Sep 6, 2026
A new report from PolicyMe found that 68% of Canadians now have at least one type of life insurance, up from 58% just a year ago. But nearly one in four Canadians (24%) still say they’re not confident or not sure their family would be financially secure if they died unexpectedly.
That gap between having a policy and feeling protected isn’t happenstance — it traces back to how Canadians are getting covered in the first place, and how much they actually know about what they have.
Coverage is climbing, but unevenly
The jump in coverage is being driven largely by younger Canadians. Among those aged 18 to 34, coverage rose from 48% to 67% year over year; among Gen Z specifically, it nearly doubled from 30% to 58%. That’s likely tied to more of these younger cohorts hitting milestones like buying a home or starting a family.
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“It’s encouraging to see more Canadians securing life insurance this past year,” Andrew Ostro, CEO and co-founder of PolicyMe, said in a statement, adding that having a policy isn’t the same as feeling secure.
Regional coverage levels also vary widely: British Columbia had the highest share of uninsured respondents, at 39%, compared with 28% in Atlantic Canada.
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Why having a policy doesn’t always mean feeling secure
Half of insured Canadians get their coverage through a workplace group plan. That’s convenient, but it comes with a catch: more than a quarter (26%) of people with workplace coverage don’t actually know how much they have. Among those who do know, the most common amount is $100,000 to $299,999, which may not stretch far enough to pay off a mortgage or support children into adulthood.
Workplace coverage also typically ends when the job does, leaving a gap at exactly the moment someone might assume they’re still protected. Parents may feel that gap most acutely: 30% of Canadians with children in the household said they weren’t confident or weren’t sure their family would be financially secure, nine points higher than those without kids.
Why some Canadians still don’t have coverage
Cost remains the top reason Canadians go without life insurance, at 30%, followed by 26% who said they have no debts, dependents or other financial obligations, and 19% who simply hadn’t thought about it. Among uninsured respondents with children at home, nearly half, 48%, pointed to cost.
There’s also a clear income divide: 79% of households earning $100,000 or more have coverage, compared with just 50% of those earning under $50,000. And for some, the decision looks settled either way: 51% of uninsured respondents said nothing would make them likely to buy coverage in the next five years.
When Canadians actually buy
PolicyMe’s own application data points to two main triggers: family well-being, cited in 79% of term life insurance applications, and taking on a mortgage, cited in 42%. In other words, most Canadians buy life insurance reactively or after a milestone.
What to do with this
If your only coverage comes from work, it’s worth finding out exactly how much you have and what happens to it if you leave your job. A quick way to check is to log into your workplace benefits portal or ask HR for your group life insurance certificate, which spells out your coverage amount and whether it’s portable. From there, you can compare that number against real obligations, such as an outstanding mortgage or the number of years of income a family would need to replace, to see whether a supplemental policy makes sense.
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Amy Tokic is an SEO content editor for Money.ca. She holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Windsor. Amy is an award-winning author and has been writing professionally for 15 years, publishing articles in the lifestyle and health sectors.
