scores present in lower risk to insurance companies. As a result, someone with poor credit will face a higher life insurance price than someone with good credit.
- Driving Record – If you have a history of moving traffic violations (speeding, careless driving, etc.), you represent a higher risk and will pay a higher life insurance price than someone who has a clean driving record.
- Criminal Record – If you have been convicted of criminal offences, this will result in you paying a higher life insurance price again because this shows a behaviour where there is a higher than normal amount of risk for the insurance company.
- Travel Habits – This depends on where you like to travel. Typically, you wouldn’t see a higher life insurance price if you like to visit Caribbean resorts for vacations during the cold winter months. If your idea of travel includes destinations where there is political or civil unrest, though, you may see a higher life insurance price because, again, this represents a higher risk to the insurance company.
Medical & Health-Related Factors
- Your medication – Depending on what medications you are taking, what they are for, and how long the dosage has remained stable, you could see a higher life insurance price based on the fact that you represent a higher risk in the eyes of an insurer when you are relying on medication to control health issues.
- Your family history – Many health conditions carry a hereditary component with them, so if your immediate family members have a history of one of these types of conditions, you will face higher life insurance premiums.
- BMI (Body Mass Index) – High BMI is linked to many different chronic health conditions, so you will face higher life insurance prices if you have a high BMI when you apply for coverage.
- Pre-existing Conditions – If you already are experiencing health issues when you apply for coverage you are at higher risk for the insurer. This will result in you paying higher life insurance prices.
- Mental Health History – Some mental health issues can result in a higher chance of someone who has them passing away prematurely or unexpectedly. Therefore, if you are suffering from one of these conditions, you will face higher life insurance prices.
- Sleep Apnea – If you have sleep apnea the risk you present to an insurer is higher than someone who doesn’t have it. Again, you will face higher life insurance prices because you represent a higher risk to the insurer.
New Policy Rules & Where You Live
- New Underwriting Rules – Underwriting rules are constantly under review because changes in medical technology allow for improved detection and treatment of disease. This creates a situation where insurers can adjust their underwriting to accurately reflect what life insurance prices should be for your application.
- Payment Frequency – Paying life insurance premiums annually is less expensive than paying monthly. This is because the labour involved in processing one payment is less than processing 12, so a policy paid annually will have a lower price.
- Policy Riders & Add-ons – Adding additional riders or add-ons to your policy adds to the life insurance price because the policy offers you more coverage.
- State/Provincial Regulations – Depending on where you live, the premiums on your policies will be subject to different sales taxes. For example, life insurance sold in Alberta may have a different price than one sold in Newfoundland.
How to Lock in the Best Life Insurance Price
We’ve spent a lot of time discussing the factors that could result in you facing a higher life insurance price in 2025 than you have in the past. The reality is that, like most things in life, prices will go up. It isn’t a situation that is unique to life insurance.
What you should remember, though, is that once you have a policy in place, you will know exactly what it will cost you for the entire life of the contract. A term policy will show you the guaranteed renewal rates that are going to be charged in the future, right up until the expiry date of the coverage. A permanent policy will have its premium set at the time of issue and won’t change for the duration of the premium payment period. This means that you can lock in your insurance prices right now and know what they will be for years to come.
Some things that can help you lock in a better life insurance price are:
- The age when you apply for coverage – the younger you are, the better your life insurance price will be. There are case studies that show that someone who buys life insurance at age 25 versus waiting until they are 45 will pay 50% less over the lifetime of their coverage.
- Buying early reduces health-related risks – As long as you are in good health when you apply for coverage, you will receive the best life insurance price available. Typically, this is when people are younger. As you age, the risk of being diagnosed with a chronic health condition increases, and as a result, so does the risk that you will face higher life insurance prices as well.
- Aim for the lowest cost from the start – If you need to, you can bundle policies to reduce policy fees, make sure that you are applying for enough coverage, pay premiums annually, and try to make sure that when you apply, you are in good health. These are all ways to make sure that you pay the lowest life insurance price possible.
- Remember, guaranteed issue policies are expensive – In particular circumstances, when someone is hard to insure, guaranteed issue insurance policies are a great option. However, these types of policies come with higher prices built in, though because of the increased risk for insurers.
- Avoid common errors – If you wait too long, choose the wrong type of coverage, or don’t shop around, you may end up paying more for your life insurance than you would have by avoiding these common mistakes.
FAQ’s about locking in lower life insurance prices:
The best way to lock in a rate is to apply for coverage. Since standard life insurance prices are based on your nearest age at the time of application, the only way to lock in a rate today is to put in an application.
Shop around. Different companies apply different premium calculation models to a variety of areas. This means that having someone like LifeInsuranceCanada.com who can carry out a complete market survey for you will help make sure you get the best life insurance price available to you.
Conduct a needs analysis that accounts for everything that you would like to have paid for if you had passed away yesterday. Then, use this information to figure out how much death benefit coverage you need.
Interactive Tool: Instantly compare life insurance prices from top Canadian insurers.
Instantly Compare Life Insurance Prices
How to Avoid Rising Prices & Get the Best Deal
There are ways to help you avoid having to pay more for your life insurance. Since prices will rise over time, here are a few tips to get you the best life insurance price on the coverage that you need:
- Buy Sooner Rather Than Later
Because life insurance gets more expensive the older you get, waiting to apply only increases the cost associated with getting coverage. - Keep Your Policy Once You Buy It
Once you have a policy in place the insurer can’t adjust the premium from what the original policy says it will be. However, cancelling an old policy and reapplying later can lead to significantly higher life insurance prices. - Improve Your Health Over Time
If the insurer asks for extra premiums because of a controllable condition, for example, a high BMI, you can lose weight and then apply to have the extra premium removed. The same is true with smoking. If you quit and meet a minimum length of time without using any nicotine products, you could be eligible to have the non-smoker premium applied to your policy. Any choices that you make that improve your health could result in lower life insurance prices for you. - Bundle Your Policies for Discounts
Some carriers offer multiple-policy discounts, so it could be worth checking to see if you qualify for anything like this. - Pay Annually Instead of Monthly
This is the cost of administration for the policy. Processing 12 payments a year versus one makes the admin side more costly, and this higher life insurance price is passed on to you. Paying annually will save you money. - Compare New Quotes Every Few Years
If you have made a change that improves your health you may be able to find coverage with a lower price. Reviewing what is available to you regularly will make sure that you always have the lowest life insurance price available to you. - Avoid “No-Medical-Exam” Policies If You Qualify for Traditional Coverage
There’s a reason that no medical life insurance is expensive. It is because the people who need to get life insurance this way typically can’t get insurance via normal channels. After all, they represent too high a risk for insurers. If you can qualify for insurance through traditional channels, you will pay a much lower price than if you get a no medical policy simply because it seems easier. - Act Before Your Next Birthday
The older you are, the more expensive life insurance becomes. Applying now before your age changes will help you lock in the lowest life insurance price possible.
The Life Insurance Buyer’s Checklist – Lock in Your Rate Before Prices Increase
Now that you know how to avoid rising costs, use this simple checklist to make sure you’re fully prepared to lock in your best rate today.
Download the Life Insurance Buyer’s Checklist (PDF)
Taking Action – How to Buy the Best Life Insurance Policy Today
As seems to be the case with everything in life, we expect to see life insurance prices rise in 2025. This is the reality of the world we live in. Rising input costs make everything that we buy cost more and more. Life insurance is not immune to this type of inflationary pressure. Here’s the thing, though. Rising life insurance prices affect new policies that are being purchased, they do not affect the premiums on established policies. So, the best thing that you can do if you feel like you need life insurance is to avoid any further delay and start the process so that you can lock in your premium amount today. Here are a few tips to get you started.
Step-by-step guide to applying for life insurance.
Check out this step-by-step guide on how to apply for life insurance. It provides valuable information that will help you understand what you need to do to start the process and what to expect during your application for life insurance.
Determine How Much Coverage Is Needed
Complete a needs analysis to determine how much coverage you need to apply for. Make sure that you plan based on how much money your beneficiaries would need today if something happened to you yesterday, not where you aspire to be in the future. By planning for today, you make sure that there is enough money in place right now to help, and that is what you need because no one knows when they are going to pass away, so planning for right now is necessary.
How To Choose a Life Insurance Company
Different life insurance companies will offer you different life insurance prices. They also may have different benefit options or terms and conditions. Understanding which company is the best for you will make sure that you land with the best overall fit for your life insurance coverage. Find out more details on how to choose the right insurance company for you.
Where to get instant quotes & apply online today.
LifeInsuranceCanada.com is a great spot to look after your life insurance needs. They have the tools and resources to help you figure out how much coverage you need, and they will conduct a full-scale search of the insurance marketplace to make sure that you get the best life insurance price and policy to fit your individual needs. You can use their Instant Life Insurance Calculator to compare quotes from the biggest Canadian insurance companies, making it the best place to help you find the life insurance solution that you need.
Real Client Stories on Rising Life Insurance Prices
As life insurance policies continue to rise, many Canadians are trying to lock in a favorable rate before prices rise further. Here are a few client stories from over the years, showing how they secured the right coverage at a great price despite rising life insurance costs.
By Ashwin Annamalai
“Their website is hands down the best that’s available in Canada, gives you a lot of pricing transparency and you can know your options. Simon is very knowledgeable and returned every single email promptly and he patiently answered every single one of my questions with utmost care”. Read More
By Amanda Montgomery
“Natasha and Simon have been excellent to deal with. They are always quick to respond. Communication has been excellent and our life insurance prices are very fair. 5 stars all around :)” Read More
By Tracey Rogers
“Was a great experience, was able to do everything remotely and got the coverage I needed for a great price. Very friendly and attentive customer service.” Read More
Conclusion
It seems like Canadians are being hit from every direction with increases in the costs associated with daily living. Much of these increasing costs will continue to increase as time passes.
Here’s a secret, though. Life insurance prices on policies that you already own don’t go up with inflation. Sure, term policies have escalating prices, but those are laid out in the original contract, they aren’t the result of cost of living increases.
So, if you knew that right now, life insurance prices were as low as they will ever be for you for the rest of your life, would you take advantage of this?
Apply for the life insurance that you need today. Don’t wait because we know that if you wait, you will pay more. Visit staging.lifeinsurancecanada.live and use their calculator to help you determine how much coverage you need and compare offers from Canada’s best life insurance companies instantly. Take advantage of your opportunity to lock in prices now before they go up.
About the Author
Simon Huften
President, Life Insurance Canada.com Inc.
Simon is the President of Life Insurance Canada.com Inc. With over a decade of experience in the financial services industry. He began his career as a financial advisor at Freedom 55 Financial and London Life. Today, he leads the company’s operations, partnerships and digital growth strategy across Canada.
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